Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog.net

When It Comes to Successful Transit, Density Is Not Destiny

11:54 AM EDT on September 27, 2010

There's a maxim in the planning world that public transit is simply less effective at lower densities.

But is that always the case? And what exactly do we mean when we talk about "low density"? In a post today on Human Transit, Jarrett Walker argues that the way we talk about and measure density can obscure more important factors that determine the success or failure of transit.

Walker uses the recently published Transport for Suburbia, by Paul Mees, as his jumping-off point. Mees argues that the conventional wisdom runs counter to the objectives of transit advocates because it advances the idea that low density areas must accept car dependence as inevitable. In one of the more provocative sections of the book, Mees points out that if you measure the metro areas of Vancouver and Las Vegas, Vancouver is, on average, less dense, but has a much higher share of trips on transit.

false

Walker explains that one reason for the disparity is that Vegas-style density and urban design interfere with high-quality transit:

Las Vegas has massive quantities of apartment buildings, which yield a high average density. But at two levels of scale, these are deployed in patterns that make effective transit difficult. On a macro level, Las Vegas is mostly midrise apartments spread over a large area, requiring transit to cover more distance to serve them; this is the most obvious explanation for Las Vegas's low transit performance compared to highrise Vancouver. But the micro explanation is important too. In the details of street pattern and pedestrian circulation, typical Las Vegas urban fabric is designed for motorists and hostile to pedestrians. Average urban density says nothing about either of these factors, even though they are what really determine the transit experience in each city.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Tacoma Tomorrow calls out the city for failing to follow through on the sustainability aspects of its laudable Mobility Master Plan. The Transport Politic discusses how the recession is squeezing transit expansion plans across the country. And the Ohio Bike Lawyer argues that "Share the Road" signs marginalize cyclists and misrepresent their rights.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Why We Care About Some Transportation Tragedies More Than Others

Why do we respond to major transportation disasters with so much urgency — and why don't we count our collective car crash epidemic among them?

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's first-in-the-nation congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Take Thursday’s Headlines Home, Country Roads

Heat Map reports on why rural Americans are resisting electric vehicles, and why it might not matter much for the climate.

March 28, 2024

Guest Commentary: Traffic Engineers Must Put Safety Over Driver Throughput

No other field would tolerate this level of death and destruction. The tragedy of West Portal is more evidence that the traffic engineering profession is fundamentally broken.

March 27, 2024
See all posts