The Transit Metropolis
A Global Inquiry
Around the world, mass transit is struggling to compete with the private automobile, and in many places, its market share is rapidly eroding. Yet a number of metropolitan areas have in recent decades managed to mount cost-effective and resource-conserving transit services that provide respectable alternatives to car travel. What sets these places apart?
In this book, noted transportation expert Robert Cervero provides an on-the-ground look at more than a dozen mass transit success stories, introducing the concept of the "transit metropolis"—a region where a workable fit exists between transit services and urban form. The author has spent more than three years studying cities around the world, and he makes a compelling case that metropolitan areas of any size and with any growth pattern—from highly compact to widely dispersed—can develop successful mass transit systems.
Following an introductory chapter that frames his argument and outlines the main issues, Cervero describes and examines five different types of transit metropolises, with twelve in-depth case studies of cities that represent each type. He considers the key lessons of the case studies and debunks widely held myths about transit and the city. In addition, he reviews the efforts underway in five North American cities to mount transit programs and discusses the factors working for and against their success. Cities profiled include Stockholm; Singapore; Tokyo; Ottawa; Zurich; Melbourne; Mexico City; Curitiba, Brazil; Portland, Oregon; and Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Transit Metropolis provides practical lessons on how North American cities can manage sprawl and haphazard highway development by creating successful mass transit systems. While many books discuss the need for a sustainable transportation system, few are able to present examples of successful systems and provide the methods and tools needed to create such a system. This book is a unique and invaluable resource for transportation planners and professionals, urban planners and designers, policymakers and students of planning and urban design.
Preface
Part One- The Case for the Transit Metropolis 1
Chapter 1- Transit and the Metropolis: Finding Harmony 2
Types of Transit Metropolises 5
Transit Services and Technologies 14
The Case Approach 22
Chapter 2- Transit and the Changing World 26
Economic Restructuring: The Twin Forces of Concentration and Dispersal 27
Motorization 31
The Changing Nature of Travel and Its Causes 32
Problems of an Automobile-Dependent World 39
Chapter 3 - Public Policies and the Sustainable Transit Metropolis 62
Demand-Side Approaches 63
Supply-Side Approaches 68
Built Environments and the Demand for Transit 72
Transit's Impacts on Land Uses and Urban Form 81
Part Two - Adaptive Cities: Creating a Transit-Oriented Built Form 107
Chapter 4 - Orbiting the City with Rail-Served Satellites: Stockholm, Sweden 109
Building a Transit Metropolis 111
Building a World-Class Transit System 113
Stockholm's Rail-Served Satellites 114
Balance and Self-Containment 122
Commuting to and from Stockholm's New Towns 125
Supportive Policies and Programs 127
Learning from Stockholm 128
Chapter 5 - The Hand-Shaped Metropolis: Copenhagen, Denmark 132
Institutional Landscape 134
Evolution of Copenhagen's Land Use-Transport Plans 136
New Town Development 138
Development and Transit Ridership Trends 144
Shoring Up the Finger Plan 146
Nonmotorized Transport 148
Other Constraints on Auto Use 150
Learning from Copenhagen 151
Chapter 6 - The Master-Planned Transit Metropolis: Singapore 155
From Rickshaw to Rapid Transit 156
Centralized Planning in Singapore 158
Implementing the Plan 160
Urban Transport in Singapore 164
Restraints on Automobiles 168
Looking to the Future: The Constellation Plan 171
Learning from Singapore 176
Chapter 7 -The Entrepreneurial Transit Metropolis: Tokyo, Japan 181
Railway Development in Greater Tokyo 182
Private Suburban Railways and New Towns 189
The Tama Denin Toshi New Town 196
Recent Publicly Sponsored Rail-Oriented New Towns 203
Learning from Tokyo 206
Part Three - The Hybrids: Adaptive Cities and Adaptive Transit 211
Chapter 8 - Making Transit Work in the Land of the Autobahn: Munich, Germany 213
Transit and the City 215
Transit and Institutional Coordination 217
Coordinating Transit and Urban Development 227
Learning from Munich 232
Chapter 9 - Busways and the Hybrid Metropolis: Ottawa, Canada 237
The Ottawa-Carleton Region 238
Creating a Transit Metropolis 240
OC Transpo: Fitting Transit and the Cityscape 246
Development Impacts 252
Learning from Ottawa 258
Chapter 10 - Creating a Linear City with a Surface Metro: Curitiba, Brazil 265
The Curitiba Approach to Growth 266
Evolution of Integrated Planning in Curitiba 267
Land-Use Regulations and Supportive Policies 282
World-Class Transit at a Low Cost: Transit Today in Curitiba 286
Learning from Curitiba 292
Part Four - Strong-Core Cities: Transit and Central City Revitalization 297
Chapter 11 - Creating First-Class Transit with Transit-first Policies: Zurich, Switzerland 299
Transit and the City 300
Zurich's Transit-First Policy 304
Speed-up Transit Program 306
Restraints on Automobiles 312
Regional Service and Fare Incentives 313
Zurich's Verkehrsverbund 314
The Payoff 314
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