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The
terrorist attacks of September 11 shocked the world. They also shocked our
transportation system as air travel was grounded and local streets,
tunnels, and bridges in Washington, D.C. and New York City were closed.
Through the horror, however, the
nation’s two most-used transit systems kept operating, reuniting workers
with loved ones and evacuating both cities without panic. Good transit is
now a national security issue.
“Transit Rules the Road,”
proclaimed The Washington Post, when it reported that transit ridership in
the DC area increased 11 percent from June 2000 to June 2001. Everywhere,
turnstiles are spinning, projects are breaking ground, and existing
transit systems are extending lines and improving core capacity. Ridership
broke records in 2000. Skeptics claim this is a “blip,” driven by high
gasoline prices and a souring economy; they are wrong. The economy grew
five percent in 2000 and gas prices were well below historic highs on an
inflation-adjusted basis. Yet transit ridership grew nearly five percent
nationwide while growth in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) was flat. As gas
prices fell in 2001, transit grew another 2.8 percent while VMT grew only
0.6 percent. No precedent exists for this massive shift in traveler
behavior.
What is the explanation? This
edition of Progress argues that transit is providing value, like faster,
cleaner and more convenient service reducing the impact of things like
pollution, landscape destruction, and soaring personal transportation
costs. And communities are
responding. More transit referenda are passing, the queue for new starts
is getting longer, and polls consistently place transit improvements over
new highway capacity in the hearts and minds of the community.
Let’s not blow it. If there is
one lesson to be learned, it is that how you locate, design, develop and
implement transportation systems is as important as what you develop.
Community needs must be integrated with technical issues of system design
and efficiency. Location of appropriate land uses near transit is critical
to success, and customers must be provided real-time information on system
performance. Transportation systems are large and complex, with feedback
loops that complicate analysis. This complexity makes effective community
participation – and thus, trust in the decision-making process – key.
Transit supporters must learn
these lessons. Often, choices in technology, location, and design do not
reflect the function or character of surrounding communities. The result
is what Hank Dittmar calls “auto-oriented transit”—acres of parking
surrounding transit stations, or “development-adjacent
transit”—high-density development that makes mixed-use, mixed-income
development unlikely. Instead, transit stations must be multi-modal nodes
designed for excellent pedestrian and cycling access, as well as useful
commercial and institutional facilities such as banks, day-care centers,
shops and post offices. When it is well planned, transit supports, even
creates community. Poorly planned, transit can tear communities apart.
This is a defining moment for
transit, the “tipping point” where transportation can work for
community outcomes. Read on for good ideas on help make the most of this
unprecedented opportunity.
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INSIDE
Policy
Briefs
If
at First You Don't Succeed
Local
Funding is Needed
Metro
Chambers Urge Transit
Lessons
from the
Ballot Box
Winning
Transit Elections
Ten
Years of Progress
OP/ED:
A Light Rail Letter to the Editor
Commuter
Choice Program: Everybody Benefits
Resources
for Responding to the Critics
STPP
Announcements/ Where are They Now?
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Current Table
