Improving headways and making service more reliable can help reduce the negative public image faced by urban bus transit.

A piece by Ely Portillo in the Transit Time newsletter evaluates the stigma faced by bus transit. While "[b]uses still carry the majority of local transit riders, and they’re far cheaper and quicker to roll out than trains," taking the bus still suffers from a social stigma that must be overcome in order to boost ridership and make buses a viable daily transportation option for more Americans. In North Carolina, Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston "pointed to residential segregation and the bus system’s historical use by people like cleaning personnel and domestic workers who needed to get into the city’s center to work but didn’t own cars" as factors in the negative public perception of buses.
But some transit advocates argue that discussing stigma "just doesn’t get at the real problem." As Jarrett Walker puts it, "[t]he real problem is people don’t use public transit if public transit is useless to them." Additionally, "it’s hard to talk about bus stigma without perpetuating bus stigma." Improving service, reducing headways, and making transit more accessible and affordable would do more to attract new riders, says Walker. The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) "is taking steps to make its bus system more useful to riders," but according to Winston, the stigma remains. "If you don’t overcome that culture change, that’s gonna be tough. CATS can't do that alone."
FULL STORY: OVERCOMING THE 'STIGMA' OF RIDING THE BUS

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

How Trump's HUD Budget Proposal Would Harm Homelessness Response
Experts say the change to the HUD budget would make it more difficult to identify people who are homeless and connect them with services, and to prevent homelessness.

The Vast Potential of the Right-of-Way
One writer argues that the space between two building faces is the most important element of the built environment.

Florida Seniors Face Rising Homelessness Risk
High housing costs are pushing more seniors, many of them on a fixed income, into homelessness.
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.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont