As more companies start to run private buses, some of which use public transit bus stops, the question of whether or not they're getting in the way has become more hotly contested.
Seattle commuters headed to businesses around the city often wait at public bus stops, even if they aren't waiting for public transit. Seattle Children's Hospital and Microsoft both run private shuttles. A new study from University of Washington suggests travel times on public transit are unaffected by these shuttles.
"To determine if the shuttles negatively impacted public buses’ reliability, MacKenzie and civil and environmental engineering doctoral student, Elyse Lewis, partnered with Swiftly, a company that acquires and cleans up real-time performance data from trackers on public transit," Sarah McQuate reports for UW News. The researchers pulled data on the transit times of a bus route in the six weeks before and after the route was joined by a private shuttle. After monitoring bus times at more than 70 stops for 12 weeks, the researchers found little change in the performance of public buses.
FULL STORY: Bus battle: Do private shuttles affect the reliability of public transit?
A ‘Playbook’ for Better Bus Service, From King County Metro
King County Metro operates one of the nation’s busiest transit systems—without running any trains. The agency recently released a playbook as a guide to transit service.
Backtracking From Ambitious Bus Lane Promises in New York City
Back in June, the city of New York seemed poised for a major shift in transportation priority. In October, reality is setting in about how hard a sell the transformation will be.
Seattle on a Roll With New Bus Lanes
A new plan to upgrade an existing bus lane in Seattle isn't the first and it probably won't be the last.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
The European Cities That Love E-Scooters — And Those That Don’t
Where they're working, where they're banned, and where they're just as annoying the tourists that use them.
Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Borough of Carlisle
Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)