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Maybe it's time to seriously consider the East Asian model where transit companies also operate as property developers. This pretty much ensures that cities are
by starfallg 6y ago
Maybe it's time to seriously consider the East Asian model where transit companies also operate as property developers. This pretty much ensures that cities are designed with mass transit at its core and mass transit construction is part subsidized by the market.
That doesn't completely remove the need for public funding, just changes the dynamics so that it is more balanced. It also results in cities that organically grow with mass transit, making it an integral part of the infrastructure rather than an afterthought.
- pmyteh 6y agoThe Metropolitan Line of the London Underground was partly funded on that model. They bought farmland, built out a commuter railway to it, then either built housing or sold land at a profit in order to get capital receipts to part-pay for the railway and customers to ride it in perpetuity.
- rob74 6y agoYup (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-land https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-land). But that was before city planners in the West started catering almost exclusively to the automobile...
- lqet 6y agoWasn't this model a reason for the decline of the US public transit system? I remember reading somewhere that in cities like LA, transit companies build little frequented lines to properties they themselves developed, just to drive house prices up. After the properties were sold, the companies lost interest in maintaining the lines, and the system quickly deteriorated.