Hub and Spoke: Core Transit Congestion and the Future of Transit and Development in Greater Boston (Urban Land Institute, 2012)

The hub and spoke system of the MBTA has produced record ridership, transit-oriented development patterns, and severe challenges for the system. The report focuses on the need to invest in public transit infrastructure so that the MBTA can serve its growing transit ridership, including future trips generated by the pipeline of planned developments in greater Boston.

How do we get “everyday Americans” to support transportation funding?

Despite the fact that everyone uses some mode of transportation, a recent article in Governing Magazine explored the transportation community’s failure to engage “everyday Americans,” in the need for transportation investments. There is too much at stake – jobs, money, infrastructure – for people to ignore these critical issues. If we want policymakers to make smart transportation decisions, they need to feel pressure from their constituents. The article finds that we aren’t reaching “everyday Americans” because the messages that the transportation community has been using doesn’t resonate with them. How do we fix this communications challenge?

FTA proposes shifting the focus of transit investment evaluations from commute time reduction to ridership and other metrics

The Federal Transit Administration’s proposed changes to the way it evaluates transit investment  funding under the New Starts and Small Starts programs would shift the focus from travel time reduction to projected ridership and the …