Richard 1 Kyle Richard Prof.

Kate Terzano Unjust City 12/8/13 Transportation Reform In terms of providing adequate level of service, cities of today fail to accommodate the needs of both pedestrians and motorists who travel to, from and throughout their respective urban areas. With the abrupt introduction of the automobile followed by its dramatic numbers of production in decades to come, the road networks that service them have claimed the right of way from the pedestrian as these roadways have consumed the majority of the city street, leaving only segments left on either side of it to serve those who choose to walk. In light of these happenings, the automobile brought the benefits of freedom and versatility making it the preferred means of transportation, which of course caused a great spike in the volumes of vehicles traveling on the roadways. Eventually this growth in numbers would lead build up to the extreme amount of congestion that is apparent on the roads today. In Robert Inmans book on urban planning reform, Making Cities Work, he states that for a city to progress and be an economically viable place for people to both live in and commute to for work, it must have a transportation system capable of handling the increasing volumes of automobile traffic and accommodate the needs of pedestrians who also need to be able to traverse the city as they need. As the automotive volumes continue to rise however, they tend to draw the majority of funding allocated to transit, leaving alternative services such as bus, light rail and pedestrian walkways to suffer and fall below acceptable levels of service. Inman makes a point in his book that distinctly how pressing the need is to accommodate automotive traffic by stating that it was self limiting in nature and that it exists in a state of equilibrium that correlates to the level of service provided by the road network. Aside from this lack of foresight, the obviously apparent issues of fuel scarcity and environmental degradation magnify the need to re-evaluate the ways in which the masses are transported which will ultimately remove the extensive strain on both our supply of limited petroleum as well as our road network which is currently operating beyond capacity. As or fuel supply continues to dissipate along with

Richard 2 our space on the roadways, a change must be made to ensure that we can preserve these resources. For this reason, I propose an initiative to find an alternative means to personal automotive transportation in the form of a rapid and extensive alternative to our current system of mass transportation. The alternative being an large and consolidated bus system that is fast and efficient due to its reliance on allocated portions of the already existing road network. Before a solution is found however, the existing problems of the currently operating mass transit system must first be addressed. Currently, most densely populated urban areas in the United States rely on bus transportation as the main form of mass transportation provided to residents and commuters. Buses provided a simpler alternative to cable cars or trolleys because of their standalone nature of operation, which didnt rely on a network of cables suspended above street layer or a set of laid tracks. Buses also allowed for freedom of the operating bodies to alter routes based on accommodation needs due to the fact that buses lack the limiting infrastructure associated with rail and instead, rely on the roads, which can bring people places that in most cases light rail, cannot. Because buses came about at the age of the automobile, naturally the subsequent congestion issues that arose with the increasing popularity of the personal automobile hindered its efficiency. Cities that are fortunate enough to have light rail are often larger in scale and higher in density and as a result of this require a dedicated system simply intended for transporting large amounts of people along popular routes of travel. Light rail might be viewed by some as a mere evolution of its purpose in response to the rise in prominence of the car, but in reality it does seem to show some success as an alternative to automobiles overall. What determines how effective a light rail system is going to be are the overall startup cost of installing and operating the rail system itself and how alteration to the established built environment as well as bypassing of obstacles that are not negotiable, such as residential zones and potentially hazardous areas, must occur to accommodate the system as well. In most cases, light rail exists in the form of a subway system like the ones located in Los Angeles and New York City. This mostly has to do with the fact that these cities developed very rapidly later in the 20th century and as a result, the infrastructure for a rail underneath the city could be put in place easily before the overlying city became as heavily developed as it is. In cities like Chicago that have a

Richard 3 less restricting and obtuse city scape in comparison to some heavily commercial cities, a form of elevated subway may be implemented that travels above the roadways and across the top of some low standing buildings. Although it may not seem to be as aesthetically pleasing as a more consolidated and isolated subway system, but never the less it accomplishes the same goal of moving the masses efficiently. In the case of urban areas that are not as commercially active as New York City or Los Angeles and thus suffer more so from common problems that plague cities of today, specifically the problem of budgetary constraints. In simple terms, cities that dont missed out on receiving the accommodation for standalone mass transit services during their development are most likely not in the financial position to undertake what would now be a massively expensive and intensive undertaking. This challenge of course being adapting what will have to be an interweaving system of rail infrastructure over, under, and around built environment and more specifically, the already established road network. This is where the initiative begins to take shape and display its efficiency. Because the buses would rely on the already existing roads and highways that run around and through urban areas, they would in turn provide the infrastructure needed to operate the buses as opposed to having to lay hundreds and potentially thousands of miles of track to accommodate a region. Not only is this convenient, but it removes a substantial financial burden from cities that would have to sacrifice a large portion of their budget to pay for rail otherwise. In addition to this added financial relief, the federal government will partially subsidize the operation of the bus system as well as the construction of any minor additions and perhaps some minor modifications to the road network in the for of constructed boarding platforms and designated bus only lanes or busway. Although these bus ways may not extend entirely through an urban network, it may be implemented in high congestion areas where it is deemed necessary. Each Terminal or bus stop will be located within its own respective busway and separate from the rest of the actively moving road network. This prevents traffic flow from being impeded in the manner that traditional city buses do when pulling over at a bus stop and partially obstructing a travel lane. This also promotes safety for passengers when boarding and disembarking by removing them from the road network which can always present a

