Bravo to South Africa for opening the first segment of the Gautrain,
linking Johannesburg’s Tombo airport (JHB) to Sandton and Rosebank, in
time for the World Cup. Sports events continue to be one of the best motivators for getting big infrastructure projects done.
But do you notice one rather basic fact missing from the Guardian’s otherwise thorough article on the subject? Continue Reading →
The Transport Politic proposes the need to consolidate more multi-modal planning authority at the level of the states. While multi-modal planning authority is a good thing at any level of government, I wonder if US states are poorly suited for this purpose because so many US metro areas cross state boundaries. I notice this problem more from my current perch in Australia, because Australians even flirt with the idea of abolishing their state governments entirely. While that’s certainly not the answer in the US, Americans do need to think about which level of government is best suited to which kind of task. Continue Reading →
The new “rapid bus” network proposed for Barcelona looks a lot like the Los Angeles Metro Rapid: No exclusive lanes, but strong signal priority, emphasis on fast implementation, and judging from the map, very wide stops. I would resist calling this Bus Rapid Transit, though, unless you want the term to mean “any and all corridor-wide attempts to make buses a little faster.” Continue Reading →
Lately, Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic has been riding the bus. We’re seeing more good press for buses lately, as more national commentators focus on urban mobility problems. Friedersdorf’s figuring out most of what I’ve long advocated …
I’ve already argued for simplified routes, system maps, and route numbering schemes. Other innovations that you should lobby your local bus agency/municipal government to adopt: dedicated bus lanes, express routes, GPS on the bus, estimated time of arrival signs on bus stops that change in real time, clear signage, and easy methods of payment that don’t require exact change.
But it’s interesting that this struck him as new: Continue Reading →
From the rather mysterious cartoonist xkcd.com:
I’ve certainly met both of these characters many times. Come to think of it, I’ve been both of these characters.
For the Venice Biennale later this year, the Audi Urban Future Award asked six prestigious architecture firms to come up with visions of what cities might be like in 2030. The preliminary responses, as reported in the Economist, had a disturbing common theme: cars. Continue Reading →
This is just funny. From the Los Angeles Times today, an article by David Zahniser on cuts to Commuter Express services run by the City of Los Angeles:
The agency also would phase out three Commuter Express routes: Line
575, which travels from Simi Valley to Warner Center; Line 413, which
moves from Van Nuys and North Hollywood to downtown; and Line 430, which
runs from Pacific Palisades to downtown Los Angeles.
Seattle’s Orphan Road laments the news that the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar, which from 1982 to 2005 ran historic cars — mostly on single track, mostly right under the Alaskan Way Viaduct — might never be restored to service. I’m apparently part of the problem: Continue Reading →
Is it true that while everyone loves Portland’s regular 200-foot street grid, urbanists are turning away from it as something to emulate?
Daniel Nairn, who just wanted to make a nice nerdy poster about street grids, points me to a fascinating Planetizen article by Fanis Grammenos and Douglas Pollard. It argues that the standard street grid, an easily repeated pattern where most intersections are four-way, is and should be history. The future, they argue, lies in more complex grids where there are a lot of street connections but where 3-way “T” intersections are the rule. It’s an excellent article. Read the whole thing. Continue Reading →
In a post last week I mentioned Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs, a simple diagram suggesting that certain needs will only arise if more fundamental needs are met: Continue Reading →