Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5924

Title: How Flexible Should Bus Service Be? Frequent Networks As a Tool For Permanent Change
Authors: Walker, Jarrett
Issue Date: 2009
Citation: International Conference Series on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport – 2009 – Delft, The Netherlands – Thredbo 11
Series/Report no.: Thredbo
11
Abstract: Buses are often hailed for their "flexibility" as a transport mode, compared to rail-based technologies. Many cities, though, need certainty about where high-quality services will be in the long term, so that they can guide both land use and road design in harmony with them. Bus Rapid Transit is an obvious example of "bus service made permanent." The infrastructure of BRT represents a fixed government investment in service in a certain place, which in turn provides the certainty that other city actors need as they decide how to grow the city, and whether they can rely on the permanence of the service as they do so. This paper asks: Can we seek similar permanence for frequent local-stop bus lines? A generation of North American land use planners and urbanists has decided that when it comes to local-stop services, trams matter and buses do not. But people make location decisions based on the mobility offered by public transport, so there is at least theoretical reason to believe that we would get better long-term patronage (and urbanist) outcomes if we fixed our best local bus services far in advance. The paper reviews current practice in “Frequent Network” strategies and branding to this end.
Description: Workshop 4 System development
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5924
Appears in Collections:Thredbo 11

Files in This Item:

File Description SizeFormat
4-05-088-2009-08-14-Walker-How-flexible-should-Bus-Service.pdf619.59 kBAdobe PDFView/Open

Items in Sydney eScholarship Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.