Critical Transit

Welcome!  Please visit the new site at CriticalTransit.com for all new and archived podcast episodes, frequent blog posts and ways to join the conversation.

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** Due to problems with podbean, this is the LAST episode to be posted here.  Please visit criticaltransit.com to read my near-daily blog posts and subscribe to the new blog feed and podcast feed. Thanks! **

Parking is a very important factor in urban design and transport mode choice, yet is frequently overlooked as cities consider it part of zoning codes rather than transportation infrastructure.

Sustainable transportation consultant Rachel Weinberger joins me to explain the connections between parking, transit and the urban environment. The costs of driving are not only heavily subsidized by all levels of government but also bundled into the costs of goods and services in the public and private sectors. As a result, the provision of free or cheap parking (and the perceived endless need for it) promotes driving and makes it more difficult to walk or use other transport modes. We also talk about her work on the original PlaNYC and other transportation politics and trends.

Find out more about Rachel Weinberger by reading her articles and in coverage on Streetsblog.

Please send questions, comments and suggestions for future topics or guests to feedback@criticaltransit.com.

** Due to problems with podbean, this is the LAST episode to be posted here.  Please visit criticaltransit.com to read my near-daily blog posts and subscribe to the new blog feed and podcast feed. Thanks! **

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A summary of news items turns into a discussion of how cities can use rail to increase capacity while reducing operating costs on overcrowded high-frequency bus routes. Too many people want rail for the wrong reasons, but the most convincing argument for rail is when you can't run enough buses to deal with demand. At the same time, rail is not inherently better than buses, but most people think that is the case because we usually provide high quality rail service and low quality bus service.

Hurricane Damage Cost New York City MTA $5 Billion; Nova Scotia intercity bus regulation change increased operator flexibility; transit users save $9,798 annually but only if you don't already own a car; parking makes cities less walkable and transit friendly; cities make people more liberal and open-minded; Vancouver to upgrade 99 B-Line bus to subway (as it should); Minneapolis has also been upgrading busy bus lines to light rail (construction updates); Ottawa is upgrading their model BRT system to light rail. Pittsburgh has three excellent busways. Read more about bus rapid transit in other places like Bogota and Curitiba. And you can follow Toronto's mayoral saga or the more interesting transit expansion news and the new US House T&I Committee chairman.

Follow the blog at CriticalTransit.com; also leave a message, and subscribe to the podcast feed. Send email to feedback@criticaltransit.com.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [01:09:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

A summary of news items turns into a discussion of how cities can use rail to increase capacity while reducing operating costs on overcrowded high-frequency bus routes. Too many people want rail for the wrong reasons, but the most convincing argument for rail is when you can't run enough buses to deal with demand. At the same time, rail is not inherently better than buses, but most people think that is the case because we usually provide high quality rail service and low quality bus service.

Hurricane Damage Cost New York City MTA $5 Billion; Nova Scotia intercity bus regulation change increased operator flexibility; transit users save $9,798 annually but only if you don't already own a car; parking makes cities less walkable and transit friendly; cities make people more liberal and open-minded; Vancouver to upgrade 99 B-Line bus to subway (as it should); Minneapolis has also been upgrading busy bus lines to light rail (construction updates); Ottawa is upgrading their model BRT system to light rail. Pittsburgh has three excellent busways. Read more about bus rapid transit in other places like Bogota and Curitiba. And you can follow Toronto's mayoral saga or the more interesting transit expansion news and the new US House T&I Committee chairman.

Follow the blog at CriticalTransit.com; also leave a message, and subscribe to the podcast feed. Send email to feedback@criticaltransit.com.

Join me for a great discussion on transit funding and politics with Andrew Austin from the national advocacy group, Americans for Transit. It's a difficult time to be a transit advocate fighting federal neglect of sustainable transportation. Yet despite all the problems, it's increasingly clear that Americans want more (and better) transit, and pressure is increasing at the local level.

Amir from Israel shares a few of the unique public transit challenges there related to religious tension and military transport. Minku from the Vegan Pedicab Podcast sent in an article on mobile transit apps, prompting some grand thoughts on how to make mobile transit apps useful.

