INTERNATIONAL TRANSIT STUDIES PROGRAM
Sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program of
the
Transportation Research Board
| Alessandro Cervetti of Milan’s Mobility and Environment Agency describes elements of the city’s sustainable mobility plan. |
| Study Mission Investigates Transit's Role in Addressing Global Climate Change |
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A team of transit managers from agencies throughout the U.S. headed to Europe in May 2008 to investigate ways in which public transport agencies are addressing issues related to global climate change. The study mission was conducted as part of the International Transit Studies Program, which is sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program. The team met with public transport agencies, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (including community and green organizations) in Dublin, Ireland; Munich, Germany; Freiburg, Germany; Milan, Italy; and Bilbao, Spain. The mission was led by Fred Hansen, general manager of Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon and chair of APTA’s Sustainability Task Force. “This study mission was particularly timely because communities throughout the U.S. are increasingly looking to public transportation as part of the solution to global warming,” said Hansen. “We gained a much broader perspective, and what we learned will help us shape effective strategies and policies in this country.” In Dublin, the team found the region’s strong economy has resulted in a large, unexpected growth in population and a rise in car ownership, putting tremendous pressure on the transportation system and the region’s air quality. Recognizing that a good public transportation network is crucial to making the city attractive to sought-after employees, the city’s business community is a strong proponent of improvements to the transit network. Those improvements include Quality Bus Corridors, which are a mix of “real” bus lanes, designated by paint on the roadway, and “virtual” bus lanes, which appear only at signalized intersections. “The more congestion, the better the quality bus corridors work,” said John Ryan of Dublin Bus. “People will choose the faster mode.” Ryan also credited changes in parking policy for making transit a more attractive option to commuters. Marian Wilson, Technical Director, Policy and Planning, Dublin Transportation Office, echoed that comment, saying, “There’s no sense taking a horse to town if you have no place to stable it.” Transit ridership has always been very high in Munich, but recently the public transport agency, MVG, began collaborating with Green Cities, an environmental organization, to encourage even more people to take transit. One such effort involves offering mobility management plans to new residents, so that they learn right away just how easy and convenient it is to use public transport in the city. A test project with 5000 residents found the project yielded a 7% increase in those opting for public transit. “Public transportation is seen as part of the solution to global climate change,” said Gunnar Heipp of Stadtwerke Munchen, the parent company of MVG, the transit operator. In the past several years, the city has focused on strengthening the relationship between land use and transportation. “When you have the right urban structure, public transport works,” said Heipp. Max Leupold of Green Cities called changes in parking policies, which have made on-street parking more expensive than off-street lots, “the most important push for public transport in the past 7 years.” Freiburg, a town of 200,000 on the edge of the Black Forest, is known as an “eco-city,” having received numerous awards for its innovative work in sustainable development. Even though 80% of the city was destroyed in World War II, the trams have never stopped running. Public transport is at the heart of the city’s transportation policy. Eighty percent of the town’s citizens are within walking distance of a tram stop. Twenty percent of all journeys take place on public transportation; 28% are by bike, 24% are by walking, 24% are by car, and 4% are by carpool. Jan Maurer, of the city’s Bureau of Transport Planning, said, “Our transportation policy was developed to keep the city attractive and livable so that people would not want to leave.” The city has set an ambitious goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 40% by 2030. Milan has been much in the news lately as a result of its Ecopass system, which is aimed at improving air quality in the city. Since January 2008, cameras placed at 43 locations throughout the city record the license plates of all vehicles entering the city. License records are used to identify the type of vehicle, and the more polluting the vehicle, the higher the charge imposed on the owner of the vehicle. Ecopass is thus a pollution charge, which is not to be confused with London’s congestion charge. The city council estimates that €24 million will be collected annually from the Ecopass system, and those funds are earmarked for improvements to the public transportation system. The results to date are very encouraging, according to the city’s Mobility and Transport Sector staff. In the first 4 months of operation, the program has led to a
To accommodate the expected growth in transit ridership, Milan is investing €1 billion in three new subways lines, and it added 20 km of dedicated bus lanes last year. Bilbao is a post-industrial city that two decades ago had high unemployment, a very polluted river, and large brownfield areas along the river. In 1983, a terrible flood became a catalyst for change. “The city understood that a key part of urban regeneration involved integrating the transport infrastructure,” said Juan Alvaro Azcarate, Development Planning Director for Bilbao Ria 2000. Today, the city boasts both a new Metro and a new tram system. The Metro was financed with the help of the Basque regional government, city government, state government, and European Union. The first stations opened in 1995, and the system will be complete by 2013. Metro Bilbao aggressively markets its services, using humor in many of its ads. “The car industry presents itself as very glamorous,” said Susana Palomino, Marketing Director for Metro Bilbao, “and public transport must be as glamorous to compete.” A third of Metro’s customers have two cars at home. Bikes, surfboards, and other large items can be taken on the Metro—at no charge. Bilbao’s modern tram system, operated by Euskotren, has been operational since December 2002. It carries 3 million passengers each year on its 5-km stretch through the downtown area. Planning is under way for high-speed train service between Bilbao and San Sebastian and between Bilbao and Madrid. Amaia Etxebarria, head of Euskotren’s environment department, explained that the push for new tram and train service is being driven by two goals: to improve the environment and to reduce congestion. Joining Hansen on the team were A detailed report from the mission will be published later this year by the Transit Cooperative Research Program and will be available at tcrponline.org. This was the 28th study mission sponsored by the International Transit Studies Program. The mission was conducted by the Eno Transportation Foundation, under a contract with the Transit Cooperative Research Program. Kathryn Harrington-Hughes served as the mission coordinator for the Eno Transportation Foundation. The next ITSP mission will be held in October, when a team led by Karen King, CEO of Golden Empire Transit District, will travel to Australia to study how agencies are balancing the for system expansion with the need infrastructure reinvestment. (A slightly revised version of this article appeared in the September 22, 2008, issue of APTA's Passenger Transport.) International Transit Studies Program • Sponsored by the Transit Cooperative Research Program of the Transportation Research Board |