Passengers head southbound from Vine St. at Hollywood Blvd, July 1955. Photo by Metro Transportation Library and Archive.

Many of us who enjoy public transport on a daily basis have been there…. the dinner table stories of your Aunt Mary running into the Duchess of Cambridge on the London Underground or your brother sitting three rows behind Tom Hanks on the F train, in NYC’s subway system. Though celebs have the unnatural potential for raising a spectacle wherever they go, there is something about the democratic nature of mass transit that reminds us that celebs are human too and appreciate the convenience, efficiency, and, when lucky, the anonymity, that public transport offers.

British actor Daniel Radcliffe, on the other hand, has made it publicly known that he avoids public transport whenever possible — how sad, considering that Harry Potter is a veritable champion of public transport, utilizing the Hogwarts Express, the London Underground, the Floo Powder Network (Department of Magical Transportation), and the broomstick in his escapades.

Who else might you run into on public transport these days?

1. Pope Francis

As Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis distinguished himself in his native Buenos Aires for being a man of the people, which included opting for the bus over his private limo.

The Pope prefers the bus. Photo by Catholic Church (England and Wales).

2. British royalty

The Queen was sighted over the holidays boarding a First Capital Connect train at London’s King’s Cross Station. It isn’t the first time the queen has made that journey either!

The Queen finds the First Capital Connect train convenient. Photo by Defence Images.

3. Politicians and actors take bus to work on “Bus Day” in Kochi, India

Kochi, India, celebrates Bus Day every year, in which politicians, actors, and other famous public figures take the bus to work.

A new Volvo bus introduced in Kochi, India. Photo by Binaiks.

4. Tom Hanks

Behind a hat, glasses, and a morning newspaper, Tom Hanks has lately taken to riding the New York City subway to work.

From New York Magazine:

“Nobody looks at anybody on the subway. Occasionally someone might give you a thumbs-up, and you nod. But the city is magnificent as far as that brand of easy anonymity. You just fold right in.”

Tom Hanks relishes the anonymity of the morning commute in NYC. Photo by o2 in Deutschland.

5. Serena Williams on a bike [this totally counts!]

What do you do when a Florida traffic jam threatens your tennis match? Make like Serena Williams last week, and borrow a bicycle. (The hotel she was staying at offered her a motorbike, but she opted for pedal power instead. Go Serena!)

Serena Williams biked to her match. Photo by jamesboyes.

TheCityFix wants to hear about the celebs whom you have run into on public transport!

Introducing the first mass public transportation system in Pakistan. Photo by Star240.

Today we celebrate a positive development coming out of Pakistan, overlooked by mainstream news: an advanced bus system in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city. In years past, Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, was a city where urban public transportation was virtually unknown. For the more than 11 million residents and commuters of the Lahore urban area, the only transportation options were motorized rickshaws, private buses, minibuses, or taxis.

On February 11, 2013, Lahore began operating Pakistan’s first Bus Rapid Transit or BRT system, officially known in the city as the Metro Bus System (MBS). A catalyst in the development of urban transport in Pakistan, as well as in South Asia, the new Lahore Metro Bus System continues the deployment of advanced bus systems in South Asia, first pioneered in cities like Jakarta, Indonesia and Bangkok, Thailand. The advanced bus system in Lahore exemplifies how knowledge sharing positively impacts urban transport.

Lahore before: a densely populated area without solid public transport

Prior to the installation of Lahore Metro Bus System, the densely populated metropolitan area of Lahore, growing in population at a rate of 3% per year, was without a solid public transport option.  In the last decade and in the same region of the world, less than 600 miles away, the city of Ahmedabad, India, was already at work on establishing their own sustainable transport system. The implementation of the Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) in 2009 would then further accelerate the spread of advanced bus systems in Asia.

What are the benefits of bus rapid transit?

Unlike traditional bus corridors in Delhi, Pune, and Jaipur, Ahmedabad gave its residents India’s first full BRT system, which incorporates an integrated approach to roads, stations, buses, technology and branding. As sophisticated bus systems which operate in dedicated lanes on city streets, BRT has revolutionized the urban transportation world. BRT systems have many of the benefits of metro or light-rail systems, with significantly lower construction costs. In India, the BRT is now being replicated in the cities of Surat, Indore, and Bangalore.

