Ride hailing apps have changed the way people travel. Though public transit may lose ridership to these services, transit should also learn from technological advancements and use those insights to improve transit service.
"After years of impressive increases, transit ridership tumbled by 6.3 percent last fiscal year on SEPTA and PATCO -- and that was before the Silverliner fiasco on SEPTA’s Regional Rail. Though the evidence is still circumstantial, many believe ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft are responsible for spiriting them away," Inga Saffron reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer. This trend is playing out in many cities around the country. Declines in ridership mean less funding for public transit and more traffic for all commuters.
Saffron argues that transit agencies like SEPTA have an opportunity to learn from their competitors by doing things like simplifying payment. SEPTA should also take declining ridership as motivation to improve service through proven best practices (like all-door boarding and removing little-used stops on bus routes) Saffron suggests.
FULL STORY: Ride-hailing apps are killing taxis. Is public transit next?
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
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.