• End ‘spiral of decline’ of bus services by handing control to councils (LocalGovt)
• Nottingham’s multi-pronged approach to effective public transport (MobilityMatters)
• Prague’s new minimalist pedestrian bridge (Domus)
• How the US created the worst type of rail station: Video (AlanFisher)
• Manila Metro’s limited accessibility facilities fails persons with disabilities (Rappler)
• China reviving its first urban funicular line, closed for 30 years (iChongqing)
• Rise in Japan’s closed rail station ticket offices creating problems (KyodoNews)
Header image Tram in Nottingham City Centre by Infinite World Wonders.
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The China funicular article shows that BS bingo is alive and well in China!
“According to Xu Xiaoyu, Director of the Yuzhong District Cultural Management Office, the restoration aims to preserve the cable car’s original architectural integrity while incorporating contemporary elements. Open spaces will be introduced to enrich the landscape and maintain the historic route’s collective memory.”
I don’t agree with Alan Fisher about rail stations in between the two directions of highways. Sure, it’s not perfect but it’s also not terrible and the bang-for-buck of building rail when a highway is being built or already exists is high as compared to building in more expensive areas.
If the problem is rephrased as less money going to public transit then I fully agree though. If the options are either to spend more money on building 20km of underground or elevated rail stations in desirable locations or 20km of surface rail in the middle of a highway then of course the highway option is worse. But if the options are for example either building 20km underground/elevated rail or 50km surface rail in the middle of a highway then I would say that the highway option isn’t bad.
As an added bonus, if there ever would be politically possible to reduce the amount of lanes on a highway (or honestly trade in bus lanes for rail) then go for it!
(I generally like Alans takes on most things, but some things are a bit weird, like for example his take on urbanism in the Netherlands).
Prague’s new minimalist bridge is an organic extension of its context ready to blend into its natural surroundings. Silly me, thinking that it was a brutalist concrete structure sticking out like the proverbial.