Bus is a Bus

Sorry, putting a cattle guard on a bus doesn't make it a streetcar.

Design Matters

Interior design of buses matters as we found out with the Van Hool debacle in Oakland. But let's not forget that the exterior matters as well. I'll be interested to see how the Roadmaster double deckers will be replaced in London with a sleeker Aston Martin version. James Bond on the bus? Maybe. If people see buses as dirty old carbon spewers they won't even think to take them. It's hard now to get people to take the bus in places where the culture of bus riding is absent, but design can help change the image, and things like this are a step in the right direction.

Marsha Marsha Marsha

It's a sad sad story when transit gets first dibs:

"Why do the buses get the privilege?" asks Mary Rheaume, who lives a few blocks from Cedar Avenue and is unimpressed with the new signal. "Why can't they take the loop like everybody else?"

Mental Block Hop

On a loop around from our post on transit and energy usage, Matt discusses the issues of fares and the thought that transit should have little or no cost to use, just like empty roads. BUT, only if they are not crowded. That is time for congestion pricing. Empty buses, as that study showed do us no good. Heck I wouldn't mind if Muni were free during off periods. I was talking to a friend today who mentioned when he has his Muni pass, it makes him take transit more, because all he has to do is hop on. I would do the same thing, not worrying about getting quarters out of my bag. As he said, it's just enough of a mental block to discourage it, just like losing my parking spot discourages me from driving.

Transit Energy Efficiency & Lifecycle Costs

We've seen any number of calculations of energy efficiency and green house gases in transit modes. Some a bit out there because of crazy assumptions for autos. Even our favorite libertarian O'Toole played the game. The problem with all of these is that they don't consider the whole picture, or what happens when buildings are built closer together and transportation makes it easier for people to walk. But I digress.

At Rail~Volution I saw a presentation by Tina Hodges at the FTA that had some cool charts and comparisons of modes. The one I've seen before is the increase in VMT versus what CAFE standards will do. Now we've seen that there is a bit of a drop recently due to the economy but with gas prices as they are and no change in habits, I still believe this will happen.


Then here is the difference between current occupancies vs. all of the vehicles full and over the lifecycle of the vehicle in the second chart. These are based on a UC Berkeley study by Mikhail Chester that considered vehicle construction, guidway construction etc. The list of items lifecycled are at the link. Apparently buses off peak are the worst and peak are the best, even better than rail lines. Yet rail lasts longer and attracts more passengers overall so on average is better. I didn't really have time to read the 332 page tome, but if you're interested go for it.


But the most interesting in the presentation to me was the difference between the Heavy Rail modes. BART is the most efficient while Cleveland is almost as bad as a single occupancy vehicle. The relative inefficiency of the EL was surprising to me as well.

Thought this would be of interest to folks. I have to say again that its necessary to not just measure the lifecycle and modes but rather the land uses and transportation, but its interesting to learn that this work is being done.

Go Walking!

From TCSP

Portland Adding Service!

Tri Met in Portland seems to be the only agency in the country that is adding service. That was a breath of fresh air to me.

Gotta Have More Cowbell...err Charlotte

After visiting Charlotte for the second time, I'm really impressed with the city's growth and new transit. I've posted a few times on the ridership moving towards its 2025 projections and here is another article about the one year anniversary. But this also has some other interesting stats, the increase in bus route ridership that connects with the light rail lines.

No.24 Nations Ford, which connects to the Arrowood and Woodlawn road stations: 16,111 then, 23,794 last month.

No. 42 Carowinds, from the South Point Business Park near Carowinds to the I-485/South Boulevard stop: 412 then, 3,589 last month.

No. 43 Ballantyne, which travels to the Sharon Road West station: 3,710 then, 8,259 last month.

No. 44 Fort Mill, from Wells Fargo in Fort Mill to the Arrowood stop: 1,471 to 3,615.

No. 58 Pineville, which runs from the I-485 station to Carolina Place Mall: 12,294 to 16,318.

Some of this is from $4 gas I'm sure, but the growth in ridership shows the pull that the light rail line has. Here's my favorite photo from the trip last week. Thursday around mid-day.

Transportmakers

Here's an idea that i've been pondering. If we are going to bailout the auto industry, which I'm not sure is a great idea, we should do it on conditions. First is that they have to stop fighting California and other states emissions standards. I can't tell you how much I abhor breathing in exhaust when I'm walking around the city. The electric wires might be unsightly, but I'm not breathing them in.

Another should be looking into the possibility of building bus, light rail, and passenger train cars(including HSR). Now this might or might not be such a good idea seeing as the last time Boeing tried this the vehicles they created were lemons. But its worth exploring. If we want to think seriously about expanding transit capacity, we need to do something to speed up production. I have a feeling that siemens and other makers aren't going to be able to keep up with the demand that is coming.

But Mr. Udall recognized that the country could not afford the economic consequences of losing all of the automobile industry’s jobs and profits. He proposed that the auto companies branch out into “exciting new variants of ground transportation” to produce minibuses, “people movers,” urban mass transit and high-speed intercity trains. Instead of expanding the Interstate highway system, he suggested that the road construction industry take on “huge new programs to construct mass transit systems.” And he called for building “more compact, sensitively planned communities” rather than continuing urban sprawl.

