Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • Why has non-London bus funding been halved? (TheConversation) • London’s goal to become world’s most walkable city (ThisIsPlace) • No toilets, no seats, no way to leave – no help for wheelchair users (HuffPost) • R.34 airship’s trans-Atlantic centenary (Eastern Daily Press) • Rome’s Metro extension uncovers ancient artifacts (NPR) • US National links – Footpaths to the future (TheOverheadWire) • ...

Have you ever waited for your bus at a bus stop for a very long time – only to be greeted by two or more buses arriving together? This phenomenon, known as “bus bunching,” is a problem that bus transit systems around the world have been trying to solve for decades. During this time, researchers have used mathematical models to study the behavior of bus transit systems to better understand why this happens. The mathematics identify what causes this problem – and also suggests that ...

Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. • Cost comparison of London’s cycle commuting options (Urban/Rural) • Did the Blitz enhance London’s economy? (SpatialEconomics) • Network visualisations of a different kind (Aeon) • Impact of the World Cup on worldwide productivity (Tableau Public) • Romanian railway tunnel of love (AtlasObscura) • Uber, Lyft decimating NYC taxis & increasing traffic (Bloomberg) • LIRR pilot program slashes Brooklyn-Queens fares ...

Transport for London started a three-month trial to test new methods of counting bus passengers on June 8. The aim is to find the most accurate real-time automatic passenger counting method. TfL believes that this could lead to improved real-time passenger information about bus services and available accessible space, more effective network management in case of disruption, and better forecasting and planning. The trial will run on seven buses on routes 55, 47, 222, 507 and 521. The following ...

The reviews are in for the Twin Cities’ first enhanced bus route — the A Line — and riders want more. Metro Transit calls the service arterial Bus Rapid Transit, or “aBRT,” but the A Line has no dedicated right of way as it runs along Snelling Avenue. Instead, the A Line has features that should be common on most bus routes. Riders pay before boarding and can get on the bus at any door. Peak service runs at least every 10 minutes. Buses do not have to merge back into traffic after ...

Problems plague push for electric buses When Chinese battery maker BYD Ltd. approached Southern California officials in 2008 touting ambitious plans to build electric cars, local politicians jumped at the promise of thousands of jobs and cleaner air. In the nine years since, agencies have awarded BYD grants, subsidies and public contracts worth more than $330 million for its battery-powered buses, forklifts and trucks. The company is positioned to be a prime supplier of electric buses to the ...

In just eight years, Shenzhen became the first city to electrify 100 percent of its public buses—16,359, to be exact. Between the gleaming towers of the Chinese city of Shenzhen, some 16,000 buses shuttle commuters to and from their destinations. But they’re not like the diesel-guzzling behemoths that run the streets of most cities. They’re quieter, and they run entirely on electricity. Back in 1980, Shenzhen was just a modest fishing village of 30,000. Now a megalopolis of some 12 ...

Electric buses were seen as a joke at an industry conference in Belgium seven years ago when the Chinese manufacturer BYD Co. showed an early model. “Everyone was laughing at BYD for making a toy,” recalled Isbrand Ho, the Shenzhen-based company’s managing director in Europe. “And look now. Everyone has one.” Suddenly, buses with battery-powered motors are a serious matter with the potential to revolutionize city transport—and add to the forces reshaping the energy industry. With ...

Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • Fourth London bus route goes fully electric (Intelligent Transport) • Court rules Paris car ban illegal (CityLab) • Trams may run again through Rome’s historic city centre (NextCity) • Secret bedroom discovered in Berlin U-Bahn (CityLab) • Seattle wants to bring back historic trolleys (NextCity) • LA Metro Rapid expands all-door boarding (Metro Mag) • Next generation Acela trains in production (Railway ...

A recent scientific study shows that the structure of bus networks can drastically shape demand. Conventional wisdom states that transit riders are averse to transfers and that consequently bus networks should be designed to limit their number. Probably as a result of this belief, many real bus systems try to connect as many origins and destinations as possible without transfers, so they are usually composed of long, circuitous routes with redundant overlapping sections – and the resulting bus ...

Some readers may already be aware of the current consultation on the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street between Orchard Street (just to the west of Selfridges) and Oxford Circus. This is part of a programme to realise some of the Mayor’s manifesto commitments. Unfortunately, in the minds of many, the scheme has become equated with removing buses (and other remaining traffic) from this section of Oxford Street. It’s only collateral damage In reality, in the context of the overall ...

Shenzhen is set to become the first city in the world to have a fully electrified bus fleet. From a small collection of fishing villages 40 years ago to a metropolis on track for a global milestone, Shenzhen has come further, faster than most cities. Already home to the largest fleet of electric buses in the world – roughly 14,500 at the end of May – the city is expected to electrify 100 percent of its public transit bus fleet by the end of 2017. If successful, it will become the first in ...

The bus system is the workhorse of New York City public transit, serving residents of all ages, ethnicities, and income levels across all five boroughs. Its size and scope is unparalleled, with 5,700 buses, 330 routes, and 16,000 stops serving well over two million passengers each day—more than the combined daily ridership of LIRR, MetroNorth, PATH, and New Jersey Transit.[i] The bus system is also the future of New York City public transit, connecting emerging job hubs outside of ...

This piece investigates what I believe has gone wrong with London’s bus blinds in recent years and seeks to explain the solutions I put forward when asked by Leon Daniels, TfL Managing Director Surface Transport. Being flattered to then be given the task of designing the more legible displays now appearing on some buses, this article covers some of the thinking. At the outset Leon asked me to ensure that all displays were clear, unambiguous and aesthetically pleasing — and aesthetics play ...

London buses could be powered by discarded coffee granules in the future under a new project which converts them into fuel. Londoners typically drink over 20 million cups of coffee a day collectively, leading to lots of wasted excess granules. This amounts to 200,000 tonnes of grounds that are produced by the capital alone each year. Arthur Kay, the founder of clean energy company Bio Bean, noted that the excess beans were high in calories and typically just chucked away. These calories have ...