Beyond the obvious, here’s a few things I think transit should be:
- Free. Or close to it. Most businesses would pay millions of dollars for a captive market of individuals who predictably use the same two stations twice a day, five days a week. Transit operators should make their money not off of transit, but off the ancillary services people actually covet. The Freemium Model of Transit.
- Where people are, not where transit operators think people may sometime be. Expanding transit into a place that cannot support it in hopes that people will someday move to that place puts transit operators at risk of financial loss. If the bet you placed comes through, great! But what if it doesn’t? When you build transit where you suspect people will be rather than where people actually are, you’re engaged in speculation, not planning.
- Familiar. I want to see the same drivers, attendants and ticket takers working at the same place at the same time. This way, when I’m using the service, I’m being taken care of by the same people all the time. I want them to be familiar to me and me familiar to them. Over time, I’d like us to know each other by first name. Anyone whose a regular customer of a specific restaurant or bar knows the positive impact this causes.
- Automated. It’s easy to blame drivers and operators for the ineffectiveness of transit. But traffic and people are complex things not prone to follow rules and schedules. So instead of trying to legislate around the problem, let’s eliminate it entirely and switch to automated methods. That way, employees are freed of the hassle of driving and can focus on providing service.
- Fun & Comfortable. Many drivers drive because they enjoy the act of doing it. To get drivers to switch from the private automobile to public transit, operators must provide a means of travel that is more pleasant, comfortable and fun to ride than the private automobile. Start from there.
- Accepting of Humans. Transit should be designed around the needs and limitations of humans, not the other way around.
- Proud. People will take pride in their transit when they’re given a reason to be proud of it. It’s either a vicious circle or a beneficent circle, and its the service providers’ choice as to which it will be.
- Stylish & Attractive. For the obvious reason that what we ride to work every day has a direct impact on our emotional and psychological well-being as a population. Transit should make us feel better about ourselves, not worse.
There are so many things transit should be yet isn’t. What do you want transit to be?
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