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Think of a suburbs -> downtown commute situation. Houston comes to mind here. I believe that was the study. I'll have to go look at the source to be sure, thou

Think of a suburbs -> downtown commute situation. Houston comes to mind here. I believe that was the study. I'll have to go look at the source to be sure, though. Speaking of convenience factor, I can't wait for self-driving cars in this regard. I know it's a topic change, but widespread autonomous transport will clear up much of our traffic problems. Indeed, humans are the weak link when it comes to traffic. Not roads, signs, capacity, mass-transit, etc. but humans. We're just not capable of coordinating our behavior in traffic.

kbenson 13y ago
> Think of a suburbs -> downtown commute situation. Houston comes to mind here. > I believe that was the study. I'll have to go look at the source to be sure, though. That makes more sense, although I have to imagine some prioritization of public transit would alleviate this somewhat. > Speaking of convenience factor, I can't wait for self-driving cars in this regard Imagine self driving mixed with public transportation. Instead of large buses (or in addition to) we could have more, smaller vans, seating 6-10, depending. We could have multiple per prior bus serviced route if replacing a bus, and they could be more accurately dispatched base on load (having a bus service a route when there's few to no riders is a waste). Additionally, these could be used to add less commonly used, but still beneficial routes between farther points. To really make it next gen, you could allow people to reserve seats online for a small fee, which would give useful information on route usage and upcoming demand, to allow reserve units to be dispatched accordingly. If the cost of the drivers is removed, and the vehicle cost and repair can be brought down, a lot of really interesting things could be done with public transit.
clarkmoody 13y ago
I found the relevant section in my copy of Traffic: ...congestion pricing can help reverse a long-standing vicious cycle of traffic, one that removes the incentives to take public transportation. The more people who choose to drive to work, the worse the traffic. This raises the time the buses must spend in traffic, which raises the cost for bus companies, who raise the fares for bus commuters -- who are being penalized despite their own efforts to reduce total traffic. As the bus becomes less of a good deal, more people defect to cars, making things worse for the bus riders, who have even less incentive to ride the bus. (p. 167) The author cites congestion pricing as the solution, with money raised going to pay for buses. And this brings us full-circle to the argument that those buses should be free for riders. If a city charged cars to drive during congested times and subsidized bus fares with that money, this might be a solution to ease up congestion.

kbenson 13y ago

> Think of a suburbs -> downtown commute situation. Houston comes to mind here. > I believe that was the study. I'll have to go look at the source to be sure, though. That makes more sense, although I have to imagine some prioritization of public transit would alleviate this somewhat. > Speaking of convenience factor, I can't wait for self-driving cars in this regard Imagine self driving mixed with public transportation. Instead of large buses (or in addition to) we could have more, smaller vans, seating 6-10, depending. We could have multiple per prior bus serviced route if replacing a bus, and they could be more accurately dispatched base on load (having a bus service a route when there's few to no riders is a waste). Additionally, these could be used to add less commonly used, but still beneficial routes between farther points. To really make it next gen, you could allow people to reserve seats online for a small fee, which would give useful information on route usage and upcoming demand, to allow reserve units to be dispatched accordingly. If the cost of the drivers is removed, and the vehicle cost and repair can be brought down, a lot of really interesting things could be done with public transit.

clarkmoody 13y ago

I found the relevant section in my copy of Traffic: ...congestion pricing can help reverse a long-standing vicious cycle of traffic, one that removes the incentives to take public transportation. The more people who choose to drive to work, the worse the traffic. This raises the time the buses must spend in traffic, which raises the cost for bus companies, who raise the fares for bus commuters -- who are being penalized despite their own efforts to reduce total traffic. As the bus becomes less of a good deal, more people defect to cars, making things worse for the bus riders, who have even less incentive to ride the bus. (p. 167) The author cites congestion pricing as the solution, with money raised going to pay for buses. And this brings us full-circle to the argument that those buses should be free for riders. If a city charged cars to drive during congested times and subsidized bus fares with that money, this might be a solution to ease up congestion.