Tag: Public transport
Urban density not denting CO2 emissions, sadly
You’ve heard it before: The U.S. is urbanizing, and younger generations are becoming less and less car-reliant. It’s logical that CO2 emissions would drop as people move into the cities and, presumably, opt for less environmentally-damaging transportation. So why are CO2 emissions still climbing? A Boston University paper authored by Conor K. Gately, Lucy R. […]
How New York’s transit system may become car-funded
Could cars fund the New York City public transit system? A new Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) report proposes vehicle-based fees to fund the MTA for the next five years. The report, More than Fare: Options for Funding Future Capital Investments by the MTA, investigates the MTA’s existing financial obstacles and pinpoints methods of raising capital […]
How policy leads to sprawl
Development policy leads to urban sprawl, and the resulting costs are enormous. A new report, Analysis of Public Policies That Unintentionally Encourage and Subsidize Urban Sprawl, authored by Todd Litman of the Victorian Transport Policy Institute, investigates. Sprawl results in drops in ecological and agricultural productivity, higher public infrastructure and service costs, and greater transportation […]
The poverty-public transit connection
Seattle, which last year upped its minimum hourly wage to $15, just launched an innovative concept in public transit: income-based fares for its impoverished population. While fare hikes always make the news, Seattle’s King County Metro and Sound Transit has begun offering transit riders income-based discounts, which can drop fares by more than 50%. As […]
Denver’s park-and-rides increase emissions, says study
Park-and-rides — parking lots located near transit depots where drivers drop off their cars and embark on public transit — are meant to limit car-produced pollution, but they may not be all they’re cracked up to be, according to a recent study. The study, “Are park-and-rides saving the environment or just saving parking costs?”, hails from the University […]
New transit models account for both passenger comfort and profit maximization
Just how comfortable and costly public transit service is has a lot to do with both vehicle capacity and frequency, according to a study published by Elsevier and written by Avi Herbon and Yuval Hadas of Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Happily for transit aficionados and urban planners alike, the study, Determining optimal frequency and vehicle capacity […]
Millennials leading the way in carless commuting
While baby boomers continue to drive to work en masse, recently released census data suggests that transportation-related change is afoot. Commuters, led by young workers, are moving towards carless transportation, opting increasingly for public transport and walking, reports the Brookings Institution. Census information from the 2013 American Community Survey points out the specifics: workers aged […]
