Making Transit Work Insight from Western Europe, Canada, and the United States -- Special Report 257 (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Insights and Opportunities
Insights and Opportunities
Pages 148-160
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From page 148... ...
Historical Factors The United States was once a world leacler in the use of new public transportation technologies. The expanding anct enterprising American cities of the late 1 9th and early 20th centuries provided the quintessential environment for the introduction of faster ant!
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From page 149... ...
Decades passed before Western European cities witnessed the kind of widespread automobile usage that took hold in American cities between the two world wars. The automobile did not emerge as a primary mode of urban transport in Western Europe until the 1 960s.
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From page 150... ...
In addition to boosting transit demand, the high automobile taxes macte it incumbent upon Western European governments to continue to provide gooct transit service. Meanwhile, taxes on motor vehicles and fuel remained much lower in the United States, where the revenues were used largely to fund highway programs.
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From page 151... ...
Because many of these policies and practices were adopted during the past 30 years, they suggest that transit-supportive policies and practices can have a significant influence on transit ridership. Current Differences in Transit Practice and Policy Americans using public transit in Western Europe and Canada today immediately notice how fast, convenient, and reliable the service is.
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From page 152... ...
Many Western European cities, both large and small, deploy advanced traffic contro} systems that allow buses to selectively preempt traffic signals or increase the green time on mainline routes, thus reducing queuing ant! delays at congested intersections.
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From page 153... ...
In an environment characterized by highly diffusect control over urban land use—with local government actions tending to favor low-clensity development it is clifficuit for government planners to coordinate their actions in ways that might boost public transit use. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES The findings presented in this report suggest that a combination of factors working together and over time have led to differing levels of transit use in American, Western European, and Canadian cities.
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From page 154... ...
Early Opportunities The experiences of Western Europe and Canada offer insights for improving service quality anct operating performance in ways that can both benefit existing riders and attract new riders. In these countries, serious attention is given to service speect, comfort, and reliability.
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From page 155... ...
A transit-first approach to city traffic management pervades Western Europe and Canada. Transit vehicles, whether buses or light rail, are given priority in mixed traffic; they can selectively preempt traffic signals at busy intersections, operate on dedicated travel lanes, and jump aheact of other vehicles waiting in queues.
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From page 156... ...
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From page 157... ...
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From page 158... ...
by.. t Examples of Key Practices and Public Policies Favorable to Transit Use in Western Europe and Canada Reliability and Frequency of Transit Service · Wide spacing between bus stops to increase operating speeds · Passenger loading platforms to ease bus reentry into traffic streams · Prepaid tickets and boarding passes to expedite passenger boarding · Low-floor buses with wide doorways to speed boarding and alighting · Transit priority in mixed traffic (e.g., bus lanes and special signalization)
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From page 159... ...
Despite very high taxes on motor fuel and vehicles, Western European car ownership and use have increased rapidly cluring the past half century as incomes have risen. Regional controls on parking, and especially limits on parking supply in city centers, have proven to be important means of fostering the use of public transit.
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From page 160... ...
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS What becomes clear from the committee's international comparison is that no single factor can explain why transit tenets to be more popular abroad than in the United States. A number of policies, practices, and conditions have combined to elevate public transit's role in both the cities and suburbs of Western Europe and Canada.
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