Glad he's thinking not just about the transport system but the land use that feeds it.

A Thousand Words

Creeps & weirdos GM ad against transit
Originally uploaded by rllayman

And we wonder why we have to work so hard to get people to take transit. h/t Richard Layman

Rail Ridership in LA Up Again

I'm always curious when people such as the BRU pit themselves against better mid and long range transit. What seems missed in the arguments over bus and rail is the network is the reasons for each mode. Just like the circulatory system in your body, you wouldn't ask capillaries to do the long distance blood moving that your veins do.

But another interesting development is the recent skyrocket in rail ridership and slightly lower bus ridership increases in Los Angeles. The Gold Line in particular is moving up, taking a 39% increase over the same time last year, with all rail up 20%. But the Orange Line and the LA Bus system were up 8% and 6% respectively. Not that 75,000 new riders is anything to to sneeze at on the bus tip, but with only 4 lines, rail ridership increased 53,236 total riders. That is a lot of capacity on four corridors that just got soaked up. Imagine if there were more rail corridors and more possible network connections.

One Tank or Bust

Jeff at Urban Infill did the Cota Challenge. Now these types of things are becomming commonplace. Danni Brancaccio has started a blog and even been interviewed by Fox News about her One Tank or Bust summer. I think its great that people are starting to get into the transit oriented lifestyle. There is one thing though I think transit planners and others should remember though. You shouldn't have to be a hero to take transit. It should be convenient and user friendly.

Subsidy and Busolotics

Slate has a great article up on auto subsidies we don't talk about a lot...like tax deductions.

Also, Streetsblog LA has a link to the latest BRU screed. I know Damien is trying to give equal time, but these guys had an excellent chance to prove their point with the consent decree and got little new ridership from it. BRU, go away.

While the special master has ordered a one-third increase in the size of the bus fleet, “the actual number of people we carry on the bus has remained flat,” said MTA CEO Roger Snoble. (The BRU says bus ridership has increased about 1 percent per year.) “We’re not taking cars off the street. In fact, we’re adding buses to the streets, which is causing more traffic jams,” said Snoble. Since it costs about $200,000 per year to operate a bus, and most buses are only about 30 percent full, something isn’t working. Unconcerned, and despite $1 billion spent to comply with the consent decree, the BRU continues to push for even more bus purchases, doubling the size of the fleet to 4,000 buses, and a ban on all rail construction.

Stealin the Bus

Heh. Some kids like the thrill of the route:

James Harris loves public buses so much, he stole one from a Miami-Dade depot last month and, wearing a genuine uniform, chauffeured unsuspecting fare-paying passengers around South Beach for hours, police and government officials said Thursday.

Via Planetizen

For Real?

Who would have guessed that the bus system in Milwaukee is declining after the County Executive keeps trying to drown it in a bathtub Grover Norquist style.

With a veto override attempt coming up next week on a sales tax referendum, a recent state audit is echoing calls to boost funding for the Milwaukee County Transit System.

The independent audit, required by state law, depicts the bus system as a cost-effective operation with declining service. Auditors recommended more state and local funding, in the form of a dedicated revenue stream.

I Wish They Were All Like This

Man what a great find. Becks over at Living in the O has found the best bus stop mod ever. Check out the photos.

What's Not to Like?

Losing Weight, Saving Money and Taking Transit. The COTA Challenge.

I was walking more, to and from the grocery store for example, and walking to the bank, the hardware store, library or Blockbuster rather than taking the car and I shed twenty pounds within five months. When I found that most of my pants were too large, I walked to the new thrift store and bought a new ones.
...
Frankly, the high cost of gas has improved my life.

Epic Fail

I think LOLstuff is pretty funny. This one probably wasn't funny when it happened but its quite transit oriented and a bit humorous now. There's a similar picture of a railroad fail where the train fell out of the second story of a station. Ah I think I found it.

But the photo below kind of got me thinking on how diesel buses are the work horse of transit yet they are still susceptible to all the price hikes and gas issues that hit cars. I wish they weren't, but they don't all have alternatives to diesel yet. Perhaps more trolley buses would help save agencies money. Just a thought.


see more pwn and owned pictures

Free Shipping

I was talking with my Grandmother last night about downtown Oakland. It used to be the place to go for shopping and she remembers when there were four large department stores downtown. She also mentioned something else interesting; free delivery. Since most people in the 20s and 30s took public transit shopping, if they bought an item at a department store it was delivered to their home, for free. Sure would make some transit trips easier to make when the complaint is, "I can't take that on the train."

Yosemite's Relation to Transit

This weekend I was in Yosemite camping with my siblings. There always seems to be a transit twist with my trips and this one was no different, even in the wilderness where there was no cell phone reception or access to technology but there were buses.

On the first day we went to Yosemite Valley. If you haven't been I certainly recommend it. It's stunningly beautiful and made me wish that I could still run twenty miles at a time, specifically during this picture...



After the meadow, we drove to a parking lot and left our car. We hopped on the bus and it took us to a trail head for mirror lake. It was amazing and we got a good view of the lake's reflection of the mountains.







The next day we went to Hetch Hetchy, where San Francisco gets its water. Down stream that water gets turned into hydroelectric power for Muni Metro and trolleybuses. You'll have to turn your screen sideways for the video of Wampama falls.








All in all it was a fun trip.