Transport for Suburbia

by Paul Mees

The need for effective public transport is greater than ever in the twenty-first century. With countries like China and India moving towards mass-automobility, we face the prospects of an environmental and urban health disaster unless alternatives are found. It is time to move beyond the automobile age. But while public transport has worked well in the dense cores of some big cities, the problem is that most residents of developed countries now live in dispersed suburbs and smaller cities and towns. These places usually have little or no public transport, and most transport commentators have given up on the task of changing it all seems too hard. Transport for Surburbia argues that the secret of 'European-style' public transport lies in a generalizable model of network planning that has worked in places as diverse as rural Switzerland, the Brazilian city of Curitiba and the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver. It shows how this model can be adapted to suburban, exurban and even rural areas to provide a genuine alternative to the car, and outlines the governance, funding and service planning policies that underpin the success of the world's best public transport systems.

Genres: Urbanism, Nonfiction, Politics, Urban, Transport, Urban Planning, Cities

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[renée · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is meticulously research and exceptionally written. One of the best urban planning books I’ve read. It presents a nuanced view that challenges the status quo idea that density is a precondition to public transit, unpacks superficial rhetorical on the evil car lobby and technocratic « green » solutions, and present the historical context behind multiple cities’ (2010) transit state. Paul Mees argues for a simple solution: supply properly planned transit in a well networked system and it will be used and profitable. The book offers an great overview into what a successful network should look like. Mees is a believer in the need of an overseeing public body to put that in place using case studies from Zurich, London, Toronto, Melbourne, etc. to prove his points. Would love to buy this for my bookshelf!

[Jacob Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

TLDR: Planners, read this book.

Transport planning or lack thereof effects everyone. Good transit systems improve the liveability and environmental impact of every rural and urban area. If you are a transport planner, environmentalist, economist or just an enthusiast, you must read this book.

Mees' analysis of some of the best and worst public transport systems in western nations is more than insightful - for many failing cities this book is a revolution. Setting his sights away from the ultra high density cities of Asia and instead focusing on North America, Australia, New Zealand, England and Democratised Europe to make a point: excellent transport systems are possible and high density is not the golden key to success.

Shredded to pieces is also the long perpetuated myth that simply franchising or privatising public transport will bring about unparalleled efficiency through competition. In reality regional systems must be integrated and coordinated to be effective, and not all required routes can be profitable meaning they would be abandoned under free enterprise. The decline into "autopia" in many cities has come from the slow death of failing transit policy, and pro-motoring measures that have been prevalent in too much of the western world.

Mees brings together all the lessons learned from transport success stories including Zurich, Vancouver and Toronto, and identifies the basic characteristics that can be applied to any city or region.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a theory on how to properly build public transport in the suburbs.

It starts by pointing out the fallacy that low density is an insurmountable barrier to building decent public transport networks.

Mees then explains the real reasons that public transport is unpopular in the suburbs and what to do about it. (E.g. He insists on building multi-modal, high-frequency, integrated networks that remove barriers from transferring between vehicles.)

He also discusses the various public and private ownership, franchising and contracting models used around the world and evaluates the effectiveness of each.

Most examples in the book are taken from the Australian capital cities, Toronto and Zurich.

This book brings some fresh air to the discussion of providing effective and popular public transport service. I wish some of my local politicians would read this!

[Aine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An influential book on planning public transport networks, Paul Mees argued that the public transport systems which have pulled people away from private vehicles aren’t characterised by technology (definitely) or urban density (probably) but by network thinking
- integrated public transport networks, high service levels, and convenient transfers (free and easy).

The tone can be a bit high-and-mighty and there have been arguments elsewhere about the density data, but overall Mees made a convincing argument about not waiting until the situation is perfect to start fixing the public transport system.

[Luke Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone under the illusion that Melbourne and other sprawled cities can't do good public transport, please read this book, and try not to spin so fast that you hurtle towards the edge of the known universe as you realise great PT is possible, just about anywhere.

[Ivan Illich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A more technical deep dive on building public transit networks, and funding structures.

[Maja Ruszkowska · Rating 3 out of 5]

very dense

[Jeremy Inducil · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT book. Now I have to go forward in life praying we one day reach a future where public transport policy evolves using the realistic principles from this book. Knowledge is truly a burden