5 ms·

Human Transit (2011)

20 points by elvinyung 8y ago

cozzyd 8y ago
The site seems to be down for me, but if it is a link to what I think it is (Jarret Walker's book), this is a great introduction to tradeoffs involved in transit planning.
- elvinyung 8y ago
  Oops, guess I gave it the hug of death. But yeah, recently started reading this book and I think it's the one book that finally begins to codify my interest in transit infrastructure and urban form.
- mlinksva 8y ago
  Another site http://jarrettwalker.com/ http://jarrettwalker.com/ and https://twitter.com/humantransit https://twitter.com/humantransit I'm not sure they've done any work in the SF bay area, but nearby I recently ran across a background analysis they did for Sacramento which I found really interesting http://www.sacrtforward.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SacRT-Forward-Transit-Choices-Report-compressed.pdf http://www.sacrtforward.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SacRT...
skadamat 8y ago
Really good book, I really encourage everyone who's interested in cities to read it.
frankus 8y ago
The book details a bunch of interesting things that aren't really apparent until you've taken the time to think them through, for example: - There are very few inherent differences between buses and rail—most of what we think of as inherent differences are incidental (such as grade separation and offboard payment). - Running a bus faster is cheaper than running it slowly. - Introducing a transfer into someone's trip, all else equal, can make the trip faster.
- fjsolwmv 8y ago
  Isn't fixed rail a huge difference from flexible routing buses? How do transfers save time? By indirectly eliminating stops (two express routes)?
  - frankus 8y ago
    If you’ve built dedicated busways that portion of the route loses flexibility (presumably in exchange for speed and reliability). Transfers are explained here: http://humantransit.org/2009/04/why-transferring-is-good-for-you-and-good-for-your-city.html http://humantransit.org/2009/04/why-transferring-is-good-for...
    - peatmoss 8y ago
      In addition to busses being able to operate on less-flexible but faster infrastructure (EDIT: as well as on ordinary streets), express and non-express vehicles can integrate seemlessly at stations, which is a pretty cool benefit.
- peatmoss 8y ago
  For me, hearing Jarrett’s perspective of technological agnosticism resonated strongly with me. Each transit technology comes with various tradeoffs that can sometimes be unbundled and sometimes cannot. It’s hard for people to understand how good busses can be unless you’ve seen a system of the sort Jarrett would hold up as an example. This is one of a handful of books that I like to recommend to erstwhile transportation geeks along with Vanderbilt’s, Downs’s, and Shoup’s. Disclosure: I had a minuscule role in helping review an early draft of Jarrett’s book.
  - wool_gather 8y ago
    Could you share the titles of those other books? Searching for a "Vanderbilt transit book" only brings up pages of commuting advice from Vanderbilt University.
    - 8y ago

20 points by elvinyung 8y ago

The site seems to be down for me, but if it is a link to what I think it is (Jarret Walker's book), this is a great introduction to tradeoffs involved in transit planning.

elvinyung 8y ago
Oops, guess I gave it the hug of death. But yeah, recently started reading this book and I think it's the one book that finally begins to codify my interest in transit infrastructure and urban form.
mlinksva 8y ago
Another site http://jarrettwalker.com/ http://jarrettwalker.com/ and https://twitter.com/humantransit https://twitter.com/humantransit I'm not sure they've done any work in the SF bay area, but nearby I recently ran across a background analysis they did for Sacramento which I found really interesting http://www.sacrtforward.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SacRT-Forward-Transit-Choices-Report-compressed.pdf http://www.sacrtforward.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SacRT...

skadamat 8y ago

Really good book, I really encourage everyone who's interested in cities to read it.

frankus 8y ago

The book details a bunch of interesting things that aren't really apparent until you've taken the time to think them through, for example: - There are very few inherent differences between buses and rail—most of what we think of as inherent differences are incidental (such as grade separation and offboard payment). - Running a bus faster is cheaper than running it slowly. - Introducing a transfer into someone's trip, all else equal, can make the trip faster.

fjsolwmv 8y ago
Isn't fixed rail a huge difference from flexible routing buses? How do transfers save time? By indirectly eliminating stops (two express routes)?
- frankus 8y ago
  If you’ve built dedicated busways that portion of the route loses flexibility (presumably in exchange for speed and reliability). Transfers are explained here: http://humantransit.org/2009/04/why-transferring-is-good-for-you-and-good-for-your-city.html http://humantransit.org/2009/04/why-transferring-is-good-for...
  - peatmoss 8y ago
    In addition to busses being able to operate on less-flexible but faster infrastructure (EDIT: as well as on ordinary streets), express and non-express vehicles can integrate seemlessly at stations, which is a pretty cool benefit.
peatmoss 8y ago
For me, hearing Jarrett’s perspective of technological agnosticism resonated strongly with me. Each transit technology comes with various tradeoffs that can sometimes be unbundled and sometimes cannot. It’s hard for people to understand how good busses can be unless you’ve seen a system of the sort Jarrett would hold up as an example. This is one of a handful of books that I like to recommend to erstwhile transportation geeks along with Vanderbilt’s, Downs’s, and Shoup’s. Disclosure: I had a minuscule role in helping review an early draft of Jarrett’s book.
- wool_gather 8y ago
  Could you share the titles of those other books? Searching for a "Vanderbilt transit book" only brings up pages of commuting advice from Vanderbilt University.
  - 8y ago