Comments on: Mobilien: Paris’ Version of Bus Rapid Transit http://www.streetfilms.org/mobilien/ Documenting Livable Streets Worldwide Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:07:22 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Adriana http://www.streetfilms.org/mobilien/comment-page-1/#comment-17916 Adriana Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:52:01 +0000 http://www.streetfilms.org/?p=1109#comment-17916 I am all for re-allocation of lanes to give transit priority and Mobilien definitely does this.. and it's hard to argue when one of the world's most admired cities is implementing it.. It is good to see it promoted. Lane allocation is one of the most powerful carrot + stick mechanims out there to support transit ridership. However looking beyond that Mobilien is not really so impressive - it is on par with what is called BRT in North America, which pales compared to the really full BRT systems like Bogota's TranMilenio. I suppose part of teh differnce is the scale.. this looks like it stops frequently and is more aimed and local trips rather than the fast regional service that TransMilenio excels at. imho no one should have to plan their trip around transit - service should be frequent enough that you show up and never wait more than 2-3 minutes not matter what. What is the point of nearly no-step loading when you can have totally level boarding? Also, I disagree with the shared bike and bus lanes. They might be fine if either mode of traffic is light, but once frequency of the buses goes up or bike ridership goes up, then everything will be bogged down by the speed of the cyclists. It also takes alot of the carrot out of the lane-reallocation if the buses can only travel at the speed of a bike they are behind. If long-term use is the goal, cycle lanes ought to be their own entity. I am all for re-allocation of lanes to give transit priority and Mobilien definitely does this.. and it's hard to argue when one of the world's most admired cities is implementing it.. It is good to see it promoted. Lane allocation is one of the most powerful carrot + stick mechanims out there to support transit ridership.

However looking beyond that Mobilien is not really so impressive - it is on par with what is called BRT in North America, which pales compared to the really full BRT systems like Bogota's TranMilenio. I suppose part of teh differnce is the scale.. this looks like it stops frequently and is more aimed and local trips rather than the fast regional service that TransMilenio excels at.

imho no one should have to plan their trip around transit - service should be frequent enough that you show up and never wait more than 2-3 minutes not matter what. What is the point of nearly no-step loading when you can have totally level boarding?

Also, I disagree with the shared bike and bus lanes. They might be fine if either mode of traffic is light, but once frequency of the buses goes up or bike ridership goes up, then everything will be bogged down by the speed of the cyclists.

It also takes alot of the carrot out of the lane-reallocation if the buses can only travel at the speed of a bike they are behind. If long-term use is the goal, cycle lanes ought to be their own entity.

]]> By: Anna http://www.streetfilms.org/mobilien/comment-page-1/#comment-17865 Anna Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:34:50 +0000 http://www.streetfilms.org/?p=1109#comment-17865 NYC could speed up its loading and unloading noticeably IF there was annual card or monthly or weekly card which people simply flash at the driver or IF there was some modicum of trust and people were allowed to dip their cards at some place else than the front of the bus. It takes about five seconds per person to board because of the card dips. If people just get on and off without having to stop, it goes a lot faster. Likewise, why do school children dip their cards? Why do they have cards? (I don't care if the young'uns ride "for free." For that matter, given the huge amount of free parking in Manhattan, I don't care if anyone rides the bus "for free." ) Why is an expensive program in place to allow the retired and handicapped to ride and be billed once a month by their bank? or Chase? (whichever). (Why not just let them put their change nto the till?) The unlimited buses which often run half full and only save about ten minutes in the case of the number 5 are frankly a disgrace. The system needs to be closely monitored using video cameras to discover exactly what is up and who is shirking his duty to stay on schedule (drivers should be allowed to use "next bus please signs" when they are five minutes - ten minutes off schedule and esp. if the next bus is visible in their rearview mirror. Common sense perhaps? NYC could speed up its loading and unloading noticeably IF there was annual card or monthly or weekly card which people simply flash at the driver or IF there was some modicum of trust and people were allowed to dip their cards at some place else than the front of the bus. It takes about five seconds per person to board because of the card dips. If people just get on and off without having to stop, it goes a lot faster. Likewise, why do school children dip their cards? Why do they have cards? (I don't care if the young'uns ride "for free." For that matter, given the huge amount of free parking in Manhattan, I don't care if anyone rides the bus "for free." ) Why is an expensive program in place to allow the retired and handicapped to ride and be billed once a month by their bank? or Chase? (whichever). (Why not just let them put their change nto the till?) The unlimited buses which often run half full and only save about ten minutes in the case of the number 5 are frankly a disgrace. The system needs to be closely monitored using video cameras to discover exactly what is up and who is shirking his duty to stay on schedule (drivers should be allowed to use "next bus please signs" when they are five minutes - ten minutes off schedule and esp. if the next bus is visible in their rearview mirror.

Common sense perhaps?

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