Bus rapid transit

Effective public transit is central to development. For the vast majority of developing city residents, public transit is the only practical means to access employment, education, and public services, especially when such services are beyond the viable distance of walking or cycling. Unfortunately, the current state of public transit services in developing cities often does little to serve the actual mobility needs of the population. Bus services are too often unreliable, inconvenient and dangerous. In response, transport planners and public officials have sometimes turned to extremely costly mass transit alternatives such as rail-based metros. Due to the high costs of rail infrastructure, cities can only construct such systems over a few kilometres in a few limited corridors. The result is a system that does not meet the broader transport needs of the population. Nevertheless, the municipality ends up with a long-term debt that can affect investment in more pressing areas such as health, education, water, and sanitation. However, there is an alternative between poor public transit service and high municipal debt. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) can provide high-quality, metro-like transit service at a fraction of the cost of other options. This document provides municipal officials, non-governmental organizations, consultants, and others with an introduction to the concept of BRT as well as a step-by-step process for successfully planning a BRT system

Latin American busways: Moving people not cars

The rapid growth of Latin America urban centres beginning in the 1970s placed a heavy strain upon urban transport service providers. Facing high population growth from a citizenry dependent upon public transport and having limited financial resources to develop car-based infrastructure, Latin American municipal planners were challenged to create a new transport paradigm. One ingenious response to this dilemma was the busway, a surface metro system that utilizes exclusive right-of-way bus lanes. The developers of the Latin American busways astutely observed that the ultimate objective was to swiftly, efficiently, and cost-effectively move people rather than cars. Examples of innovative busway systems are presented from Curitiba, Bogota, Porto Alegre, Quito, and Sao Paulo. The low cost, flexibility, and speed of the exclusive busways all contribute to extremely high levels of customer satisfaction. Innovative approaches to the design of busway loading stations and simplified ticketing have also helped to reduce operating costs and improve customer flows. Additionally, clear system maps, colour-coded routing, system safety and cleanliness, and superior customer service have helped direct consumer preference towards the busway. The success of busways has also proved that costly subway systems or uncontrolled sprawl are not the only options available to municipal planners. The Latin American busway corridors provide high peak capacities that permit busway corridors to serve the transit requirements of most medium to large-sized cities. When integrated with progressive land-use policies, busways can also form the basis of more sustainable urban design by encouraging development corridors with high-density, mixed-use land use. The environmental benefits and calming influences afforded cities by busway systems have translated into dramatically improved levels of quality of life indicators, including improvements in health, crime reduction, and poverty alleviation. The user-friendliness and cost-effectiveness of busway systems have convinced municipal leaders in North America, Europe, and Australia to develop similar systems of their own. Latin American busways thus provide a unique example of South to North technology transfer

The limits of technology: achieving transport efficiency in developing nations

Emissions from the transport sector represent the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. There is little prospect that this situation will be resolved with a single technological fix. As developing nations quickly move to catch up with the motorisation levels of developed nations, the sheer number of private vehicles on the roadways will overwhelm any advances made by cleaner fuels. By the year 2030, there is projected to be more vehicles in the developing world than in developed nations. However, most developing cities today still have the basis for a more sustainable future. Public transport and non-motorised transport (walking and cycling) still command a dominant share of travel in developing cities. Thus, a key objective for local and international initiatives is to preserve existing mode shares. Unfortunately, most investment in reducing transport emissions relies exclusively upon achieving costly reductions only through fuel and propulsion system technologies. Bogotá (Colombia) represents one of the best examples of a city that has developed a package of complementary measures to substantially reduce vehicle emissions and congestion. Bogotá’s implementation of a high-quality bus rapid transit (BRT) system, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian improvements, car-free events, and auto restriction measures all have contributed to an urban transformation in a period of just a few years. Initial projections of greenhouse gas reductions during the first 30 years of the BRT system’s operation indicate reductions of approximately 14.6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents. This research presents a framework for evaluating the greenhouse gas emission reductions in the transport sector. This framework highlights three principal areas of emission reduction potential: 1.) Mode share (behaviour); 2.) Distance travelled (land-use/design); and 3.) Fuel efficiency (technology). Only by addressing all three components an optimum transport energy path can be achieved

