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Jarrett Walker

@jarrett-walker · 11 positions · 0 changes of mind

Public transit planning consultant and author of Human Transit, who has redesigned bus networks in cities across North America, Australia and New Zealand. Writes at humantransit.org about frequency, the ridership-versus-coverage trade-off, and the geometry of moving people through cities.

Jarrett Walker did not write this page.

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  1. Our reading

    The real cost of transport demonstration projects is that they confuse decision-makers about whether mass transit still needs building.

    Their wordsWhile delivering almost nothing useful, they are confusing elite opinion about whether we still need to build mass transit, which we do.

    ↗Elon Musk's Tunnel: It Doesn't Scale, so it Doesn't Matterhumantransit.org 1st of 2 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    A transport idea that does not scale does not matter, and it is for the rich: inefficiency is inequality.

    Their wordsIf it doesn’t scale, it’s for the rich. Or to put it another way: Inefficiency is inequality.

    ↗Elon Musk's Tunnel: It Doesn't Scale, so it Doesn't Matterhumantransit.org 2nd of 2 in this piece

    Interesting
  4. 2 years earlier

  5. Our reading

    Replacing big transit vehicles with small ones puts more vehicles on the street to move the same people, which is the one thing a dense city has no room for.

    Their wordsIn dense cities, where big transit vehicles (including buses) are carrying significant ridership, any “small vehicles replacing big vehicles” solution increases the total number of vehicles on the road at any time.

    ↗Basics: Technology Never Changes Geometryhumantransit.org 1st of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  7. Our reading

    Technology never changes geometry: a transport problem has to be solved spatially before it is solved at all.

    Their wordsWhen we are talking about space, we are talking about geometry, not engineering, and technology never changes geometry.

    ↗Basics: Technology Never Changes Geometryhumantransit.org 2nd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  9. Our reading

    Tech marketing assumes that whatever sells to the rich today sells to everyone tomorrow, but some things stop working when everybody buys them.

    Their wordsIt runs on the assumption that whatever we sell to the wealthy today we can sell to the masses tomorrow. But some things stop working when everybody buys them.

    ↗Basics: Technology Never Changes Geometryhumantransit.org 3rd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  11. Our reading

    Frequent fixed-route buses are the only way to cover a whole city with useful transit quickly, which makes them a land-use decision rather than a fallback.

    Their wordsBut the only way to grow enough corridors quickly, so that you cover much of the city with frequent service that can succeed in ridership terms, is to take frequent fixed-route bus service seriously.

    ↗Basics: Technology Never Changes Geometryhumantransit.org 4th of 4 in this piece

    Interesting
  12. 21 months earlier

  13. Our reading

    Self-driving cars will not fix commuting; the US needs public transportation instead.

    Their wordsHowever successful driverless cars become, transit will remain crucial for dense cities because cities are defined by a shortage of space per person.

    ↗no, autonomous cars will not "abolish transit" in dense citieshumantransit.org 1st of 3 in this piece

    self-driving cars

    Interesting

  15. Our reading

    In low-density places driverless taxis really will beat buses, and transit agencies should hand that work over and concentrate on dense corridors.

    Their wordsDriverless taxis will be more efficient than transit in these areas.

    ↗no, autonomous cars will not "abolish transit" in dense citieshumantransit.org 2nd of 3 in this piece

    Interesting

  17. Our reading

    No dense city anywhere runs without heavy reliance on transit, and no new transport technology changes the space arithmetic that makes that true.

    Their wordsThere is no dense city in the world that does not rely heavily on transit, for reasons of space-efficiency that none of the new technologies can change.

    ↗no, autonomous cars will not "abolish transit" in dense citieshumantransit.org 3rd of 3 in this piece

    Interesting
  18. 4 years earlier

  19. Our reading

    The problem of cars in cities is a geometry problem, not a technology problem: no invention creates room for everybody's car.

    Their wordsBut the problem of cars in cities is not a technology problem, it’s a geometry problem: a problem of space.

    ↗Technology vs Geometry at the Venice Biennalehumantransit.org 1st of 2 in this piece

    Interesting

  21. Our reading

    Rich people will have self-driving cars and the city will not be built around them.

    Their wordsRich people may have self-driving cars, but they won’t be the basis of the city.

    ↗Technology vs Geometry at the Venice Biennalehumantransit.org 2nd of 2 in this piece

    self-driving cars

    Interesting