Making Transit Work Insight from Western Europe, Canada, and the United States -- Special Report 257 (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Policies and Practices Favorable to Transit in Western Europe and Canada
Policies and Practices Favorable to Transit in Western Europe and Canada
Pages 65-113
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From page 65... ...
However, government policy making has also been important. For many decades, Western European governments have emphasized the provision of high-quality transit services, discouraged automobile driving by raising the cost of owning and operating private cars, and promoted more compact and centralized forms of urban clevelopment that are conducive to transit operations.
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From page 66... ...
busways offers versatility and travel speed by combining mainline express, feebler, and distributor services, thus reducing the need for time-consuming interline transfers (TCRP 1997b, 22-23; Eyed and Kahn 2000, 31. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the main form of public transport in Western Europe and Canada is the same as in the United States conventional buses operating in mixed traffic.
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From page 67... ...
UITP. Reprinted with permission from Public TransportInternational, No.
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From page 69... ...
streetcar schedules are prone to disruptions caused by traffic congestion. Western European and Canadian transit agencies, in concert with local highway departments, have therefore taken many innovative steps to give transit vehicles priority in traffic (Brilon and Laubert 19941.
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From page 70... ...
Zurich has given traffic priority to transit for more than 30 years. Transit priority programs include traffic rules that give buses priority when reentering traffic, staggered stop lines and special bus lanes and traffic signals that give transit vehicles a head start in traffic queues at intersections, and technologies that allow buses to activate green lights on traffic signals (TCRP 1 997a)
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From page 71... ...
. Though traffic control measures, such as bus lanes, have also been adopted in some American cities to give transit vehicles priority, they are seldom as well coordinatect or routinely enforced as in Western European and Canadian cities.
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From page 72... ...
This attitude manifests itself in the many innovative marketing approaches aimed at broadening transit's appeal and promoting its use by travelers outside the traditional customer base. Western European transit agencies have turned to innovative marketing practices in part because they have large amounts of spare capacity to fill during off-peak hours.
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From page 73... ...
10.) Many Western European and Canadian transit operators recognize the benefits that can flow from eliminating a welI-known deterrent to transit use by the unaccustomed rider—the lack of information on transit fares and routings, especially for bus operations (Cronin et al.
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From page 74... ...
Enhancing Service Through Procurement Innovations A number of the service enhancements discussed above are expensive to provide. Concerned about rising costs and seeking to retain high levels of service with greater efficiency, most Western European governments have introduced or have been exploring alternative means of organizing and delivering their transit services.
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From page 75... ...
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From page 76... ...
In 1986, bus services throughout Great Britain, except in greater London, were deregulated, and the national bus company was privatized. Though a few "socially necessary" routes continue to be subsidized, the British Parliament enacted legislation that ended the national government's role as main provider of public transit services; private companies now have these responsibilities for the most part.
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From page 77... ...
POLICIES AFFECTING USE OF THE AUTOMOBILE Conventional logic holds that transit is popular in Western Europe because of the high cost of owning and operating cars. Gasoline prices are
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From page 78... ...
Given the many other practical burdens of operating a car in Western Europe where narrow streets, tightly restricted parking, and recurrent traffic congestion can impede driving it makes sense that the average Western European would choose public transit, walking, or biking for a larger share of travel than the average American. Taken together, taxes and other policies toward the automobile in Western Europe are far less conducive to driving than is the case in the United States.
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From page 79... ...
in several major Western European countries are about 60 percent as high as in the United States, where there are 685 passenger cars per 1,000 people, including pickups, sport utility vehicles, minivans, and other vehicles classified as light trucks but used for personal travel (see Figure 3-11. Germany, for example, has 488 passenger cars per 1,000 people, which is about 70 percent as high as in the United States.
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From page 80... ...
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From page 81... ...
By comparison, motor fuel excise taxes (along with 10 to 20 percent act valorem taxes) account for between 60 and 80 percent of the retail price of gasoline in most Western European countries, with taxes alone totaling more than $0.80/L ($3/gal)
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From page 82... ...
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From page 84... ...
in Western European cities. Longer-term parking is prohibited not only to make space for business and retail parking, but also to discourage driving by commuters and to foster use of public transit.
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From page 85... ...
1995, 76-771. In addition, Canadian and Western European cities often encourage developers to reduce demand for parking spaces by offering workers ctiscounted transit passes and encouraging ridesharing (Cervero 19861.
