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Congestion Pricing: The View From Canada

Posted on August 10, 2010 in Advocacy, Parking

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.

If On-Time Performance is 96%, Why Am I Always Late?

Posted on July 27, 2010 in 3-newbasic, Commuter Rail, New York City, On-Time Performance

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?

Posted on July 25, 2010 in Advocacy, Basics

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”?

Posted on July 23, 2010 in Bus Rapid Transit, Los Angeles, Rail Transit

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 →

Munich: The Station as Riot

Posted on July 21, 2010 in Architecture, Munich

My Munich transit notes will take a while to settle, but meanwhile, Munich’s U-bahn station Münchner Freiheit is a must-see for all visitors.

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U-bahn lines have associated colors that are reflected in both mapping and signage.  (See U-bahn map here).  This station is an interchange between lines 3 (orange) and 6 (blue).  So the architects had a field day exploring all the ways that orange and blue can converse, or clash.   And as if orange weren’t garish enough, they invented a peculiar pea green to dance with it.

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This is, by the way, a weaved station:  U3 and U6 northbound on one platform, and both southbound on the other, to maximize cross-platform transfers.  U6 is toward the center of the station in both directions.  To express that, you have the blue pillars down the center, with the curious orange+olive on both outside walls, where the (orange) U3 runs.

A mirrored ceiling festooned with semi-protruding panels of fluorescent light amplifies the dissonance.

Munich-Münchner Freiheit

This may well the the brightest underground station I’ve ever seen, bright not just with brute-force flourescents but with a mirror-intensive design that recycles light.  The photons can bounce around pretty much forever.

Munich has several recent U-bahn stations that show some real architectural panache, but this is the only one that’s truly fun.  Would it get old looking at this every day?  I don’t think so.

Dissent of the Week II: New York’s Select Bus Service

Posted on July 21, 2010 in Bus Rapid Transit, Dissents, Fares, New York City

From Alon Levy on my post re: New York’s Bus Rapid Transit product, the Select Bus Service (SBS), which references this story in New York Magazine.

I’m going to say here what I said on the Urbanophile: it’s an uncritical fluff piece. The reality of SBS is that it’s a substandard product by European standards. The smoking gun is that during fare inspections on SBS, the bus has to stand still. The inspectors drive in and have to drive back, so the bus has to stay in one place until they get out.

Continue Reading →

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