Lahore after Metro Bus and beyond

Opponents to the Lahore Metro Bus System originally estimated the cost of construction at RS 70-80 billion (US$ 713-815 million) and used this figure to criticize the plan to build an advanced bus system. About a year after construction began, the system has launched, and the economic reality of Lahore’s bus system is much different than what naysayers projected. The finance minister for the Punjab Region, Shahbaz Sharif, announced at the opening ceremony of MBS that the actual system cost of came to RS 29.8 billion (US$ 303.6 million), significantly lower than original estimates.

Launched on February 11, 2013, the bus system spans a 27 kilometer-long corridor linking the suburbs of Gajju Matah and Shahdra to the main city center of Lahore. A fleet of 45 articulated buses (each 18 meters long) transport up to 12,000 passengers per hour, from 27 stations on the route. With the first month of ride fare waived as a promotion, citizens lined the corridor on the opening day, in an atmosphere of celebration and fanfare. Dignitaries and officials from Metro Bus System boarded for an inaugural ride, accompanied by their counterparts and collaborators  from Turkey.

Collaboration, locally and with international firms, is key to making things happen

Tasked with overseeing this project from March 2011, the Punjab Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency turned to a fellow Islamic country and world leader in the development of sustainable transport for guidance, modeling their system after the Istanbul Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). Lahore’s MBS planners found a recognized private partner with similar experience in the Turkish al-Buraq Company.  The partnership inspired investment from the Turkish firm, Platform, which has been contracted to operate the MBS in Lahore. Through its partnership with Turkey, Lahore has demonstrated the type of peer-to-peer collaboration advocated by EMBARQ and other groups.

At the MBS inaugural ceremony, Turkish deputy prime minister Bekir Bozdag expressed interest in building a stronger business relationship with Pakistan and collaborating on additional MBS corridors in Pakistan.

This type of international, peer-to-peer collaboration promises not only immediate benefits for cities developing sustainable transportation solutions but establishes long-term economic partnerships that facilitate best-practice sharing, and inspire the spread of advanced bus systems to other cities and countries.

Paving the way for advancement in Southeast Asia

Lahore’s implementation of — not only the first mass public transportation system in Pakistan, but a bus rapid transit system — signal exciting possibilities for the development of additional bus systems in Asia. Other countries in the region considering advanced bus systems are Sri Lanka (in the city of Colombo), Bangladesh (Dhaka) and Nepal (Kathmandu). As the Lahore-Istanbul relationship demonstrates, cities in the planning and pre-planning stages, such as Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu, should not have to “reinvent the wheel” when it comes to the implementation of advanced bus systems; rather, they should take up where their peers have left off and further research their project for the benefit of their local context and for next generations of advanced bus systems around the world.

Opportunities to share knowledge are increasing, through organizations like Asia BRTS. On the website, visitors can monitor regional developments and best-practice sharing and find more information and additional, region-specific resources for reference. Asian localities interested in the planning and construction of the Lahore MBS can find an in-depth presentation from Dr. Nasir Javed (the Urban Unit, Lahore) and additional resources from the organizers and partners of the Asia BRTS conference, such as the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University (CEPT, in Ahmedabad), EMBARQ, and the Indian Ministry of Urban Development.

Dario Hidalgo, Amit Bhatt, Benoit Colin, and Elise Zevitz also contributed to this piece.

Air pollution in Hong Kong obscures views of the city’s skyscrapers. Photo by John Roberts

Welcome back to TheCityFix Picks, our series highlighting the newsy and noteworthy of the past week. Each Friday, we’ll run down the headlines falling under TheCityFix’s five themes: integrated transport, urban development and accessibility, air quality and climate change, health and road safety, and communications and marketing.

Integrated Transport

A massive power outage in India left millions without electricity, paralyzing trains and leaving hundreds of thousands stranded on their morning commutes.

In the United States, voters in Atlanta defeated a proposal for a 1 percent sales tax to fund roads and public transportation by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

Meanwhile in Massachusetts lawmakers finalized a new transportation bill including $1.39 billion for railway expansion and highway and bridge repair.

Urban Development + Accessibility

Many of London’s newly installed Olympic VIP lanes have been turned off as competitors, the Prime Minister  and other high profile guests have turned to public transit instead.

