Washington DC has its downtown circulator, and now the Washington DC of Australia, Canberra, has one too. What’s more, my clients in Canberra created their circulator for almost zero in new operating costs, using one of my favorite planning tricks. Starting next week, four color-coded lines will provide frequent links among all the major tourist attractions, government buildings, universities, commercial districts, and interchange points in the dense core areas of the Australian capital. Continue Reading →
Guangzhou Abandons Free-Fare Experiment
Guangzhou, the southern Chinese megacity that is to host the 2010 Asian Games this month, has abandoned a plan to offer free public transit while the Games are on.
The plan was to ban half of all of the city’s private cars from the road each day (using an “even-odd rule,” a scheme by which certain license plates can be used only on certain days), and also to ban traffic unrelated to the Games from certain roads. In return, public transit would be free during the Games. Continue Reading →
Canberra: Public Radio Interview on Transit in Australia’s Capital
Last month I did a radio interview for Alex Sloan of ABC 666 Canberra (the main public radio station in Australia’s national capital) on the broad future of public transit in that city, along with Monash University Professor Graham Currie. Much of what was said, especially about light rail and bus rapid transit, is true of any low-density New World city with populations under 1 million. ABC has now posted an MP3 of the interview here. Continue Reading →
Basics: The Spacing of Stops and Stations
The unglamorous but essential struggle over the spacing of consecutive stops or stations on a transit line is an area where there’s a huge difference in practice between North American and Australian agencies, for reasons that have never been explained to me as anything other than a difference in bureaucratic habit. In Australia, and in most parts of Europe that I’ve observed, local-stop services generally stop every 400m (1/4 mile, 1320 feet). Some North American agencies stop as frequently as every 100m (about 330 ft). Continue Reading →
Guest Post Policy
Human Transit welcomes guest posts. Guest posts are usually from people who are very familiar with this blog and/or have some proven expertise in the area to be discussed. Explore the Guest Post category to see examples of others that have been accepted.
This blog assumes readers have decent critical thinking skills. They don’t need happy talk or vagueness; they need information and clear argument that explores real issues and trade-offs. Continue Reading →
Los Angeles: Before You Board, There’s a Quiz
Highlight of my transit tour of Los Angeles today: Vermont / Santa Monica subway station. It’s by Ellerbe Becket. Striking, certainly, but an entrance so ominous that if I didn’t know what it was, I’d guess it was a memorial to a horrible event. Enter under a heavy almond-shaped mass that looks like it’s about to fall on you, or perhaps a jaw about to close.
Cul-de-sac Hell, continued
What’s so great about living on a cul-de-sac again? From the Oregonian:
Fallen tree blocks access to Lake Oswego neighborhood Continue Reading →
Bulletin: Young Adults Don’t All Want Cars
A study by GWL Realty Advisors suggests that the next generation may not values cars nearly as much as the current decision-making generation does. From Treehugger’s coverage: Continue Reading →
Almere, Netherlands as Bus-Oriented Development
The remarkable busway network of Almere, Netherlands is impressive from the ground, as we saw in Richard Lenthall’s post, but it’s even more remarkable on Google Earth:
Guest Post: Richard Lenthall on the Busways of Almere, Netherlands
Richard Lenthall is the founder of Sight of the Navigator, a European travel and transit advisory website based in Amsterdam. It aims to improve tomorrow’s journey experience by bringing together transit providers and their passengers.
Transit and urban planners will no doubt be familiar with the “Bus Lane”, the concept of designating a lane or segment of road exclusively for the use of buses and other permitted vehicles. When properly executed bus lanes can save time over the same section of a journey made with a car, and provide operators the means to keep to timetables during the rush hours, both of which can promote the use of public transit. Continue Reading →