Author: Jarrett Walker
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610911741
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 256
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Book Description
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.
Author: Jarrett Walker
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 9781597269728
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
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.
Author: Alex Schafran
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781526143372
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 160
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Book Description
This book is about how a new form of social contract, which we call the spatial contract, can help revitalize the economies of the basic things that matter - the core systems which build and provision the settlements human beings call home.
Author: Christof Spieler
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610919033
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
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.
Author: Vukan R. Vuchic
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119488893
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 772
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Book Description
The only modern text to cover all aspects of urban transit operations, planning, and economics Global in scope, up-to-date with current practice, and written by an internationally renowned expert, Urban Transit: Operations, Planning, and Economics is a unique volume covering the full range of issues involved in the operation, planning, and financing of transit systems. Presenting both theoretical concepts and practical, real-world methodologies for operations, planning and analyses of transit systems, this book is a comprehensive single-volume text and reference for students as well as professionals. The thorough examination of technical fundamentals and management principles in this book enables readers to address projects across the globe despite nuances in regulations and laws. Dozens of worked problems and end-of-chapter exercises help familiarize the reader with the formulae and analytical techniques presented in the book's three convenient sections: Transit System Operations and Networks Transit Agency Operations, Economics, and Organization Transit System Planning Visually enhanced with nearly 250 illustrations, Urban Transit: Operations, Planning, and Economics is a reliable source of the latest information for transit planners and operators in transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, city governments, consulting firms as well as students of transportation engineering and city planning at universities and in professional courses.
Author: Steven Higashide
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1642830143
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 186
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Book Description
"Better Buses, Better Cities is likely the best book ever written on improving bus service in the United States." — Randy Shaw, Beyond Chron "The ultimate roadmap for how to make the bus great again in your city." — Spacing "The definitive volume on how to make bus frequent, fast, reliable, welcoming, and respected..." — Streetsblog 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. With a compelling narrative and actionable steps, Better Buses, Better Cities inspires us to fix the bus. Transit expert Steven Higashide shows us what a successful bus system looks like with real-world stories of reform—such as Houston redrawing its bus network overnight, Boston making room on its streets to put buses first, and Indianapolis winning better bus service on Election Day. Higashide shows how to marshal the public in support of better buses and how new technologies can keep buses on time and make complex transit systems understandable. Higashide argues that better bus systems will create better cities for all citizens. The consequences of subpar transit service fall most heavily on vulnerable members of society. Transit systems should be planned to be inclusive and provide better service for all. These are difficult tasks that require institutional culture shifts; doing all of them requires resilient organizations and transformational leadership. Better bus service is key to making our cities better for all citizens. 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.
Author: Christof Spieler
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1642832138
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
"Fully updated and expanded"--Back cover.
Author: Charles Montgomery
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429969539
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369
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Book Description
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.
Author: Taras Grescoe
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805095586
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337
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Book Description
Taras Grescoe rides the rails all over the world and makes an elegant and impassioned case for the imminent end of car culture and the coming transportation revolution "I am proud to call myself a straphanger," writes Taras Grescoe. The perception of public transportation in America is often unflattering—a squalid last resort for those with one too many drunk-driving charges, too poor to afford insurance, or too decrepit to get behind the wheel of a car. Indeed, a century of auto-centric culture and city planning has left most of the country with public transportation that is underfunded, ill maintained, and ill conceived. But as the demand for petroleum is fast outpacing the world's supply, a revolution in transportation is under way. Grescoe explores the ascendance of the straphangers—the growing number of people who rely on public transportation to go about the business of their daily lives. On a journey that takes him around the world—from New York to Moscow, Paris, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Bogotá, Phoenix, Portland, Vancouver, and Philadelphia—Grescoe profiles public transportation here and abroad, highlighting the people and ideas that may help undo the damage that car-centric planning has done to our cities and create convenient, affordable, and sustainable urban transportation—and better city living—for all.
Author: Vukan R. Vuchic
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 047175823X
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 622
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Book Description
This is the only current and in print book covering the full field of transit systems and technology. Beginning with a history of transit and its role in urban development, the book proceeds to define relevant terms and concepts, and then present detailed coverage of all urban transit modes and the most efficient system designs for each. Including coverage of such integral subjects as travel time, vehicle propulsion, system integration, fully supported with equations and analytical methods, this book is the primary resource for students of transit as well as those professionals who design and operate these key pieces of urban infrastructure.
