korrents
Jarrett Walker

What Jarrett Walker thinks about infrastructure

@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.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

5 dated positions, 2016 to 2018, in their own words. Our reading of what Jarrett Walker has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingThe 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

  3. Our readingA 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

  4. 2 years earlier

  5. Our readingReplacing 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

  7. Our readingTechnology 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

  9. Our readingFrequent 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