A solution to the “density dilemma”?
Following on from posts made last week on both the Humantransit blog and on my blog about the complex relationship between urban density and public transport use – and how sometimes we end up with some rather bizarre relationships between the two – Jarrett at Humantransit has done a post that I really think finally cracks the issue of linking density and public transport use.…
16 Comments Density and Public Transport
It’s always fun having debates about city densities and public transport. A post by Jarrett Walker at Humantransit.org makes an excellent contribution to the debate – as we seek to answer the age old question of “does density matter when it comes to the viability of public transport?”…
Frequency Mapping
Human Transit has another “must read” blog post about the importance of getting the way in which you “map” your public transport system right. In particular, Jarrett notes the importance of distinguishing on your route maps the difference between a service that operates every 5-10 minutes all day long (such as the Dominion Road buses) and a service that might operate only once a day (such as the weird 018 route between Herne Bay and Otahuhu).…
Public Transport & traffic congestion
Jarrett at Humantransit.org has another one of those “must read” blog posts up, this time exploring the linkage between public transport and traffic congestion – and seeking to answer the question “does public transport improvements reduce traffic congestion?” He starts off, quite interestingly, by stating this:
To my knowledge, and correct me if I’m wrong, no transit project or service has ever been the clear direct cause of a substantial drop in traffic congestion.…
Buses vs Trains in capturing riders
Jarrett at Humantransit.org has an interesting post about how public transport has developed in Los Angeles, and continues to develop, over the past decade or so. His post is based on a Los Angeles Times article which claims that it would have been smarter to invest money in making buses cheaper and getting more of them on the road, than it would have been to construct the rail improvements in LA over the past decade or two.…
Parisian Bus Lanes
Jarrett from Humantransit.org has an excellent blog post up about bus lanes in Paris. Here’s a section of his post:
Next time you’re involved in a debate about whether we should consider taking one lane of traffic on a busy street and setting it aside for buses, show them some pictures of Paris in 2010.…
Transport in the next five years
Having finally got the 30 year Regional Land Transport Strategy completed, it’s important to look at the question “where to next?” This is particularly important to consider when you realise how the whole management of transport in Auckland is going to be revolutionised in the next few months, with the creation of the Auckland Transport CCO.…
The importance of “off-peak”
A couple of weeks ago I got to meet Jarrett Walker, the guy behind the excellent “Human Transit” blog. We had a number of transport geeks in the same room, and unsurprisingly the result was a pretty interesting conversation. There was one thing in particular that Jarrett mentioned, which I think is certainly worth repeating, and that is: “the quality of a public transport system should be measured by how it performs at 7pm on a Sunday night, rather than at peak hour.”…
Street Patterns Matter
Humantransit has a great post on cul-de-sacs and what is known as the “radius of demand”. In short, the post highlights how disconnected street networks make it much more difficult to adequately serve areas with good public transport, because what should be a relatively short walk ‘as the crow flies’, becomes a really long walk to the bus stop/train station because the street network won’t allow you to make the trip in a more direct manner.…
Could slow PT be good?
A recent post on humantransit.org ponders an argument, put by Professor Patrick M. Condon of the University of British Columbia (UBC), that public transport doesn’t actually need to be “fast”, and in actual fact there are some benefits from it being slow.…
Processing...