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Is Bus Transit Our Best Bet?

Sir Peter Hall Thinks It Could Be

Despite its “down market reputation” bus transit could solve some of America’s congestion and transportation problems if more energy and imagination were applied, Sir Peter Hall, Bartlett Professor of Planning and Regeneration at University College London, told transportation graduate students and faculty.

At an evening banquet held February 10 at the Faculty Club capping the annual University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) student conference, Hall suggested that a closer look at bus transit systems around the world might provide useful models for American cities. About 100 students and faculty members attended, representing the California transportation programs that receive UCTC support, mostly in the form of research and dissertation grants and fellowships.

Hall, an Emeritus Professor of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, where he taught for many years, delivered his remarks at the Mel Webber Lecture. Webber is an Emeritus Professor in the same department, the first director of UCTC, and an editor of Access magazine. Hall paid tribute to Webber, noting that 30 years ago he had accurately forecast that BART would not achieve its 1960s vision for shaping the growth of the Bay Area and competing effectively with the automobile.

Given the difficulty and high costs of providing rail transit for all but the densest cities, Hall pointed to several bus systems in cities around the world that he believes could provide valuable lessons for transportation planners in the U.S. where low-density suburban living is not likely to change.

Bus ridership in London has grown faster in the past six years than any time since right after World War II.

The first problem with bus rapid transit is one of perception. In the U.S. bus riders are either very young, very old or poor, he noted, and the image that many have of bus riders is captured by a quote from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: “A man who beyond age 26 finds himself on a bus can count himself a failure.”

But increasing congestion in cities may push well-heeled commuters onto buses if service is improved and the price kept low. Hall pointed out that bus ridership in London has grown faster in the past six years than any time since right after World War II. He believes the increase has to do with new buses, exclusive bus lanes, low fares and automatic ticketing that allows riders to purchase tickets in advance.

He described rubber-tired, guided bus rapid transit systems in Adelaide, Australia and Nancy, France, where buses run out into the suburbs on a guided system, but are able to leave the guide and travel further on roadways. In Adelaide the transit corridor extends 15 miles into the suburbs, yet no one is more than 500 meters from a bus stop, he said. Systems in Melbourne, Australia and Toronto, Canada might also provide useful lessons.

Bus transit holds more promise than any technological fixes on the horizon, he said. But planners will have to “make it work better with a bit of energy and imagination.”

Hall is the winner of the 2005 Balzan Prize.