Process Architecture No. 9: New Transport Systems in the World - Softcover

Oka Namiki Et Al

 
9780898600117: Process Architecture No. 9: New Transport Systems in the World

Synopsis

A major failing of public urban transportation today is its inability to provide adequate and attractive collection and distribution services in lower density areas of a metropolis. In some parts of urban areas and in many small cities and towns, the travel demand is too small to support any transit service at all. It is simply economically infeasible to route and schedule present transit vehicles efficiently when only a few people want to go to and from the same places during a short period of time. Rail systems are too expensive and are technologically unsuited for low volumes of demand. Ordinary buses cannot maintain sufficiently frequent service in outlying areas to attract any but those who have no alternative. What is needed is a public transit system which can respond dynamically to the needs of these areas, that is, a system whose routes and schedules are both flexible and ubiquitous. Mathematical routing and the associated computer programming present no real obstacles. What must be done is to put these isolated elements together into a unified system. The demand for transportation in areas of medium to low population density is at the present time predominantly served by private automobiles. Public transit trunklines may traverse these areas, but collector-distributor service is poor if it exists at all. The diversification of travel in and around major metropolitan areas requires fast intraurban transit links to move relatively high volumes of passengers between central cities and suburban growth centers. Increasingly, they will be needed for line-haul travel not oriented entirely to central Cross traffic among new towns, between satellite centers and international or regional airports, and as feeder-distributor systems serving the major high-speed ground lines along major regional corridors.

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