Re the argument “I need cheap parking in the city because I have to have my car for my job.”
If my job required me to have a personal elephant, I wouldn’t think it
reasonable to keep it in the city and park it on the street at night.
Amsterdam: The Flying Wheel
From the pinnacle of Amsterdam Central station, as seen from my hotel room last month. I’m guessing it’s from the Deco era, early 20th century. There’s an exuberant optimism about European rail architecture of that era that needs to find new expressions.
Note: I’m back in Sydney, but detritus of the just-completed round the world will probably continue showing up here for a while.
Congestion Pricing: The View From Canada
Canada’s Frontier Centre for Public Policy just published a paper by my colleague Stuart Donovan on the case for road pricing. The gist:
Accurate transport pricing not only reduces congestion, it also generates additional revenue to fund investment in additional capacity when and where it is justified by demand. Most importantly, accurate transport pricing is mode-neutral in that it neither discriminates against nor favours any transport mode, although it does favour high-value vehicles, such as buses and emergency vehicles. Accurate transport pricing also allows people the freedom to manage their travel needs in the way that best suits them. Some workplaces, for example, may allow their employees to work flexible hours in order to reduce their transport costs.
PDF here.
San Francisco: A Free Market in Parking Begins
(Update: Welcome, Andrew Sullivan readers! Please have a look around, including the welcome and manifesto. We do fun stuff here.)
US parodies of San Francisco as leftist and socialist may soon need some revision. San Francisco will soon have the most libertarian, free-market parking policy in the nation. And it should become easier to find parking. Continue Reading →
Basics: The Case for Frequency Mapping
This article has moved to here. <– Click here.
Eight Fewer Cars = 74 More Bikes
This just had to happen: Portland’s TriMet has removed eight parking spaces from the Park-and-Ride at its Sunset Transit Center light rail station, and replaced them with secure space for 74 bikes. From the Oregonian coverage: Continue Reading →
Can Public Transit Fix Traffic Congestion?
Now and then, someone mentions that a particular public transit project did not reduce traffic congestion, as though that were evidence of failure. In fact, the relationship between transit and congestion is indirect. It is not always wise to claim congestion reduction as a likely result of your proposed transit project. Continue Reading →
If On-Time Performance is 96%, Why Am I Always Late?
A New York Times article today highlights the perennial misunderstanding embedded in how transit agencies typically measure on-time performance.
By official accounts, 2009 was a banner year for the commuter railroads that serve New York City. Of all the trains that ran last year, the railroads said, nearly 96 percent were on time — one of the best performances since they began keeping records.
But the reality, as nearly any rider would tell you, can be considerably different, and vastly more frustrating. Continue Reading →
What Does Transit Do About Traffic Congestion?
This is an old version of this post, which I’ve retained to save its comments. See the updated version here.
Now and then, someone mentions that a particular transit project did not reduce traffic congestion, as though that was evidence of failure. Years ago, politicians and transit agencies would sometimes say that a transit project would reduce congestion, though most are now smart enough not to make that claim. Continue Reading →
Los Angeles: Rail Has “Forced Ridership Down”?
This Los Angeles Times article will be helpful to anyone wanting to grasp the rough contours of transit debates there. As I’ve argued before, Los Angeles has emerged as a national leader in transit development, and probably offers the most hopeful models for how car-oriented cities can begin to refit themselves to shift demand to transit, with all the social, economic, and sustainability benefits that can imply. Here’s the nub of of the remaining argument:
“Overall, the push for rail has forced transit ridership down,” said Tom Rubin, a veteran transit consultant and former chief financial officer for the MTA’s predecessor. “Had they run a lot of buses at low fares, they could have doubled the number of riders.” Continue Reading →