November 5, 2013
We all want to get places faster, cheaper...and cleaner.
Travel and commuting are parts of busy lifestyles and some cities have
taken measures to make it much easier, and the journey more enjoyable,
for their passengers.
Whether it’s WiFi on the subway so you can check your
emails, smartcards so queues don’t back up, or eco-friendly designs, all
these measures on public transport make a difference in people’s lives.
Here’s a look at 7 cities where smart decisions are keeping a better
life on track.
1. San Francisco
UNITED STATES
SAN
FRANCISCO — Public transport in the city famed for its cable cars is
being modernized after more trains and buses were added, with brand new
railcars to be up and running in 2015.
The city has developed no less than 60 apps to make
getting around very easily; these include help for the visually impaired
to navigate through traffic, as well as tips for bikers and pedestrians
for choosing the best route. Since 2008, the district has been adding
Library-a-Go-Go vending machines to stations, allowing passengers to
borrow and return books on their commute.
2. Seoul
SOUTH KOREA
SEOUL — The Seoul subway has been voted consistently as
one of the best in the world for its ease of use, cleanliness, and
frequency of service. Trains run non-stop approximately from 5:30 am
until midnight every day.
Seoul subway also introduced the world's first
commercially used contactless smart card, called Upass, and advanced
technology such as 4G and WiFi among others accessible in all stations
and subway cars. Most trains have digital TV screens and all of them
have climate-controlled seats installed that are automatically heated in
winter.
In order to cope with all of these transportation modes,
Seoul's metropolitan government employs several mathematicians to
coordinate the subway, bus, and traffic schedules into one timetable.
3. Riyadh
SAUDI ARABIA
RIYADH — The Saudi capital is set to begin construction
early in 2014 of a new metro network that will encompass over 176
kilometers of train lines and 85 stations, linking the city center to
universities, the airport, a newly built financial district and
commercial areas.
The first trains are slated to be up and running in 2019, , reports CNN.
The public transport project will be the world's biggest, employing
tens of thousands of people for its construction, according to
developers.
Zaha Hadid Architects will build the King Abdullah
Financial District station, one of the flagship interchange stops along
Line 1. With six platforms spread over four floors, and linking three of
the new lines, the architects hope it will provide a multifunctional
public space.
According to the architectural firm, the white facade of
the station will reduce heat from the punishing desert sun, while the
undulating lines of the building are meant to resemble the patterns
generated by desert winds on sand dunes.
4. Curitiba
BRAZIL
Photo by Mariordo
CURITIBA — The first bus rapid transit system (BRT) in the
world was the Integrated Transportation Network in this Brazilian city,
back in 1974. Initially consisting of dedicated bus lanes ("carriles de
buses") in the center of major arterial roads, in 1980 the Curitiba
system added a feeder bus network and inter-zone connections — before
introducing off board fare collection, enclosed stations, and platform
level boarding in 1992.
Other Brazilian cities’ systems made further innovations,
including the platooning of buses (having three buses entering and
leaving bus stops and traffic signals at once) in Porto Alegre, and the
introduction of passing lanes and express service in São Paulo.
5. Medellin
COLOMBIA
MEDELLIN — The Metro de Medellín is a network of clean and
efficient metro cars that serves over half a million people every day
in Colombia’s second biggest city.
This system saves the city 175,000 tons of CO2, $1.5 billion in
respiratory health costs and $4 billion in reduced traffic accidents and
congestion annually.
Part of the system is the cable system which brings
passengers up steep mountainsides that line the Valley of Medellín.
Before these cable cars, the residents of the favelas along the
mountainside had to brave going down the mountainside by either
infrequent and unreliable buses or spending hours going by foot.
This new transport system in the city Pablo Escobar once
ruled over has revitalized some communities that had been terrorized by
narcos and civil unrest.
6. Lanzhou
CHINA
LANZHOU — Lanzhou implemented several sustainable
transport measures in 2013. The Lanzhou bus system opened in January,
and already carries 150,000 passengers daily. The system has been
nominated for the ITDP Sustainable Transport Award in 2014.
It features a revolutionary new station design, with buses
in the same direction stopping on both sides of a platform. This offers
roughly the same capacity as that of a traditional offset BRT station,
but with half the station length and only around one extra meter in
width. Parking reforms, bike sharing, and Transit-oriented development
are also featured.
7. Paris
FRANCE
PARIS — The Paris Metro is both the second-most heavily
trafficked subway system in the world, carrying 4.5 million people
daily, and the one with more stations closer to one another than any
other system: 245 stations in only 41 square kilometers.
It also uses a contactless smartcard system called Navigo,
which incorporates rail, bus, metro and tram, integrated in 2001. The
whole region becomes de-zoned at the weekend, meaning anyone with a
valid Navigo pass can travel within the five zones without extra
charges.