[sustran] Public vs Private transport- space efficiency

[Carlos F. Pardo SUTP]

Dear all,

 

As part of the training course on public awareness and behavior change, I’ve
developed a video to show space efficiency of cars vs public transport. You
can see the video at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=guodaBkDPP0 . After some
discussion with Eric Britton (relevant excerpts below), it would be useful
to hear anybody else’s comments. Of course, bear in mind that I did this for
policymakers and social scientists (and others) who will promote sustainable
transport with simple and explanatory tools.

 

Any feedback is most welcome. Best regards,

 

Carlos F. Pardo 
Coordinador de Proyecto 
GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) 
Cl 125bis # 41-28 of 404
Bogotá D.C., Colombia
Tel:  +57 (1) 215 7812

Fax: +57 (1) 236 2309  
Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662
e-mail:  <mailto:carlos.pardo at sutp.org> carlos.pardo at sutp.org 
Página:  <http://www.sutp.org/> www.sutp.org

  _____  

De: Eric Britton [mailto:eric.britton at ecoplan.org] 
Para: 'Carlos F. Pardo SUTP'
Asunto: So it's TEN times more space-efficient???

 

I’m not quite sure that is quite the whole story Carlos.  Might we explore
the bigger picture together here for a moment?

 

1.      The clip lasts for 40 seconds
###yes.

 2.      It shows five lanes of urban highway in Bogotá with car traffic at
close to capacity, which means average speeds I guess on the order 50/60
kph?
#### no, it’s actually 10-20 km/h.

 3.      And then the one dedicated lane with a single TM artic, moving
along at a clip a good deal faster than the cars.
### yes.

4.      You suggest that the bus is full??
#### I know that bus is full.

** Just to be sure: What you are saying is that all the TM busses are pretty
much full in the same rush hours that the car lanes are full

 5.      It is clear that whereas there is zero room for more cars in the
five lanes they occupy, the reserved lane could accommodate more vehicles.
### yes, BUT that would mean oversupply, and less people per bus (I assume
you mean bus by “vehicle”). 
** Not all that sure Carlos. The objective of our NewMob policy is high
quality high comfort transport for all. So we have a couple of objectives ..
. 

o              The first is to get through a carrot/stick policy drivers out
of all those cars and into other space-efficient transport.

o              TM is a great example of this last but far from the only one

o              Remember that we want to come as close to ‘car-like mobility’
(refers to direct access, waiting times, comfort, etc.) as we can.

o              This suggests that we need not only TM but a lot of other
good (and flexible) stuff as well (we call it xTransit but call it as you
will).

o              We also need to bear in mind that when you cram too many
people on board a bus, this is not necessarily a sign of total success.

 

In fact, what I would love to have – and I am sure that some one must have
this in hand – would be a kind of ‘thermometer of space efficiency’, which
will give us a meter stick for looking at all this stuff and somehow getting
it into proportion.

More than that, I would; then like to see if we can somehow establish this
as a new mobility measuring stick which becomes a tool of the trade.

 #### right, or it could be just a “rule” that you would have, e.g. “count
the number of cars that pass by during a given time, and then divide by x to
see how many buses are needed. If it is more than one lane, divide again by
the amount of lanes
”

 

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