Better Buses, Better Cities

Better Buses, Better Cities
Author: Steven Higashide
Publisher:
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2019-10-10
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1642830143

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Imagine a bus system that is fast, frequent, and reliable--what would that change about your city? Buses can and should be the cornerstone of urban transportation. They offer affordable mobility and can connect citizens with every aspect of their lives. But in the US, they have long been an afterthought in budgeting and planning. Transit expert Steven Higashide uses real-world stories of reform to show us what a successful bus system looks like. Higashide explains how to marshal the public in support of better buses and argues that better bus systems will create better cities for all citizens. With a compelling narrative and actionable steps, Better Buses, Better Cities describes how decision-makers, philanthropists, activists, and public agency leaders can work together to make the bus a win in any city.

Trains, Buses, People

Trains, Buses, People
Author: Christof Spieler
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2018-10-23
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1610919033

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What are the best transit cities in the US? The best Bus Rapid Transit lines? The most useless rail transit lines? The missed opportunities? In the US, the 25 largest metropolitan areas and many smaller cities have fixed guideway transit—rail or bus rapid transit. Nearly all of them are talking about expanding. Yet discussions about transit are still remarkably unsophisticated. To build good transit, the discussion needs to focus on what matters—quality of service (not the technology that delivers it), all kinds of transit riders, the role of buildings, streets and sidewalks, and, above all, getting transit in the right places. Christof Spieler has spent over a decade advocating for transit as a writer, community leader, urban planner, transit board member, and enthusiast. He strongly believes that just about anyone—regardless of training or experience—can identify what makes good transit with the right information. In the fun and accessible Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit, Spieler shows how cities can build successful transit. He profiles the 47 metropolitan areas in the US that have rail transit or BRT, using data, photos, and maps for easy comparison. The best and worst systems are ranked and Spieler offers analysis of how geography, politics, and history complicate transit planning. He shows how the unique circumstances of every city have resulted in very different transit systems. Using appealing visuals, Trains, Buses, People is intended for non-experts—it will help any citizen, professional, or policymaker with a vested interest evaluate a transit proposal and understand what makes transit effective. While the book is built on data, it has a strong point of view. Spieler takes an honest look at what makes good and bad transit and is not afraid to look at what went wrong. He explains broad concepts, but recognizes all of the technical, geographical, and political difficulties of building transit in the real world. In the end,Trains, Buses, People shows that it is possible with the right tools to build good transit.

Start-Up City

Start-Up City
Author: Gabe Klein
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2015-10-15
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1610916905

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"The public-private partnerships of the future will need to embody a triple-bottom-line approach that focuses on the new P3: people-planet-profit. This book is for anyone who wants to improve the way that we live in cities, without waiting for the glacial pace of change in government or corporate settings. If you are willing to go against the tide and follow some basic lessons in goal setting, experimentation, change management, financial innovation, and communication, real change in cities is possible."--Publisher's description.

Human Transit

Human Transit
Author: Jarrett Walker
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011-12-22
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9781597269728

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Public transit is a powerful tool for addressing a huge range of urban problems, including traffic congestion and economic development as well as climate change. But while many people support transit in the abstract, it's often hard to channel that support into good transit investments. Part of the problem is that transit debates attract many kinds of experts, who often talk past each other. Ordinary people listen to a little of this and decide that transit is impossible to figure out. Jarrett Walker believes that transit can be simple, if we focus first on the underlying geometry that all transit technologies share. In Human Transit, Walker supplies the basic tools, the critical questions, and the means to make smarter decisions about designing and implementing transit services. Human Transit explains the fundamental geometry of transit that shapes successful systems; the process for fitting technology to a particular community; and the local choices that lead to transit-friendly development. Whether you are in the field or simply a concerned citizen, here is an accessible guide to achieving successful public transit that will enrich any community.

Trains, Buses, People, Second Edition

Trains, Buses, People, Second Edition
Author: Christof Spieler
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2021-08-24
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1642832138

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"Fully updated and expanded"--Back cover.

Transit Street Design Guide

Transit Street Design Guide
Author: National Association of City Transportation Officials
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2016-04-14
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1610917472

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"The Transit Street Design Guide sets a new vision for how cities can harness the immense potential of transit to create active and efficient streets in neighborhoods and downtowns alike. Building on the Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide, the Transit Street Design Guide details how reliable public transportation depends on a commitment to transit at every level of design. Developed through a new peer network of NACTO members and transit agency partners, the Guide provides street transportation departments, transit operating agencies, leaders, and practitioners with the tools to actively prioritize transit on the street."--Site Web de NACTO.

