Developing city scale sustainable transport opportunities

At a sub-regional and city scale, public transport, walking and cycling provision can be much enhanced to help reduce carbon emissions.

David Millington Photography Ltd

Portland in the USA is a good example of an integrated transport system, with buses, light rail, streetcars, a free rail zone, an aerial tram and bicyle network.

Light rail has been developed in Manchester, Nottingham, the West Midlands, Tyne and Wear and Sheffield. Light rail development in many large towns and cities in France has demonstrated how high profile infrastructure can help to regenerate cities and hugely improve image and liveability. See the railway technology website for case studies.

Further information on some of these international examples is available from the Light Rail Transit Association.

In London, examples of major planned city-wide public schemes include Crossrail, the Overground network which provides much needed orbital links, the Dockland Light Railway and the Tramlink. The London bus priority network is more advanced than most other cities in the UK. New forms of public transport are also being trialled in London such as ultra light rapid transit at Heathrow Airport.

Elsewhere, guided bus systems have been developed. There is a guided bus way in Leeds and there are plans for a new system in Cambridge. More established schemes can be found in Ottawa (Canada), Brisbane (Australia), Nancy and Caen (France), Transmilenio (Colombia) and Curitiba (Brazil).

Both light rail and guided bus systems provide effective city-wide opportunities. The choice between systems will need to be based on proper analysis, with discussion of the drivers and worked examples of the costs and benefits. The relative capacities of guided bus systems and light rail vary by specification, with light rail generally having a greater capacity (up to 30%). The capital costs of light rail are also usually higher than guided bus systems, but this is dependent on the extent and nature of the service.

A strategy for street design can be established to support public transport use and walking and cycling. This can be based on objectives reflecting a street’s role as both a place and a way of getting about. A range of different options exists to change the allocation of space on the roads. Options include the development of greater pedestrian provision, bus and cycle lanes, shared spaces and routing strategies.

Bremen, Groningen and Bologna have developed innovative traffic management initiatives using ‘traffic cells’, the borders of which cannot be crossed by private cars, only by public transport, on foot or by bicycle, thereby making non-local travel by car more difficult.

Copenhagen offers an example of a city-wide cycle network. An extensive cycle network is complemented by the provision of city cycles and convenient storage and repair centres for public use. A key aspect is the integration of cycles with public transport – suburban stations are typically 'cycle and ride.' Portland, USA aims to create a 'low stress bikeways network’ where people of all ages and abilities feel happy to cycle around the city.

The Vélib’ cycle programme in Paris - an abbreviation of ‘vélo’ (bike) und ‘liberté’ (freedom) - and similar schemes in Lyon, Seville, Vienna and elsewhere, are also very impressive. Cycles are provided for hire across the city at a nominal price. Cycle hire is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thousands of bikes are available from multiple pick up and drop off locations. These allow the picking up of bikes at one location and dropping off at another. A similar scheme will start in London in summer 2010.

In the UK, Milton Keynes, Stevenage, Harlow and many of the UK New Towns have excellent cycle networks. Relatively low usage, however, highlights that infrastructure provision alone is insufficient to ensure high levels of cycling. Effective urban structure and a cycling culture are also required.

Peterborough's millennium green wheel is an 80km network of cycle paths and walking routes that encircle the city and are joined by ‘spoke’ routes through parks and along riversides joining the city to the surrounding countryside. Exeter has a ‘Beauty and the Bike’ programme, aimed at encouraging cycling for girls.

Using public space and green infrastructure to provide high quality, safe environments for moving around cities and within and between neighbourhoods can encourage people to choose to walk and cycle more. Likewise, creating attractive, safe public transport nodes will increase the attractiveness of using public transport. Cycle parking provision is also very important to support use of the wider network and encourage people to choose cycling for a commute to work, for example.

Loading tube at a bus stop
Photo by Paul Hankinson

Curitiba

The entire approach to the structure of a city can be used to support the development of sustainable transport systems. Curitiba is a Brazilian city of 1.6 million people where 75 per cent of commuters use public transport. Traffic levels have declined by 30 per cent since 1974, even though the population has doubled. High density development is permitted around express busway corridors and the allowable densities decline as distance increases from the express busway. Lower density areas are served by local feeder bus services.

The Curitiba bus system is a financially self-sufficient project that has been achieved through an integrated approach involving changes in the planning system, a diversified public transport service, variable concentration of residential development according to proximity to the transport network, the creation of dedicated road facilities, the introduction of innovative ‘loading tubes’, and the evolution of a special relationship between the public and private sectors. Local community groups were involved in the planning process.

Read more about Curitiba.

Priority: encourage public transport, walking and cycling
Tags: transport, regions and subregions, cities and towns