Karachi, Pakistan, has begun construction on a dedicated BRT lane, with the city’s first BRT line to open in 2014. The new line is expected to reduce commute times along its route by half, with an expected ridership of 13,000 people on opening day.

Colorado begins construction of a new BRT route near Boulder. The project will also incorporate high occupancy vehicles and add an additional toll lane along the 10-maile project span.

Air Quality + Climate Change

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s planned hub for clean technologies, has constructed the Middle East’s first rapid charger for electric vehicles, reducing battery recharge time by 7.5 hours.

Hong Kong endured its worst air quality in two years, experiencing levels of air pollution akin to the 2010 sandstorm. Elderly and sick individuals were warned to stay indoors.

Health + Road Safety

Extensive changes to New York City’s streets-including pedestrian plazas and bike lanes-have made it more difficult for blind pedestrians to navigate the city.

Communications + Marketing

Google maps now incorporates service alerts for New York City’s subway, making it that much easier for nearly 5 million passengers to plan their daily commute.

RATP, the Paris regional transportation authority, has launched a new ad campaign discouraging impolite behavior among Metro riders. The coy ads subtly disparage a gamut of rude habits, from shoving fellow passengers to saying a polite bonjour to fare collectors.

Transport is linked to overall well-being and happiness. Photo by Jonas Seaman.

Quality of Life

The Institute of Transport Studies at Monash University, Australia published a study linking quality of life  and public health to  transport systems and overall user happiness.

Sustainable Commutes

A team of scholars from Belgium correlated shorter, more sustainable commutes to residents of Flanders and the Brussels capital region–the most robust performers in the Belgian economy. Residents of Wallonia, a historically industrial region, endure longer, less sustainable commutes.

Rail TOD

Chinese and Korean scholars found that the success of integrated rail and concurrent mixed-use land development correlate highly with density. Patrons and residents must co-locate to new rail transit-oriented development (TOD) for it to be sustainable.

Induced Travel Demand

A recent joint report from Aalborg University, Denmark and The Institute for Transport Economics, Norway shows that adding roadway capacity induces travel demand, actually increasing traffic. The report finds that it is common for planners to neglect this impact in the long run when planning traffic forecast models.

EMBARQ's new report on urban highways looks at the benefits of tearing down car-centric infrastructure. Photo by Jason Rodman.

Welcome to “Research Recap,” our series highlighting recent reports, studies and other findings in sustainable transportation policy and practice, in case you missed it.

Urban Highways

EMBARQ, the producer of this blog, released a new study last week on urban highways. Written in collaboration with the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy, the study re-appraises the specific conditions under which it makes sense to build urban highways and when it makes sense to tear them down. The report showcases five cities that demonstrate the social, economic and environmental benefits that accrue when urban highways are removed or reconsidered. The report explains that fixing cities harmed by freeways, and improving public transportation, involve context-specific solutions, but also reinforces the idea that freeways are universally the wrong design solution for cities.

“Affordable” Housing Is Unaffordable

According to a new report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, with higher rents and stagnant wages, affordable housing is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity. The group calculated how many hours of work would be required at a minimum wage salary to be able to afford a two-bedroom unit. The calculations were based on the government’s measure for the monthly cost of a “modest, non luxury rental unit” in a specific area, plus utilities. The group found that a 40-hour week on minimum wage was not enough in any U.S. state to be able to afford the government’s definition of Fair Market Rent.

Distracted Teen Drivers

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the use of electronic devices is the leader among distracted driving behaviors, and that teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to use cell phones or other electronic devices while driving. Not surprisingly, talking on the phone or texting were the two most common behaviors distracting young drivers, more so than adjusting controls, grooming, eating or drinking, or engaging in horseplay or loud conversations with passengers. The findings come from data derived from video recording of 50 families with young drivers. Sudden brakes and abrupt turns triggered data recordings, resulting in more than 24,000 driving clips taken over a six-month period of 52 teen drivers.

Encouraging Physical Activity in Youth

Children and teenagers living in areas with “urban trails” are twice as likely to participate in vigorous physical activity, according to research from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. The mere presence of urban trails provides greater access and opportunities for active recreation, the study’s lead explains. Previous research has examined the impact of community infrastructure on physical activity levels, but it has mostly focused on middle- or high-income neighborhoods. The reconstruction of an inner-city community in Chattanooga with a two-mile-long urban trail allowed the researchers to explore the relationship between the built environment and physical activity in a low-income setting.