Walkable City

Walkable City
Author: Jeff Speck
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2013-11-12
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0865477728

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Presents a plan for American cities that focuses on making downtowns walkable and less attractive to drivers through smart growth and sustainable design

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
Author: Charles Montgomery
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2013-11-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1429969539

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A globe-trotting, eye-opening exploration of how cities can—and do—make us happier people Charles Montgomery's Happy City will revolutionize the way we think about urban life. After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling an improvement on the car-dependence of sprawl? The award-winning journalist Charles Montgomery finds answers to such questions at the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, and during an exhilarating journey through some of the world's most dynamic cities. He meets the visionary mayor who introduced a "sexy" lipstick-red bus to ease status anxiety in Bogotá; the architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan hill towns to modern-day New York City; the activist who turned Paris's urban freeways into beaches; and an army of American suburbanites who have transformed their lives by hacking the design of their streets and neighborhoods. Full of rich historical detail and new insights from psychologists and Montgomery's own urban experiments, Happy City is an essential tool for understanding and improving our own communities. The message is as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting our cities for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city, the green city, and the low-carbon city are the same place, and we can all help build it.

Three Revolutions

Three Revolutions
Author: Daniel Sperling
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2018-03
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 161091905X

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Front Cover -- About Island Press -- Subscribe -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Will the Transportation Revolutions Improve Our Lives-- or Make Them Worse? -- 2. Electric Vehicles: Approaching the Tipping Point -- 3. Shared Mobility: The Potential of Ridehailing and Pooling -- 4. Vehicle Automation: Our Best Shot at a Transportation Do-Over? -- 5. Upgrading Transit for the Twenty-First Century -- 6. Bridging the Gap between Mobility Haves and Have-Nots -- 7. Remaking the Auto Industry -- 8. The Dark Horse: Will China Win the Electric, Automated, Shared Mobility Race? -- Epilogue -- Notes -- About the Contributors -- Index -- IP Board of Directors

The Future of Public Transportation

The Future of Public Transportation
Author: Paul Comfort
Publisher:
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2020-02-15
Genre:
ISBN:

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"Paul Comfort is our industry's leader on what's coming next for mobility. After a thirty year career in public transportation operations and executive leadership, he now travels the globe hearing directly from our top CEOs on what's working, what's not and what's next. If anyone can pull together a compendium on the Future of Public Transportation, it's Paul and he's done so in this book. Congrats!" - Erinn Pinkerton, President and CEO of BC Transit. "With Paul's long and distinguished career in transportation as well as his current involvement in mobility through his podcast Transit Unplugged and other thought leadership, Paul is uniquely positioned to provide a clear eyed and expert view on the future of public transportation and what we as concerned stakeholders should be thinking about."-Blair Schlecter, VP of Economic Development and Govt. Affairs, Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce "As a 38 year public transportation industry veteran, and former CEO and Chair of APTA, I can say that technology and mobility is adapting faster than ever to societal demands and technological abilities. Paul Comfort has his finger on the pulse of these fast changing developments and has pulled together for this book a top notch roster of executives from the public and private sector to provide their input."-Peter Varga, Former Chair American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This new book "The Future of Public Transportation" is written by transit industry leader Paul Comfort and over forty top public transport leaders, CEOs, futurists and associations. The book examines the transformations coming this decade for cities and the public transportation systems that serve them allowing readers to become more informed and ready for these changes. In the next few years technology enhancements will produce and expand game changing new mobility options such as autonomous vehicles on regular bus routes and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) smart phone apps allowing passengers to plan, pay for and subscribe to a full menu of traditional public transit and private microtransit options for their travel. Cities will further regulate and optimize the rampant expansion of e-bikes and e-scooters. Mobile public transit fare paying options will expand including allowing the use of not only cell phone and tap and go credit cards but even wearable fare payment jewelry and watches. Traditional transit systems are rebooting their bus networks, adding in high frequency routes & reducing the friction that slows their buses by adding bus only lanes, transit signal priority (TSP) and electronic fare payment systems. TNCs have now entered the public mobility marketplace and are supplementing or replacing public transit services for many. Transit fleets are becoming greener shifting to zero emission fuels like electric or hydrogen, large multi-national firms are transforming how we build and operate new rail and other capital projects through Public Private Partnerships (P3). Hyperloop and air taxis are looking more like science than fiction. Cities are becoming "smart" and eliminating traffic in the public square or charging for its usage in peak times. Most transit software is moving to the cloud and privately-owned electric automobiles could be the autonomous taxicabs of tomorrow.All these trends & innovations in technology and business models are explored in depth in this book with the collaboration of thought leaders, industry associations, CEOs and the major companies that are creating and utilizing them. In the end, bold leaders will take us to new horizons as they always have, but they will do so using modern technology to move us in ways we never thought possible, and in the process, eliminate barriers that have too long stood in the way of true mobility for all. And THAT is the Future of Public Transportation.