[sustran] Re: Negative thoughts on metro

Piotr Olszewski (Assoc Prof) COLSZE at ntu.edu.sg
Tue Mar 14 15:49:22 JST 2000


I am somewhat dismayed by the amount of anti-metro sentiment expressed on
this discussion list, of all places. "No more new metros!" ?? - this sounds
more like a battle cry of the pro-car lobby!  Has the enemy penetrated this
list? (;-)

Around the world the urban population keeps growing at an astonishing rate:
there are already 20 megacities with over 8 million people and their number
will keep increasing.  How can one possibly solve their transport needs in a
sustainable way without heavy rail?  Rail transport uses 3 times less energy
per passenger-km than bus and 9 times less than car. And metro is the only
mode that can compete with cars on travel time, for an average commute
distance (say, 10 km). 

This is not to say that metro is suitable for every large city, at any stage
of development or that heavy rail is always better than LRT. Clearly,
mistakes have been made in the past and often the limited funds available
can be better spent on improving the existing tram or bus system than on 1
more km of a metro tunnel. For a successful metro project, some criteria
must be met: there should be a critical population mass (minimum size),
sufficient development density, minimum GDP level and preferably an urban
planning/control system that promotes development along metro corridors.  

We can argue about the values of these thresholds but there should be some
agreement on the vision for a sustainable transport system for large cities.
Building a metro system, viewed as a strategic investment, may be needed to
push sprawling megacities in developing countries towards a more sustainable
urban form: a polynucleated city, with corridors of higher density along
metro lines. It has been shown that such an urban structure is the most
energy-efficient.   

-------------------------------------------
Piotr Olszewski           colsze at ntu.edu.sg
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore




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