ESG-4102: Urban Geography and Planning
Lecture 07: Urban Transportation
A H M Nahid
Assistant Professor
Department of Development Studies
Islamic University, Kushtia
Lecture by A H M Nahid
Transportation
• Transportation, the movement of
goods and persons from place to
place and the various means by
which such movement is
accomplished.
• The growth of the ability and the
need to transport large quantities of
goods or numbers of people over
long distances at high speeds in
comfort and safety has been an index
of civilization and in particular of
technological progress.
Relationship between Transportation and Urban Form Urban Functions Transport Transportation Urban Form
Technology System
Stage 1: Defense, marketing, Pedestrian, Route convergence, Compact
Pre-industrial political-symbolic, draught animal radial
craft industry Route convergence,
radial
Compact
in Western Cities
Stage 2: Basic industries, Electric tram, Radial High-density
Early Industrial secondary, streetcar, public improvements, suburbanization,
manufacturing transport incremental stellate
additions form
Stages 3: Broadening industry, Motor bus, public Additional radials, Lower-density
Industrial tertiary service transport, early cars initiation of ring suburbanization,
expansion roads industrial
decentralization
Stage 4: Addition of Towards Integrated radial Low-density
Post-industrial quaternary activities universal car and suburbanization,
ownership circumferential road widespread
network functional
decentralization
Major Eras of Metropolitan Growth and
Transport Development in the USA
STAGE 1: WALKING-HORSECAR STAGE 2: ELECTRIC STREETCAR STAGE 3: RECREATIONAL STAGE 4: FREEWAY ERA (1945–
ERA (1800-1890) ERA (1890–1920) AUTOMOBILE ERA (1920–45) PRESENT)
DEPENDENCE ON WALKING AND THE INVENTION OF THE ENHANCED PERSONAL MOBILITY DURING WHICH THE AUTOMOBILE
HORSE-DRAWN VEHICLES FOR ELECTRIC TRACTION MOTOR LED BESTOWED BY THE AUTOMOBILE BECAME A NECESSITY OF MODERN
URBAN TRANSPORT ENSURED TO THE GROWTH OF STREETCAR TRANSFORMED THE ‘TRACKED URBAN LIFE, AND HIGHWAY
RETENTION OF A COMPACT, SUBURBS CLUSTERED AROUND CITY’ OF ELECTRIC TROLLEYS AND DEVELOPMENTS PROMOTED
TRAINS INTO A SUBURBAN URBAN SPRAWL AND THE GROWTH
HIGH-DENSITY FORM OF CITY. STOPS ON RADIAL TROLLEY METROPOLIS OF EDGE CITIES.
ROUTES.
A
typology
of
commuti
ng flows
Responses to The Urban
Transport Problem
• During the 1950s and 1960s the supply-fix approach
emphasized the provision of new infrastructure to
increase the capacity of the road system to meet
demand.
• This policy was manifested in large-scale road-
building and road-improvement programmes.
• The emphasis was firmly on the supply side, and
transport policy was effectively a vehicle-oriented
Supply-fix policy.
• Large increases in highway capacity in many cities
Approach tended to exacerbate the problems of traffic
congestion and environmental degradation in
accordance with Down’s law, which states that on
urban commuter expressways peak-hour traffic
congestion rises to meet maximum capacity.
• The increased mobility of car-owners stimulated the
development of low-density urban areas with
unstructured travel demands, resulting in substantial
reductions in the role and effectiveness of public
transport.
Private vs. Public
Transport DEBATE
• A good-quality transit system must:
1. offer fares low enough for the poor to afford;
2. operate sufficient vehicles to run a frequent
service throughout the day;
3. have routes which reflect the ‘desire lines’ of
the travelling public, with extensive spatial
coverage of the catchment area to ensure
that no one is too far from a transit stop;
4. increase bus speeds relative to those of cars;
5. provide a coordinated multimodal one-ticket
system with convenient connections between
transport modes.
• During the late 1960s and early 1970s the character
and emphasis of urban transport policy shifted.
• The policy objective became accessibility rather than
simply mobility.
• Greater emphasis was placed on the exploitation of
existing facilities, on minimizing the environmental
impact of the automobile, and on the equity with
People-oriented which all sections of the urban population were
served by transport.
Noncapital-intensive • The shift was stimulated by reductions in the growth
Policy rate of many large urban areas, lower levels of
national economic growth, the rise of a popular
movement opposed to the environmental and social
costs of major highway projects, and the energy
crisis initiated by the Arab oil embargo of 1973.
• The resultant transport system management
strategies sought to manipulate demand and make
more efficient use of existing highway capacity.
Transport System Management Strategies
Channelization of traffic, More traffic light-controlled
especially at junctions and mini- One-way streets to
intersections (e.g. Computer-controlled roundabouts to increase reduce conflicting
segregation of left- and traffic signals. the flow that can be traffic movements at
right-turning flows, and handled by a single junctions.
bus-only lanes). intersection.
Limitations on street Reserved lanes Reversible traffic Intelligent vehicle highway
systems (IVHS) involve the use
parking (e.g. clearways) for ‘high lanes in which priority of information technology, such
to increase the carrying occupancy’ changes with time of as geographic information
systems and global positioning
capacity of traffic routes. day.
vehicles. systems, to improve traffic flow.
Advanced vehicle control The ultimate IVHS is the
systems (AVCS) under ‘smart highway’ that would Road pricing, auto-
development include both restraint policies and
collision-warning systems and
enable all drivers to switch
devices that would to autopilot, ensuring encouragement of
automatically take over control maximum throughflow ride-sharing.
in order to avoid a crash. without accidents.
Non-transportation
Initiatives
• can range from staggering work
hours to designing cities to
reduce the need for travel by
limiting distances between home
and other centers of activity.
• Two main approaches focus on
patterns of work and on urban
structure respectively:
1. Transport and work
pattern
2. Transport and urban
structure
Transport and
Sustainable Urban
Development
• Common to most perspectives on
sustainable urban development is
the view that a solution to urban
transport problems requires
greater mixed-use and higher-
density development, as well as
integration of transport
considerations directly into land-
use planning with the aim of
enabling individuals to sustain
their mobility, but to do so with
fewer vehicle trips.
Major Aims
the choice of
mode of
the locations
passenger
where people
transport must
vehicles are as live, work, shop
result in the
clean, quiet, safe and spend their
lowest possible
and economical leisure time will
energy
as possible; be coordinated
consumption
to minimize the
and the least
need for travel.
possible
pollution;
Goals to be approached by…
1. a series of measures to convert vehicles to clean running by, for example, establishing
targets for the reduction of exhaust emissions;
2. a shift from single-occupancy vehicles to public transport for longer journeys or cycling
and walking for shorter trips, by means of improved transit systems and restrictions on
car use;
3. concentration of residences, work areas and amenities to produce the shortest possible
trip distances.
References
Pacione, M. (2005). Urban Geography: A Global Perspective. Taylor &
Francis. Ch. 13.
Lecture by A H M Nahid
