[sustran] Re: Cities and Transportation: Choices and Consequences

[Alan P Howes]

You were indeed fortunate, Todd - sounds like a good conference, and
many thanks for sharing what you learnt. My responses inserted in your
text - 

On Wed, 20 Feb 2002 17:57:13 -0800, Todd Litman <litman at vtpi.org>
wrote to "Transit-Prof at yahoogroups.com"
<Transit-Prof at yahoogroups.com>, "sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org"
<sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org>:

<snip>
>As an example, Professor Martin Wach pointed that parking pricing has more
>influence on travel behavior than virtually any conceivable improvement in
>transit service quality. Charging for parking or Parking Cash Out reduces
>automobile trips by 10-20%, more than twice as much as huge transit
>investments being implemented in the Southern California region. He
>emphasized that without pricing, virtually all other transportation
>improvements are more costly, or to put it more positively, virtually any
>transportation improvement can become more effective and cost effective if
>implemented in conjunction with pricing strategies, such as road tolls,
>parking pricing and distance-based road charges.

Like I keep saying, sticks and carrots. But there seem to be few
decision-makers who can see it that way. They seem to think that
either the stick, or the carrot, will be enough.
Can you please explain, Todd, "Parking Cash Out"?

<another snip>
>Dr. Tony Graying described UK experience with bus transit reform, which was
>privitized throughout the country except in London 14 years ago. 

I entirely agree with Dr Graying's conclusions, but should point out
that bus transit in London is not exactly in public ownership. The
operating companies (including the buses themselves) were privatised
in the early 1990s - but crucially, there remains a strong element of
planning, financing and control by the public authorities - Transport
for London, aka London Transport. The bus services are operated under
route contracts awarded after a tendering process.

<The rest of Dr Graying's conclusions are too good to be snipped>
>His
>research concludes that this policy experiment indicates that privitization
>tends to reduce subsidy costs but also reduces transit service quality, and
>therefore ridership. London was the only area in the UK that experienced
>growth in bus ridership, he argues, because public ownership allows better
>network planning and coordination, which was lost in other regions. His
>conclusion is that to make transit attractive relative to cars, it is
>important to retain control over transportation planning and transit
>service quality if privitization is implemented. He identified the
>following key elements of a bus transit strategy:
>* Planned network
>* Whole journey planning (land use accessibility, pedestrian/cycling
>conditions, driver courtesy, etc.)
>* Priority transit routes
>* Accessible vehicles
>* Good connections
>* Excellent information
>* Effective marketing
>* Affordable fares
>
>
>He described a really cool new interactive Internet based model that
>predicts the travel impacts of various transit policies, including changes
>in transit service, speed and price, and changes in the relative price of
>driving ("Virtual Learning Arcade - London Transport",
>http://vla.ifs.org.uk/models/mets22.html, Institute for Fiscal Studies,
>2001). Although it is simple to use, it was developed with the help of
>Professor Phil Goodwin, a leading UK transportation economist, and is based
>on sophisticated, state-of-the-art modeling.

Must look at that - Phil Goodwin is a man I respect

>Based on this analysis, Dr. Graying concludes that:
>* Reducing London Underground fares provides no benefits (since it is
>already operating at capacity).
>* Reducing bus fares provides modest net benefits (value for money).
>* Increasing bus service provides better net benefits.
>* Speeding bus service (through transit priority measures) provides
>excellent net benefits.

Oh yes!

>* Congestion pricing also provides net economic benefits.

Do you know, Todd, where I can get hold of Dr Graying's full text?
-- 
Alan Howes, Dubai, UAE (Otherwise Perthshire, Scotland)
alaninthegulf at yahoo.co.uk
Professional website   (Needs Updating!): 
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/alanhowes/