Richard 4 potential hazard to vehicles and pedestrians at the road side. Another unique feature associated with this system is the fact that it will utilize the highway systems to interconnect multiple cities within a region or corridor. This is something not attempted before due to the fact that there is currently no unified body that implements bus transit on such a scale utilizing roads of any kind. Being that this venture will be partially federally subsidized, there will be a pseudo federal operating entity that will be totally in charge of implementation, operation and maintenance of the bus system. Ultimately, the system is proposed to operate in a manner similar to light rail not only in basic principal, but more specific comparative details. The boarding platform for example for this new bus rapid transit system will be elevated above street level enough so that boarders can simply walk onto the bus instead of having to step up which increases accessibility for those who subsequently might be deterred from taking the bus such as those people requiring the services of a walker or a wheel chair. These platforms will in essence operate in a similar manner to rails stations where passengers transition from a terminal style waiting area in which they pay for service before boarding and from there are loaded and unloaded from the bus. Paying before entering the terminal ensures that once a bus pulls in, its passengers can seamlessly be loaded and unloaded without having to wait those who are boarding to pay Individually, which in turn saves time at stops. Some stops may only be a linear tube like enclose that abuts the roadway, where as other stations may be reminiscent of a coach or municipal bus terminal where buses are circulated in one direction through the station in order to make connections between buses and connect to other arterial or lower tier municipal bus services. This effectively will create a hierarchical system of interconnected bus networks that can be as small in scope as simply between neighborhoods to other extents of a city and eventually other cities in the region. This will present other commodities to the passenger consisting of real time message boards displaying arrival, departure and trip times based on real time traffic reports and trip generation models derived from volume flow rate data collected along bus routes within the system. Along with trip generation, these traffic studies will be used to determine the proximity of each larger urban area within a region and determine how well the traffic corridor connecting these regions will service the bus

Richard 5 system. Within isolated metropolitan areas with sprawling suburban and rural areas surrounding it, there will numerous parking structures adjoining larger bus terminals located centrally between the furthest extents of the rural areas and the heart of the city. The purpose of this is to allow for centralized hubs within metropolitan areas where people can drive their cars to and park while taking the interconnected bus system somewhere much further away than a traditional regional bus system would accommodate. One problem that must be dealt with in the implementation of the new bus system will be allocating space on roads to accommodate a new dedicated bus way. Due to the amount of developable area on freeways and interstate roadways, therefore, dedicating lane space on these roads will be simple. This is not the case in urban areas due to the constraints imposed both by the cramped nature of city streets along with other constraints induced by other components of the built environment, namely buildings and roadside structures and infrastructure that cannot be relocated easily. Along with the allocation of this road space, the terminals and elevated bus stops will have to be accommodated and constructed as well. However, one opportunity that this presents is that with the redevelopment at the street level resulting from construction will bring the chance to re-evaluate the re-allocate area for walkable space. Other problems associated with starting a large and highly coordinated operation of such a large scale might arise as well such as inconsistent trip times and initial low ridership, which can induce financial burden. It is the hope that with the structure and financial stability provided by the federal involvement and their subsidy in the program will allow for the rapid adjustment of the system to optimize its service as well as accommodate for any substantial start up costs. The primary goal of this initiative is to produce a means of moving people that has both the range, efficiency and speed of a light rail system with the simplicity, low startup and operational costs and higher reachable area of service of a traditional bus system. Also, the initiative proposes to solve other secondary issues as well, which will in turn promote the operation of the bus system in long run. With the appeal generated by the speed of the system and the opportunities it produces, drivers will be drawn from the already congested roadways to using these alternative expedited means of transportation. This in turn alleviate the strained network and allow for backlogged road work to be

Richard 6 completed leading the to eventual total updating of our existing and incredibly outdated road network. This decrease in cars helps to promote a more sustainable and practical use of the road network as it will reduce the amount of emissions produced as well as the slow the depletion of oil and gasoline. On top of all these benefits, perhaps the largest contributing factor of this new bus system is it takes a large step in the direction of recycling and reutilizing an outdated transportation system that intended to expedite bus service instead of hindering it as it does now.

Richard 7 Works Consulted

Inman, Robert P. Making Cities Work: Prospects and Policies for Urban America. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2009. Print.