Earlier this year, Berlin’s U-Bahn opened its newest segment of subway, a 1.1 mile three-station line connecting the main rail station to the Brandenburg Gate. It’s temporarily called the U55, but it will ultimately become part of the expanded U5 (see network map here). From the Gate, the line will continue east under Unter den Linden, Berlin’s main processional boulevard, to Alexanderplatz, the former East Berlin downtown and one of Berlin’s most important hubs. (From there it will continue to the eastern suburbs as the U5 that already exists.) This is such an important segment for Berlin, both practically and symbolically, that it´s remarkable it´s only now being built. (The Transport Politic reviewed the political history here.)
Author Archive | Jarrett
Can Rapid Transit Work Along Freeways?
Lately there’s been a groundswell of talk among transit advocates about the need to stop building rapid transit along freeways. To honor the imminent opening of Portland’s Green Line, which runs mostly along the east side of that city’s I-205 freeway, I thought I’d weigh in on this a little, with some relevant pictures fresh from Berlin.
Transit in the Fast Lane: The Access Challenge
When you’re trying to run quality transit in a mixed-traffic situation, and you have a street with two lanes of traffic in each direction, the best practice is for transit to run in the faster lane, the one further from the sidewalk. We see this most commonly with streetcars, but it’s true of any mode of street-running transit. That’s because the lane closer to the curb is often delayed by random car movements, including cars turning, or trying to parallel-park, or doing pickup and dropoff. So long as the fast lane is separate from any turning lanes, it’s the lane where you’ll get the best travel time in mixed traffic.
Berlin: The S-Bahn Meltdown
Hello from Berlin, where I chanced to be in town for one of the larger transit meltdowns I’ve seen. And I’ve seen a few!
Berlin: Seen Through a Bus-Wrap
Many transit agencies depend on advertising revenue from wraps, those advertisements that cover the windows of the bus as well as the rest of the side. Berlin has them on some of its double-deckers.
Prague and San Francisco: On Communist vs Capitalist Modernism
In November 1973, a new subway station opened whose walls looked like this:
Just six months later, on the other side of the Iron Curtain, a subway station opened whose walls looked like this:
Is there any essential difference between communist and capitalist modernism?
Vienna: Even Perfect Integration Isn’t Perfect
As part of my Europe tour, I thought I’d give some attention to things that even the best European systems have trouble getting right.
Vienna’s Gentle Glass Boxes
Subway entrances are always a great challenge opportunity for transit architecture. Should you present a consistent systemwide look or blend into the surrounding urban texture? (The same debate happens about lots of other transit infrastructure too, right down to the bus stop sign.)
Vienna: Life Without Loops
Vienna offers a really nice example of the perils of short downtown shuttles in general, and loops in particular.
Vienna and the “Style of Youth”
One of the joys of Vienna’s transit system is that some key pieces of it were built in 1898, mostly designed by Otto Wagner. It was the era of Art Nouveau (called Jugendstil in Vienna) which later grew into full-blown Deco. A few examples are over the top, such as the Karlsplatz station house: