Public Transportation
Also called mass transit, urban passenger transportation service usually available on payment of a prescribed fare and operated on established schedules along designated routes with specific stops. Cities as small as Lausanne, Switzerland (pop. 125,004), have constructed rapid rail transit systems. All larger cities, and of course many smaller towns, rely on buses for transporting their citizens.
Although a few reports exist of horsedrawn carriage services as early as the 1500s, the first modern omnibus was not introduced until 1829, when George Shillibeer (1797-1866), an enterprising coach builder, established a service in London; this was followed in New York City by a line along Broadway in 1831. The omnibus was short-lived. In the U.S. the first horse-drawn streetcar line was begun in 1831 on the Fourth Avenue Street Railroad in New York City. By the 1860s most U.S. cities had horse- or mule-powered street railways franchised by the city.
With the Industrial Revolution and the consequent growth of cities, an urban circulation system to transport people--to work; to social, cultural, and sporting events; and for shopping, medical, and other personal trips--became increasingly important. The cable car, made possible by the invention in 1869 by Andrew Hallidie (1836-1900) of a grip that can grasp a continuously running cable, was introduced in 1873 in San Francisco. A rapid revolution in urban public transportation occurred following the completion in 1888 of the first electrified portion of a horse-car line in Richmond, Va., by Frank J. Sprague (1857-1934). Because of its speed, versatility, and suitability to train cars, the electric street railway (streetcar, tram, or trolley) became popular throughout the country and provided the basic transportation in U.S. cities. The first underground rapid transit service, or subway, opened in New York City in 1904.
When the private automobile became available in the 1910s and '20s, many street railway companies went bankrupt. In the 1930s an effort for revitalization of street railways was made with the development (by the Electric Railway President's Conference Committee) of the PCC car. Most cities, however, utilized instead the gasoline- and diesel-powered bus, because it allowed route selection flexibility and freedom from overhead wires.
Transit ridership grew rapidly in the U.S. until 1920, but declined sharply following World War I and during the depression. Because of gas rationing and lack of automobile production, ridership again rose sharply in the 1940s--reaching almost 24 billion passengers per year by the end of World War II. This was a short-lived peak: With the enormous increase in private automobile ownership and the government's massive highway construction program, the use of transit rapidly decreased. By the mid-1960s yearly patronage had decreased to about 7 billion passengers; it has since remained roughly constant. Although the annual number of passengers has changed little, the share of transit travel has been declining--from about 35 percent in the mid-1940s to a mere 3 percent of all urban travel during the 1980s. Nonetheless, public transportation serves a critical function in many large metropolitan areas, where more than 50 percent of workers may depend on mass transit for travel to and from the central employment area. European cities have not experienced the drastic reduction in mass transit use that American cities have.
Public transportation can be classified into modes that have the following distinct characteristics: right-of-way separation, guidance control, propulsion, and the type of service provided.
Rail rapid transit (subway or metro) uses high-speed passenger rail cars that operate in tunnels, on elevated structures, or in exclusive rights-of-way that are grade-separated to avoid interference with traffic. It uses high-performance trains with running speeds of up to 120 to 130 km/hr (up to 75 to 80 mph) and can carry as many as 40,000 passengers per hour in one direction. Except for the French-developed rubber-tired systems, which are also used in Mexico City and Montréal, most rapid transit systems use steel wheels on rails. Trains can be operated by one person with various forms of automatic train controls and can run at 90-second intervals. Stations have high platforms to allow level and quick exit and entrance. Station spacing is between 1200 and 4500 m (4000 and 15,000 ft), requiring a secondary feeder system of buses and ample parking facilities at suburban locations.
Light rail transit (LRT), also called streetcar or tram, is a metropolitan electric railway system characterized by its ability to operate single cars or short trains propelled by motors with power pickup from overhead catenaries. The distinguishing feature of LRT is its diversity of options for alignment, configuration, and design. In dense downtown areas it can be placed in tunnels or on the surface in pedestrian malls. Outside center cities, cars can run on the medians or reserved lanes of arterial highways or on abandoned railroad beds or utility corridors. Depending on the degree of separation from road traffic, average speeds range from 16 to 40 km/hr (10 to 25 mph). The capacity of a moderate-sized system is about 12,000 people per hour.
There has been a steady growth of North American LRT systems. From 1977 to 1987 the combined length of all systems increased 47 percent to 547 km (336 mi) from 368 km (229 mi). By the late 1980s at least 19 U.S. cities had plans for new LRT systems or extensions of existing systems.
Bus transit systems use self-propelled rubber-tired vehicles that are not confined to fixed guideways. Motor buses operate along fixed routes and on fixed schedules, but they can operate over exclusive freeway bus lanes, freeways, arterials, or local streets. The standard bus is either 11 m (36 ft) or 12 m (39 ft) long and, depending on the seating arrangements, can carry up to 53 seated passengers. A few electric trolley bus lines remain in use in U.S. cities. Buses operate on downtown streets at average speeds of 13 km/hr (8 mph) or less but at a higher speed on suburban streets or freeways. On average, a bus will travel about 48,000 km (about 30,000 mi) per year, but this can vary significantly depending on city size and age of bus (average bus life is about 15 years). During the 1980s U.S. transit agencies annually bought about 4000 standard buses manufactured in the U.S. and abroad.
Paratransit is a form of transportation service that is more flexible and personalized than conventional fixed-route, fixed-schedule service. Vehicles are usually available to the public on demand by subscription or on a shared-ride basis and operate over the highway and street system. Paratransit is a transportation service that falls somewhere between the private automobile and fixed-route public transit. It includes hail or phone services provided by taxicabs, jitneys, buses, and vans; hire-and-drive services offered by rental car and limousine agencies; and prearranged ride-sharing services of van pools and car pools. Paratransit modes are generally named in terms of the service characteristics rather than by the vehicle used or type of labor employed in providing the service. Paratransit is characterized by its provision of point-to-point service, for its flexibility in meeting changing demands and conditions, and for the generally free and unrestricted marketplace in which it operates. Many elderly and handicapped people are users of this specialized transit service.
Since about 1950 public transportation in the U.S. has had to struggle to survive. The growth of private automobile ownership, the change in cities with accelerated urban sprawl, the dispersal of employment away from the central city, and the immense highway construction program have added to transit problems. Moreover, changes in life-style have contributed to reduced transit use, which has resulted in lower revenues from fares at a time when costs for operations have increased greatly.
As private transit systems were taken over by local government and the cost of operations continued to increase, pressure was exerted for federal participation in urban public transportation. The 1964 Urban Mass Transportation Act established this commitment. The legislation limited federal assistance to 80 percent of the capital expenditure for buses, rail cars, and fixed facilities. In 1974 the federal government added operating assistance to its program. Because passenger fares account for only about one-third of the average system's operating funds, demand for federal subsidies escalated rapidly. In the early 1980s a change in federal transportation policy resulted in relaxation of the rigid standards governing the way federal aid is used, imposing requirements for private sector participation and increased state, regional, and local funding. By the end of the 1980s state and local operating assistance amounted to about 52 percent of the funds needed to operate U.S. transit systems; fare box and other revenue accounted for 43 percent, and federal assistance, 5 percent.
Private sector initiatives in public transportation include transit services provided by private operators under competitively bid contracts, and innovative public-private projects such as joint development of transit stations.
It is estimated that 8 million people in the U.S. (5 percent of the urban population) have physical handicaps that prevent them from using conventional transportation services. With the aging of the population, more than one-fifth of the people living in the U.S. will be over 65 in the year 2030. Many of the people in these groups are dependent on public transportation. In 1990 Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which will virtually require all transit services to be accessible to the disabled.
In the short run, existing transit modes with proven technologies will be improved. Cities with such systems will extend their lines, while others will plan and construct new ones, including rapid transit, buses, and light rail transit. The lower-cost alternatives will have a better chance of adoption. There is also a strong interest in commuter rail. Part of the appeal of this mode of transportation is that many cities have unused and underused rail corridors that can provide rights-of-way at low cost.
Because of major environmental concerns, electric trolley buses and methanol-powered and other alternative fuel-powered buses will replace diesel engine buses.
An enormous range of new technology exists in the area of intelligent vehicle systems. For example, a commuter will be able to get real-time information on home computers as to when the next bus will arrive at the nearest bus stop. Information for trip planning will be available as well. Transit agencies will use advanced technologies for traffic and fleet management of their vehicles. Vehicle control systems that will guide buses along prescribed corridors and routes are being researched to reduce vehicle delay, increase capacity, and improve safety.
Automation through new technology can provide a means for reducing labor while providing performance and safety. A number of automated guideway transit systems operate in airports, shopping centers, college campuses, and amusement parks. Their applicability to a more diverse use is continually evaluated. Research is under way on magnetically levitated and air-supported vehicles. Longitudinal control, spacing, switching, and lateral control are among the many problems needing more development before such systems can be widely accepted. Other promising developments include the moving walkway, designed for short distance, which will accelerate a pedestrian from three to five times walking speed.
Unique structural systems have been designed to support advanced transit concepts. Suspended monorails with widely spaced columns or pretensioned cable systems are examples of lower-cost systems under development. W.C.G.