Mass transit options

Choices on public transit options are choices about a city's future. Will there be congestion? Will there be high levels of air and noise pollution? Will transport be affordable? Will services be available to all? The type of public transit system will have a big impact on the answers to these questions. This module aims to provide policy-makers in developing cities - and those advising them - with guidance on choosing appropriate Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) systems. The module begins by briefly describing some basic concepts and defining features of MRT in developing cities. Current applications of each of the main MRT options are then described, focusing on applications in developing cities. Since Metros and Light Rail Transit are still relatively uncommon in low income developing cities, most of this discussion focuses on the recent development of Bus Rapid Transit systems throughout the world

Reclaiming public space: The economic, environmental, and social impacts of Bogotá's transformation

Over the course of a few short years, the city of Bogotá (Colombia) has dramatically transformed the quality of its public space. This session presents primary and secondary data documenting the economic, environmental, and social benefits of improved public space and urban mobility. Bogotá has benefited from a series of political leaders with a highly progressive view on the importance of urban space. This high degree of political will contributed to dramatic changes in several areas, including: 1. Reclamation of public space; 2. Improvement of public transport; 3. Promotion of non-motorised transport; and, 4. Implementation of auto restriction measures. The near simultaneous application of these policies has produced quantifiable benefits to the quality of life of city residents. The research shows that property values in areas with urban upgrades have appreciated considerably when compared to a control group of similar properties. Additionally, the research shows employment benefits from the city’s Sunday “ciclovía” (closing of streets to motorised vehicles) is significantly greater than week-day auto-related employment along the same corridors. Air quality monitoring shows emission reductions by as much as 40 per cent for some pollutants. Social indicators related to accidents, crime levels, and equity are also quite positive. Traffic deaths have been reduced from over 1,300 in 1995 to less than 700 in 2002. Bogotá’s transformation has attracted visits by city officials from over 50 nations. The replicability of Bogotá’s successes will depend upon local circumstances, and especially upon levels of local political will. Further documentation of the economic, environmental, and social benefits stemming from Bogotá’s efforts will help instil the confidence of city officials to move ahead with urban transformations of their own

Large-scale computation of pseudospectra using ARPACK and eigs

ARPACK and its MATLAB counterpart, eigs, are software packages that calculate some eigenvalues of a large non-symmetric matrix by Arnoldi iteration with implicit restarts. We show that at a small additional cost, which diminishes relatively as the matrix dimension increases, good estimates of pseudospectra in addition to eigenvalues can be obtained as a by-product. Thus in large-scale eigenvalue calculations it is feasible to obtain routinely not just eigenvalue approximations, but also information as to whether or not the eigenvalues are likely to be physically significant. Examples are presented for matrices with dimension up to 200,000

Hidden Assets and Responsibilities

We have just finished our 77th annual meeting of the American Bar Association. This meeting has, of course, been unique and unusually gratifying in that it was the occasion of dedicating the American Bar Center in which is lodged the American Bar Association\u27s new headquarters and the American Bar Foundation research and library headquarters. You have all heard of this glorious accomplishment and every one who was there, I am sure, was thrilled because of the dignity, simplicity, and impressiveness of the ceremonies

The Millard House

Whitish-grey pre-cast concrete block formed with cruciform-imprinted molds. Wright used the block due to its modular characteristic making it cheap to make and easy to customize.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bcs/1150/thumbnail.jp

The Johnson Wax Building

The building is a complex that includes labratories. The glass on the façade is pyrex glass tubing, which diffuses the natural light and reduces glare, which is important in a highly functional space, such as labratories.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bcs/1218/thumbnail.jp

Parameter Estimation and Uncertainty Quantication for an Epidemic Model

We examine estimation of the parameters of Susceptible-Infective-Recovered (SIR) models in the context of least squares. We review the use of asymptotic statistical theory and sensitivity analysis to obtain measures of uncertainty for estimates of the model parameters and the basic reproductive number (R0 )—an epidemiologically significant parameter grouping. We find that estimates of different parameters, such as the transmission parameter and recovery rate, are correlated, with the magnitude and sign of this correlation depending on the value of R0. Situations are highlighted in which this correlation allows R0 to be estimated with greater ease than its constituent parameters. Implications of correlation for parameter identifiability are discussed. Uncertainty estimates and sensitivity analysis are used to investigate how the frequency at which data is sampled affects the estimation process and how the accuracy and uncertainty of estimates improves as data is collected over the course of an outbreak. We assess the informativeness of individual data points in a given time series to determine when more frequent sampling (if possible) would prove to be most beneficial to the estimation process. This technique can be used to design data sampling schemes in more general contexts