I have a MPA, but my area of concentration was Sewage, so I need some help here.
Imagine a generic city. Lots of people going here and there. No public transport.
So we decide to start a bus service. How do we determine that there is enough custom going from A to B at C time? Or if we have an existing bus service how do we determine that out schedule is the best possible?
While on the subject, how do we decide to spend billions to build a subway line from A to B?
I have oft wondered about this.
You’ll want to start with a survey of current mass transit usage. Even if there are no public busses, there are probably private companies offering taxi vans for multiple passengers, or even employers like hotels or factories running their own service to pick up employees.
It’s always best to start with a line that is likely to succeed - especially with very expensive projects like a subway or light rail. Housing and job density play a big role in this. It’s a lot tougher to make a rail line cost-effective in newer areas of a city, where car travel drives development (sorry).
On the other hand, where there are businesses right along a street, without parking lots to walk across, the situation is more favorable. It is also helpful to have some big employers right along the line, like factories, hospitals, etc. These two have the advantage of making use of the transit at multiple hours of the day and night, not just rush hour. Hospitals are also good from a political and marketing angle, because you can get a mix of working class and professional riders on your system, which helps decrease the stigma some associate with mass transit.
Politics can be a big factor - some mall worker was killed in Buffalo a few years back when she was forced to cross a busy roadway. The mall had refused to allow bus service into its parking lot. More frequently, a big construction project like a subway or elevated line can engender opposition, or politicking to get station, rather than the business a block or two away.
You also want your system to be cohesive, so you may decide to run several bus routes along a single street in order to make transfers between routes easier. An alternative to this approach is to have a transit station where most of the buses in that part of town stop, providing a sheltered place for transferring passengers.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, someone who actually has experience in this field will probably be along. Also, many of the factors in the US may be more or less important in Saudi Arabia. Like I need to tell you.
Oh, not a Saudi question, I am just enjoying an idle (Thursday/Friday) weekend. Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Well, if you live in Houston, TX, you pull random numbers out of your ass.
And then you waste a half billion dollars on a toy train that runs 7.5 miles and carries no passengers, but you call it a rousing success.
Atlanta is not much better. It would take me an hour to make the connections to go about 10 miles. I know our system is great… but thats only because its still mindnumbingly simple… Only Two line for the Rail, East-West and North-South.
(Ok, and part of a North East line, but you don’t have to go out of your way to get on the NE line… just wait for the next train on the same line at the station)
Then Again, it could be Japan, where we are “Helpped” aboard by Station Atendants. (Read packed in like sardines).