Green Downtown

New research from the Mineta Transportation Institute documents that vibrant downtown areas are associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions from driving and with greater public transit use. The report looks at two factors: 1) how does proximity to the city center affect household GHG production from driving, and the likelihood of taking public transit, and 2) the effect of downtown vibrancy on transportation and land use. The study encourages policymakers to rethink land use regulations, continue investments to reduce city center crime, and increase local public school quality.

Photo by Johannes Steidl.

Happy Valentine’s Day, dear readers! Do you remember last year’s Valentine’s Day post? Keeping with tradition, we bring you more stories about love and sustainable transportation. If reducing greenhouse gas emissions and congestion haven’t convinced you to switch to sustainable transportation, yet, we’re sure these love stories will. Enjoy!

♥  Missed Connections on Public Transit

Here is a sweet love story from New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Laura and Tom met while commuting on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). After months of missed connections, the two found each other on the platform and spent the train ride talking. The couple is now married and has a 4-year-old boy.

In honor of mass transit’s unique ability to bring people together, the New York Transit Museum is hosting the second annual “Love-in-Transit“ party starting at 6:00 p.m. tonight. The event is inspired by the popular Craigslist forum “Missed Connections,” where users post messages on brief encounters with the hope of reconnecting.  The event will feature work from artists based on these brief messages.

♥  Second Chance at Love While Waiting for a Trolley

Is there anything more romantic than riding the trolley cuddled with your honey? Photo by marcos ojeda.

This past Sunday, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) hosted the Love Train in a celebration of couples who met while riding the public transit system. Among the couples were George Dytko and Cheryl Tocci, who met one another while they were waiting for the trolley.

♥  Love Bike

Photos via Eric Staller.

Eric Staller, the artist behind the Conference Bike, created a unique bicycle for lovers. Love Bike isn’t your traditional tandem bicycle, but a bicycle with a heart-shaped frame and steering wheel. “It is nearly impossible to stop smiling while riding a Love Bike, watching the reactions of people, the smiles, double-takes, comments shouted, iPhone photos snapped,” Staller explains.

♥  Free Rides for Love

Metro in Houston, Texas is offering free rides to loyal customers in hopes of spreading a  little holiday love and appreciation for Valentine’s Day. The agency is also running the “Operation Thank You” campaign, where Metro staff greet customers and hand out greeting cards and a few free fare cards.

 ♥  Show Some Love for Your Driver

With their smooth driving skills and soothing station announcements, bus operators deserve some credit for all of the love connections made on public transit. In order to show their appreciation and say “thank you,” Kathleen Fitzgerald and Lizzy Showman designed seat cushions for New York bus drivers. Last November, the duo handed out 50 cushions. “This project is important because it extends a thank you to a group of people that is often unnoticed and under-gratified,” the duo explained. “This project also inspires others to extend a simple thank you or even repeat something similar.”

Acknowledging the important role transit operators play in delivering transport service, Maryland Transit Administration wants to recognize its staff, too. The agency is asking riders to submit names for operators who are the most friendly and helpful, and who always deliver a service with a smile. If you live in Maryland and you know someone who needs to be recognized for the exceptional service they provide, text the word “bestride” to 30802, or email your operator’s badge number to rateyourride@mta.maryland.gov. The operators who get the most votes will be celebrated on the Rate Your Ride and MTA websites, with a special profile story on the overall winner. The winning vehicle operator will also receive a special surprise.

♥  Loving Transport Paraphernalia

Photo by My Lil' Rotten.

The Virginia Museum of Transportation held its second Train Lovers’ Day last Saturday with short rides. The museum’s collection of vintage engines and railroad paraphernalia was on full display, allowing visitors to truly embrace the romance of sustainable transportation.

♥  Mass Transit Valentine’s Day Cards

And finally, American Public Transportation Association and Mass Transit Magazine released adorable public transit-themed Valentine’s Day cards. If you’re going to send your sweetheart any message of love this holiday, make sure to also send a message of sustainable transportation.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!

Love,

EMBARQ