Placemaking

The Complex Role of Transport in Street Vitality

I am a big fan of revitalising streets. But what does the evidence say about what works and what doesn't in enhancing street vitality? This research undertook a systematic review to answer that question. For our purposes, I am particularly interested in the transport aspects.

Key Takeaways

• Street vitality, defined as the intensity and diversity of human activities supported by the built environment, is a key indicator of successful urban form.
• Research on street vitality has progressed from qualitative observations of lively streets to quantitative analysis often enabled by smartphone data.
• Mobility metrics include the number of walking trips, walking time, walkability scores, taxi and bicycle counts and traffic flow.
• Despite increasing vitality modelling, there has been a lack of assessment of the’ replicability of results and whether there are consistent predicting factors and determinants.
• Traffic flows are considered inversely correlated with street vitality, as they affect the overall transport system and pedestrian comfort.
• Diverse uses and road density are significant factors in supporting vitality.
• Bus stop density, metro density, junction density, and street width were both negatively and positively correlated with vitality, depending on the study.
• The presence of cars and pavements was not straightforwardly associated with vitality ratings.
• These inconsistencies may be due to differences in context and culture.
• The extent to which different proxies reflect the actual street vitality remains unanswered.

Comment

When it comes to transport, support for street vitality is clearly complex and appears to be primarily based on the local context, with mixed findings for a range of factors other than reduced traffic flows and higher road density, which do support vitality.

The increasing penetration of EVs into the vehicle fleet may also complicate findings, as they are quieter and create less pollution than their ICE equivalents, thereby reducing some of the negative impacts of vehicles on pedestrians.

What next?

How can you apply this research to support the improved vitality of your local streets?

Policy

Light Intermediate Vehicles: Solution or Distraction?

Recently, I have seen a lot of publicity around the growing 'light intermediate' vehicles space, but I had not yet found anything around the implications for our transport systems. This paper, which examines the implications for Brussels, Belgium, begins to address that.

Key Takeaways

• Light intermediate vehicles (LIVs) are an emerging class of light vehicles between the bicycle and the car, with many comparative advantages over the latter.
• This segment now comprises a wide range of vehicles, from 4-wheel bicycles to microcars capable of speeds of up to 90 km/h.
• In the EU, LIVs are currently managed under regulations designed for motorcycles.
• Advantages of LIVs include:
  • Energy efficient - they are lightweight and speed-limited.
  • Lower cost compared to cars.
  • Fewer resources are required to produce them.
  • Lower emissions - four times less CO2 on average.
  • Road safety - lighter vehicles are safer.
  • Less air pollution.
  • Less space than a conventional car.
  • Lower road maintenance costs from less weight.
  • Some combine pedal boxes so drivers are not purely sedentary.
• 82.5% of all car trips made by the people of Brussels are within the scope of LIVs.
• Key recommendations:
  • Create a new vehicle category in the regulations. They propose three classes based on the maximum available speeds.
  • Introduce a progressive tax based on vehicle weight.
  • LIVs should be incorporated into the company car system with equivalent tax calculations.
  • Create a new parking standard for LIVs.
  • Create a new driving license for faster LIVs.
  • Discontinue the use of the term unlicensed vehicle because of its derogatory nature.
  • Adapt EU regulations.

Comment

I am cautious about LIVs. If they significantly replace cars, then they may deliver significant benefits. However, if they end up competing with public transport and e-bikes, then we may not be any better off and could be worse off.

If we move to road user charging for EVs, there is a strong case for LIVs to be charged at a lower rate than cars, optimising the benefits LIVs can provide.

What Next?

What is your strategy for getting the most out of the benefits of LIVs without the downsides?

Autonomous Vehicles

From Trials to Services: What Local Authorities Need for Autonomous Public Transport

How do we get the most out of the potential for autonomous public transport? This paper considers the implications from a local authority (LA) perspective in the UK (who provide and/or fund a lot of the bus services). Note: Some of my thinking from my recent blog post is included in the paper.

Key Takeaways

• UK public sector local authorities have created an Automated Mobility Network (AMN) to:
  • Collaborate to Accelerate: Work together to promote Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) sector learning. Share, compile and disseminate best practices, lessons learned, analysis, insight, and documentation.
  • Unify to Simplify: Develop consistency to reduce barriers to entry for all parties.
  • Vocalise to Optimise: Proactive, purposeful engagement with the CAM eco-system. Understand and represent the societal good. Upskill the public sector in CAM technology.
• Local authority challenges include:
  • Limited LA capacity and capability to consider direct or indirect consequences of CAM.
  • Weak business cases for LA involvement in bus-like CAM beyond subsidised trials.
  • Lack of information sharing on how to deliver, deploy and integrate CAM services well, from operational challenges to strategic vision.
• Bus-like CAM services should be considered the primary focus of LAs. They should be considered more complex to commercialise than taxi-like services.
• The AMN has identified 24 specific challenges across seven categories faced by bus-like CAM, over and above those that exist for taxi-like CAM services.
• The importance of LA's role within successful, effective and well-considered CAM integration (both bus-like and taxi-like) into communities should not be underestimated.
• Twenty-five examples of the role LAs can, do, will, could or should play are provided. Categories include:
  • LA Regulatory / Statutory Role
  • LA Policy / Strategy Role
  • LA Stakeholder Management Role
  • LA Route to Market Role
• Seven specific themes were identified when looking specifically at Gaps / Questions / Concerns / Opportunities relating to CAM technology and services, these were:
  • Societal - Social readiness, job displacement, cultural norms, and equity of access.
  • Business Case - Commercial viability, funding sources, and cost-benefit trade-offs.
  • On-road Operations - Passenger safety, accessibility, kerbside management, and service usability.
  • Remote Support - Security, latency, and control centre requirements.
  • Digital / Cyber - Cybersecurity, network resilience, and digital dependency.
  • Specification - Clear frameworks, Key Performance Indicators, and universal specifications.
  • Public Sector’s Role - LAs must define their role, challenges, and expectations.

Comment

It is good to see such a deep level of thinking about CAM public transport. The challenge now is to have the leadership to overcome the obstacles and get services up and running and moving up the learning curve. However, this requires a level of ambition for public transport that seems to be lacking in many places and is often replaced by an ambition for robotaxis, without a consideration for the impact on public transport or the wider transport system.

What Next?

What are you doing to move from CAM bus trials into actual services?

Quick Adventures in Transport Wonderland

Here is what else I came across this week:

• ​The UK is proposing to implement a road user charge for EVs
• ​The Impact of Ridehail on Car Ownership​
• ​Why Free Public Transport is a Bad Idea​

Blog

From Car-Oriented to People-Oriented Transport Systems: A Strategic Guide

This week, in my blog, I proposed some ways of overcoming the barriers to moving to people-oriented transport systems.

Podcast

How Can We Solve Stroads?

This week, on the Transport Leaders podcast, we discussed how to solve stroads (places that try to be both streets and roads and do a bad job at both).

You can watch it here or listen here.

Tool

Public Transport Factbook for North America

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has released its fact book.

Innovation

Safer Charging for E-Bikes

New York City has launched its first public e-bike battery swapping network.