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From page 86... ...
to subsidize bus and ferry service. In the latter instance, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which administer the tolled highway facilities, also operate rail, bus, anct ferry transit systems in the New York area, and the tolls are used to help finance this service.
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From page 87... ...
2000, 40~. And though many road-pricing schemes have been proposed, no Western European cities have adopted such measures specifically to recluce urban congestion, boost public transit use, or otherwise improve the efficiency of urban transportation systems (Gomez-Ibanez and Small 1994~.
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From page 88... ...
Though transit vehicles are often allowed in these zones, private cars and trucks can enter only at certain times of the day, if at all. Traffic controls ant!
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From page 89... ...
Its usual purpose, however, is to slow motorists down and encourage them to use main roads for through travel. In fact, the meander~ng streets and dead-end courts that typify so many newer suburbs in the United States have proven especially problematic for transit services, since these street configurations slow clown buses and increase walking distances to bus stops on main routes.
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From page 90... ...
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From page 91... ...
control over land use and infrastructure are also rare outside the United States. In many Western European countries, local, regional, and
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From page 92... ...
3-3 summarize the various government roles in coorclinating urban land use, transit, ant! other transportation decisions in the United States, Canada, and several Western European countries.
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From page 93... ...
In contrast, major urban transportation planning and programming are almost always handled at the state and regional levels, often with significant federal aid. Most public transit systems, for instance, are governed by a regional authority designated for a specific metropolitan area.
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From page 94... ...
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From page 97... ...
Policies and Practices Favorable to Transit ~ 97 ~~ ~ ~~ ~~:~ : :~ ~~.
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From page 99... ...
Beginning in the late 1960s, the federal government required states to establish metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to coordinate state and local transportation planning.
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From page 100... ...
Although the long-term results of this approach are not yet evident, Portiand's regional planning efforts and urban growth boundary are often cited as models for other American cities and states to follow. Environmental concerns in major metropolitan areas particularly with regard to air pollution and the need to meet federal air quality standardshave prompted some other states to gradually place limits on focal land use control, particularly on major lancT use decisions.
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From page 101... ...
, but a near absence of any intermediate or larger regional forms of government. Still, the national governments in all three of these countries, as in most other Western European countries, have a strong role in many local affairs, inclucting land use planning and regulation.
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From page 102... ...
States, national governments of Western Europe have shown a willingness to intervene in local land use planning and regulation. It is probably an accurate observation that Western European local officials are no less interested in controlling commercial and residential development within their jurisdictions, but they simply do not have the autonomy to exert the singular influence of local officials in the United States (Heidenheimer etaI.
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From page 103... ...
As an example, the RMOC master plan calls for local communities to adopt specific zoning ordinances that locate new employment-related development near public transit stations. When planning lane!
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From page 104... ...
These grants are often accompanied by spending stipulations that give federal agencies influence over lanct use and transportation decisions. In some Western European countries, coordination of lancI use and transportation is possible because one level of government, usually the national government, has almost complete responsibility for major clecisions.
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From page 105... ...
In general, urban areas (outside of greater London) lack strong regional transit planning organizations, whereas highway and land use planning remain largely national responsibilities.
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From page 106... ...
Urban Areas Fairfax Weighs Buildup Aroz~rzd Metro Stations When Metro riders get off at the Wichie Avenue Station one of four stops envisioned along a future train line clown the Dulles Toll Roactthey will be greeted by towering office and apartment buildings, urban-style restaurants ant! shops, ant]
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From page 107... ...
Concentrating people in high rises around Metro stations will ease congestion on nearby roacTs only if accompanied by large-scale reductions of development in other parts of the county, Schwartz said. "Yes, development around the Metro stations is very important.
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From page 108... ...
3. For a more detailed review of organizational and institutional changes in Western European public transit, see UITP (1997~.
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From page 109... ...
6. Diesel fuel, not shown in this table, is not taxed as heavily as gasoline in many Western European countries.
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From page 110... ...
1994. Priority for Public Transit in Germany.
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From page 111... ...
In Urban Change in the United States and Western Europe Comparative Analysis and Policy (A.
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From page 112... ...
TCRP.1998. International Transit Studies Program Report on the Fall 1997 Mission Applications of Intelligent Transportation Systems to Public Transit in Europe.
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From page 113... ...
1997. Major Western European Players in Public Transport New Developments in the Western European Union.
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