"Better Buses, Better Cities is likely the best book ever written on improving bus service in the United States." — Randy Shaw, Beyond Chron "The ultimate roadmap for how to make the bus great again in your city." — Spacing "The definitive volume on how to make bus frequent, fast, reliable, welcoming, and respected..." — Streetsblog Imagine a bus system that is fast, frequent, and reliable—what would that change about your city? Buses can and should be the cornerstone of urban transportation. They offer affordable mobility and can connect citizens with every aspect of their lives. But in the US, they have long been an afterthought in budgeting and planning. With a compelling narrative and actionable steps, Better Buses, Better Cities inspires us to fix the bus. Transit expert Steven Higashide shows us what a successful bus system looks like with real-world stories of reform—such as Houston redrawing its bus network overnight, Boston making room on its streets to put buses first, and Indianapolis winning better bus service on Election Day. Higashide shows how to marshal the public in support of better buses and how new technologies can keep buses on time and make complex transit systems understandable. Higashide argues that better bus systems will create better cities for all citizens. The consequences of subpar transit service fall most heavily on vulnerable members of society. Transit systems should be planned to be inclusive and provide better service for all. These are difficult tasks that require institutional culture shifts; doing all of them requires resilient organizations and transformational leadership. Better bus service is key to making our cities better for all citizens. Better Buses, Better Cities describes how decision-makers, philanthropists, activists, and public agency leaders can work together to make the bus a win in any city.

A bilingual edition of economic analysis of recent changes in a globalized world, with focus on ecological trends and natural resources.

A nivel global, ciudades buscan desarrollar soluciones de transporte asequibles, ecológicas y socialmente responsables que puedan satisfacer las necesidades de conectividad de las crecientes poblaciones metropolitanas y respaldar el futuro desarrollo económico y urbano. Cuando los sistemas ferroviarios urbanos se planifican e implementan adecuadamente como parte de una red de transporte público más amplia, éstis pueden brindar vías rápidas de movilidad y acceso vital a los centros urbanos desde la periferias. Los servicios ferroviarios urbanos de alto rendimiento, cuando se abordan cuidadosamente en el contexto de un proyecto de desarrollo, pueden ayudar a mejorar la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos brindándoles acceso a oportunidades laborales y servicios esenciales, tanto del entorno urbano inmediato como de comunidades vecinas. Este manual sintetiza y difunde conocimientos sobre planificación, implementación y operación de los proyectos ferroviarios urbanos para: i) destacar la necesidad de realizar estudios tempranos y planificar los proyectos, ii) contribuir a que los proyectos sean más sostenibles (desde el punto de vista económico, social y ambiental); iii) mejorar los beneficios socioeconómicos de los usuarios y el acceso de estos a distintas oportunidades; iv) maximizar el valor de la participación privada, cuando corresponda, y v) fortalecer la capacidad de las instituciones encargadas de la gestión e implementación de los proyectos. Se ofrece experiencia para lidiar con los desafíos técnicos, institucionales y financieros a los que se enfrentan los tomadores de decisiones de proyectos ferroviarios urbanos. Se reúnen los conocimientos especializados del personal del Banco Mundial y el aporte de numerosos especialistas para sintetizar buenas prácticas y recomendaciones basadas en experiencia global que no responden a intereses comerciales, financieros ni políticos, entre otros. El material presentado tiene como objetivo servir de guía imparcial para maximizar el impacto y afrontar los desafíos que conllevan los sistemas ferroviarios urbanos en las ciudades de países desarrollados y en desarrollo. No se brinda un enfoque único, sino que se reconocen las complejidades y los distintos contextos existentes cuando se aborda un proyecto de desarrollo ferroviario urbano; de ese modo, se apoya a las autoridades a prepararse para formular las preguntas adecuadas, analizar las cuestiones clave, llevar a cabo los estudios necesarios, aplicar las herramientas apropiadas y aprender de las buenas prácticas internacionales, todo ello en el oportuno momento del proceso de desarrollo del proyecto.

Over the past ten years, the study of mobility has demonstrated groundbreaking approaches and new research patterns. These investigations criticize the concept of mobility itself, suggesting the need to merge transport and communication research, and to approach the topic with novel instruments and new methodologies. Following the debates on the role of users in shaping transport technology, new mobility research includes debates from sociology, planning, economy, geography, history, and anthropology. This edited volume examines how users, policy-makers, and industrial managers have organized and continue to organize mobility, with a particularly attention to Europe, North America, and Asia. Taking a long-term and comparative perspective, the volume brings together thirteen chapters from the fields of urban studies, history, cultural studies, and geography. Covering a variety of countries and regions, these chapters investigate how various actors have shaped transport systems, creating models of mobility that differ along a number of dimensions, including public vs. private ownership and operation as well as individual vs. collective forms of transportation. The contributions also examine the extent to which initial models have created path dependencies in terms of technology, physical infrastructure, urban development, and cultural and behavioral preferences that limit subsequent choices.

A fascinating historical examination of the Santiago Metro system as a microcosm of Chilean national identity during the twentieth century The Santiago Metro, the largest urban infrastructure project in Chile’s history, was designed in the 1960s in response to rapid urban growth. Despite the upheavals of Salvador Allende’s democratic socialism (1970–1973) and Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship (1973–1990), the project survived and is now the largest metro system in South America. What explains its success? How did its meaning shift under democracy and dictatorship? What does its history reveal about struggles for a more just city? Drawing on Chilean and French archives, Andra B. Chastain demonstrates that Chilean-French relations and French financing were crucial to the project’s survival during the Cold War. The Metro’s history also illuminates the contested process of implementing neoliberalism and the unexpected continuities of state planning and visions for a rational city that persisted despite free-market reforms. Most important, this story shows that the Metro came to symbolize the nation and became a critical site where planners, workers, and urban residents contested Chile’s path to modernity.