Nicholas Bakalar writes in “the Times”:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/health/nutrition/23walk.html

bq. A Scottish study demonstrates that the walkers are more active during the rest of the day than their peers who arrive by car, bus or train. Why walking to school encourages greater physical activity is not clear, but the authors speculate that a morning walk may stimulate further social interaction and lead to more exercise.

Those physical activity habits, over the course of a lifetime, would help millions of people. Renowned cardiologist Jeremiah Stamler, in a “Times interview with Jane Brody”:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/science/23conv.html?pagewanted=1, points out that “only about 5 or 6 percent of people 35 and over are [at] low risk” for heart disease.

Oddly enough, the American Podiatric Medical Association is in favor of smart growth — hence, their survey of municipalities where people walk to work (including those who presumably walk to transit), or walk for exercise, or even own dogs or athletic shoes, which presumably go along with walking:

Arlington, VA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
Boston, MA
Washington, DC
New York City, NY
Eugene, OR
Jersey City, NJ
Denver, CO

The Trib’s Jon Hilkevitch reports that Metra’s “self-acknowledged non-bicyclist” (for shame!) Executive Director Philip Pagano and (probably un-acknowledged non-bicyclist) board have approved a plan that would allow bikes on board most Metra trains starting in June — all except weekday trains in the rush direction and trains during special events. And yes, it apparently includes the reverse commute:

“Under Metra’s proposal, bicycles would be prohibited on weekday trains arriving in Chicago before 9:30 a.m. and leaving the city between 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.”

To settle a disagreement from tonight (over Metro vs. CTA), I found these from APTA:

Fiscal year 2002 unlinked trips:
MTA New York City Transit 1,697,645,000(1)
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 242,794,100
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 235,045,300(2)
Chicago Transit Authority 180,399,600
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 107,457,700(3)
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District 97,146,100
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority 82,339,500

1. Includes NYCT Staten Island Railroad, but not PATH or Newark LRT.
2. Includes Green Line light rail.
3. Includes SEPTA subway-surface LRT, but not PATCO.

So, CTA’s rail system is fourth in the USA after both Washington and Boston. CTA buses and Metra trains surely carry plenty of riders, but the main heavy-rail systems are typically any transit system’s flagship.

Senior officials at NY MTA are explicitly making the case that cuts in transit service will hurt the city’s economic vitality. From an article in the Times:

Mr. Kalikow said he and the authority’s executive director, Katherine N. Lapp, had been meeting with business leaders to explain the importance of the transit network to the regional economy. “The system is very delicate, and if we don’t support it with these capital plans, it will deteriorate, and it will deteriorate very quickly,” he said. “A result of deterioration is rider falloff, and rider falloff in a city of this economic vibrancy will cause havoc on the streets.”

Unfortunately, Chicago’s long tradition of civic leadership by business has seemingly fallen short in the transit-funding debacle. A well-worded statement by Business Leaders for Transportation, which is co-led by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce but staffed by MPC, got zero media coverage. However, transit access for the region’s workforce is the lifeblood of the Loop and other major business centers; they, especially the Loop, would wither if transit service continues to decline.

Someone sent along a CTA document tracking bus ridership from 2002 to 2004. One interesting highlight: ridership in the Western Avenue corridor has grown appreciably, even on weekends. The 49B is among the most productive routes in the system, and the 22,861 riders on the 49 on Saturdays (perhaps influenced by the lack of X49 service on weekends) actually surpasses the 19,748 on weekdays.

(Now, why do we still have the 49, 49A, and 49B? Rumor has it that the old cable cars could only go so far without having to turn around, so line extensions were built at the north and south ends — line extensions which persist to this day. The distinction is particularly maddening when attempting to, say, have lunch on Devon; it should be a single bus ride up Western from Wicker Park, but isn’t.)

Also instructive is the contrast between the 81 Lawrence, easily the city’s most productive route (72.9 passengers per platform hour), and the 21 Cermak or 18 16th-18th. Both serve dense, vibrant, ethnic neighborhoods, but while Lawrence is almost completely lined with retail, Cermak and 16/18 pass through large sections of marginal retail or industrial land. As a result, service on the latter two are threatened with extinction.

For an attack on CTA from the right, see today’s Trib for a privatization tirade from Wendell Cox. Oh, and don’t ask him about how Railtrack has managed rail privatization in the UK, okay?

Observations:

1. Walking and cycling almost always move more people than transit. Getting people onto trains is nice, but transit’s real powers are its ability to make great, walkable places and its ability to let people get around completely car-free.
2. The list is selective, but almost moves from poorest to wealthiest–Zurich is still the wealthiest city in the world. (Tropical Singapore is close behind, with high transit use and relatively low walk/bike.)
3. Climate has little to do with walk/bike share.
4. “And what the ‘New Urbanism’ really provides is choice. Western Europeans make only half the car trips Americans do — not just because of transit, though that helps, but because density makes it possible for them to walk or bike for routine errands.” – “William Deitrich”:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/0202/cover.html in the Seattle Times, 2/2/03

Two recent real estate profiles in the Times have profiled folks who use boats to get to their waterfront weekend/summer houses. Moving over water is typically more energy efficient than moving over land, and many prime destinations front onto navigable waterways. Improved water quality, the dramatic decline in other water traffic as less freight moves by boat, and waterfront residential and commercial development have also all moving out onto the water a logical next step. Plus, a bit of seafaring can lend a bit of excitement to an otherwise uneventful commute.

Of course, thousands of commuters take ferries into New York or Seattle every day. But the weekend getaway, whether house, camp, or B&B, has strayed from its 19th-century roots as a far-flung ring of railroad resorts beyond the commuter belt and become all but inaccessible to the car-free. Perhaps this was inevitable; mass transit, by definition, needs urban densities (i.e., mass) to survive. But infrequent ferries (after all, you’re on vacation — what’s the rush?) and relatively more compact resort planning could cut Friday evening traffic jams and help resort towns grow more sustainably.

For Stephen Goodman and Lisa Wolford, a fifteen-minute stroll and a catamaran ferry make for an intentionally car-free urban escape; for Chris Sieber and Kevin Burrows, a rowboat (albeit after a 40-mile drive from the city).

To celebrate the new Las Vegas Monorail, we bring you… The Monorail Song! [scroll to end]

While watching the Tour de France recently, I saw a snippet of a Nike ad starring Lance Armstrong. It’s an emotionally powerful, beautifully filmed spot, as befits a multimillion dollar production by a corporation expert in the ways of persuasion, but anyhow… Closer viewing of the last part of the ad shows a couple of shots showing a huge alleycat race — large enough to look likea Critical Mass — shot in San Francisco:

even including one showing the alleycat race blowing through stoplights along what appears to be Kearny (i.e., one block uphill from and parallel to Montgomery):

Interestingly, the ad’s title of “Magnet” is explained as describing how “Lance Armstrong exudes a magnetism, drawing creatures of all kinds towards him.” Yes, and in some cases, they even block traffic!

“SkyTrain is very Canadian: very clean, efficient, and small.” — Daniel Anderson

Two strange things I noticed: one, the credit card fare readers (also by Cubic) accept charges with a minimum of… $0.25. Two, none of the stations had any views whatsoever, since they’re surrounded by some opaque metal mesh. Shame, since the views are so nice otherwise.