Follow Americans for Transit on Twitter @A4Transit and Facebook. Check out their Organizing Guide and Directory and other great resources for advocacy and activism. You can also read the article written earlier this year on Streetsblog, and remember that transit agencies are not allowed to advocate for us so we must do it ourselves.

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Boston is a great place to visit (and live) and offers lots of great lessons on transit service design and operation. It has one of the most diverse transit fleets in North America -- heavy rail (subway/metro), light rail (trolley/streetcar/tram), local and express buses (diesel/CNG/hybrid), electric trolley buses (trackless trolleys), regional commuter rail and a handful of commuter ferry routes in Boston Harbor. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), known locally as "the T", provides service throughout the region and operates all of these modes. You can read all about the MBTA on Wikipedia and the transit history and vehicle roster page maintained by local transit fan Jonathan Belcher.

This week's super long show explores only a fraction of the system, including the Green Line light rail/trolley network, Blue Line heavy rail line, Silver Line bus rapid transit (BRT) lines, and the bus network in Harvard Square.

Please send in questions or comments on anything you hear to feedback@criticaltransit.com or comment on this page.

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Toronto cycling advocate Yvonne Bambrick joins me to discuss bike safety, politics and infrastructure. Yvonne was the first Executive Director of the Toronto Cyclists Union and is now an independent bike consultant. Activists there are engaging in civil disobedience to delay the politically motivated removal of the popular Jarvis Street bike lane, despite proven safety benefits and a tripling of bike counts since the lane was recently installed on the only north-south bike route in the city center.

In other news ... If you want cyclists off the sidewalks you have to make the streets safe for cycling. A geography lesson shows the segregation and sprawl in many coastal areas of the NY region, and apparently some people want MTA chief Joe Llota to run for mayor next year. City residents tend to own cars but use them infrequently, a terrible waste of public space.

Send your comments, questions and suggestions to feedback@criticaltransit.com and I will read them on the air. Critical Transit is listener supported, so if you enjoy the show, tell your friends and colleagues, leave a review on iTunes, and please consider making a donation or sponsoring an episode.

PLEASE NOTE: The podcast is moving to a new feed and will soon only be hosted at the main site. Please go there and resubscribe to the podcast feed on the upper right side, or copy and paste this link into iTunes or your preferred podcast software. Thanks for your support.

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Enjoy this special, extra-long episode on the damage from Hurricane Sandy and the struggle to rebuild devastated communities and submerged transit networks. We have shuttered rail lines, debris and trash all over the streets, massive flooding in stations, hundreds of shuttle buses, missing rail cars, huge neighborhoods in a now-snowy region with no heat or electricity. ...  More people are using bicycles and hopefully some will make it their preferred transport mode.

This episode features bits of live audio from Boston during the hurricane and from my epic transit journey from Boston to New York via a combination of local bus services when intercity carriers were not running.

Next week is a discussion about bicycling in Toronto with Yvonne Bambrick, along with NYC area storm recovery efforts. Later this month, the rest of my audio from riding, walking and biking in Boston.

Great photos of the damage and amazing recovery efforts courtesy of MTA Photos on flickr:

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The first three listener emails came in, prompting a discussion of off-board fare payment and the differences as it applies in urban and rural settings.  Variable loads can make buses appear empty and cause a political problem, so what to do about it?

We end with a very informative clip from a talk by Human Transit author Jarrett Walker earlier this year, focusing on the four important questions to consider before attempting to design transit service. In other words, ask yourself what you are trying to achieve.

I am in Boston this week so stay tuned for some great content including on-street interviews and transit trips when I return.

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A great show today where Alex and I discuss everything from politically-driven street design changes to the effects of car culture on our society. We reclaim some parking spaces along the way, ponder the best way to move sustainable transportation forward, and observe that car-free is the way to be.

Check out the fine work of the Somerville Bicycle Committee and their facebook page.If you're in the Boston area, lend your support for the city's first protected bike lane on its busiest cycling route.

We mentioned research by John Pucher and the Victoria Transport Policy Institute on cycling, parking policies, and highlighted efforts to improve the plight of Indian rickshaw operators and a new UBC study showing that bike infrastructure in Vancouver reduced injuries by as much as 90 percent. We also love that Park(ing) Day shows how cars waste urban space. And why cycling is both progressive and conservative.

Next week I have another great show for you while I am visiting Boston to ride buses, trains and my bicycle.

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