Does transit work? A conservative reappraisal

Weyrich, Paul M.; Lind, William S.

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Does transit work? A conservative reappraisal

1999-05-01
By Weyrich, Paul M. ; Lind, William S.

File Language:

English

Details

Creators:

Weyrich, Paul M. ; Lind, William S.
Corporate Creators:

Free Congress Research and Education Foundation
Subject/TRT Terms:

Bus Transit Chicago (Illinois) Commuting Competition High Quality Transit Level Of Service Light Rail Transit Public Transit Quality Of Service San Diego (California) St. Louis (Missouri) Transit Competitive Trips
Resource Type:

Research Paper
Geographical Coverage:

Chicago (Illinois) ; San Diego (California) ; St. Louis (Missouri)
Corporate Publisher:

American Public Transit Association
Abstract:

The American people need a dependable and affordable means to get to work and back each day; roughly half of all Americans have any transit available to them and a still smaller number have the high quality transit available that would be utilized versus an automobile. One of the principal arguments against mass transit is the "one percent argument" -- the assertion that transit carries only about one percent of total trips. But this paper argues that the central problem is not the answer but the question. Total trips is a poor yardstick with which to measure the effectiveness of public transit. Instead, the authors propose a new measurement: transit competitive trips. If we ask what percentage transit carries of the trips for which it can compete, we get a very different picture, one that accords much more closely with the real importance of mass transit in urban areas. The study goes on to apply this new measurement to three transit systems, each of which represents high quality transit: Chicago's Metra commuter rail system and the Light Rail systems in San Diego and St. Louis. In each case, the system does far better than the transit critics suggest.
Format:

PDF
Collection(s):

US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:b0d713c220e00763594d3c2c07984089cd578bcc3d348b72979cc7c5179e3796
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/14129/dot_14129_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 501.62 KB ]

File Language:

English

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