Freeways and the Decline of the Hill District

Tim Lee has a great post describing the slow death-by-strangulation of St. Louis by its highway system. The money quote:

Carving up St. Louis with freeways didn’t just undermine individual neighborhoods, it permanently changed the region’s culture. By undermining walkable urban neighborhoods while simultaneously making it easier to commute in from the suburbs, planners effected a massive transfer of wealth from from cities to suburbs. It’s not surprising that many people responded to these incentives by moving to the suburbs. But it was hardly a voluntary choice.

Pittsburgh isn't nearly as chopped up as St. Louis is, and the city is also much more vibrant. However, the Hill district suffers tremendously because 579 cuts it off from downtown.

Though I think it would be much more useful than the North side to downtown light rail line, I doubt 579 will ever be buried. I'm afraid, the Hill districts only hope is for the vibrancy of Oakland to slowly encroach from the east.

Futher East, 376 cuts Greenfield off from Schenley Park and Squirrel Hill. Thankfully, Squirrel Hill is protected from the freeway by the tunnel. I suspect that without the tunnel the entire Summerset development would never have happened. According to Zillow, the average home price is 15207 (Greenfield/Hazelwood) is less than a third of the average home price in 15217 (Squirrel Hill).

Burying a highway is obviously incredibly expensive. The final cost of the big dig in Boston was $14.6 billion! That said, I think it's worth it in many settings. For example, burying 376 would have at least three benefits: First it would add value to all of the homes in South Squirrel Hill and a lot of value to the homes in Greenfield. Second, the retail establishments near Forward and Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill and along Beechwood in Greenfield would connect and feed off each other. Finally, there would be a lot of new land on top land on top of the new tunnel, much of which is adjacent to Schenley Park that the city could auction off.

Pittsburgh Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Public Forum

I just got the following email from the Pittsburgh Port Authority:

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Public Forum - SAVE THE DATE

Monday,September 20, 2010
8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Duquesne University - Power Center Ballroom, 1015 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
No fee to attend.
Registration information will be provided in a future notice

A new on-street BRT service is under consideration in Allegheny County to offer faster, more reliable, and easier to understand transit service. The initial focus is to link Downtown Pittsburgh with Oakland and other East End neighborhoods. As has been realized in other cities, “Rapid Bus” service improves transportation and is an effective catalyst for community revitalization. Implementation of BRT in Pittsburgh’s East End could result in similar benefits for the Forbes and Fifth avenues Corridor. Before us is a golden opportunity to envision and design the service, facilities and economic development that leaders and citizens want for their neighborhoods.

This forum, focused on Pittsburgh’s Downtown – Oakland – East End area, will feature planning, development, and transportation professionals with BRT experience along with elected officials and transit stakeholders from our community. Breakout sessions will facilitate discussion of BRT benefits, challenges and community development issues. This forum is being organized by the following organizations:

Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Allegheny County Department of Economic Development
Allegheny County Transportation Action Partnership
Bike Pittsburgh
City of Pittsburgh - Department of City Planning
Hill House Development Corporation
National Bus Rapid Transit Institute
Oakland Planning & Development Corp.
Oakland Transportation Management Association
Oakland Task Force
Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group
Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership
Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development
Port Authority of Allegheny County
Remaking Cities Institute
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
Sustainable Pittsburgh
Uptown Partners

I can't find any news stories about this meeting or the bus rapid transit proposal. I hope this is a more ambitious proposal than what's described in the port authority route changes documentation. One reason I am hopeful is that the proposal use the term "bus rapid transit" rather than "rapid bus." Bus rapid transit usually implies exclusive roadways and train-like stations (this Port Authority document defines the bus rapid transit and rapid bus). The current route change plan has neither.

Pittsburgh emerging as a hub for future transportation technology

Pittsburgh emerging as a hub for future transportation technology

Next-generation, ultra-light electric vehicle - ULV : DigInfo

Felix Salmon on Minimum Parking Requirements

No such thing as free parking

Tunnel Boring Machine in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Port Authority is extending the city's subway system with the help of a German made tunnel boring machine. The machine costs $10 million and requires significant worker support. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports significant setup time:

Yesterday, the 500-ton machine made by Herrenknecht AG was taking a breather as workers installed giant rings behind it, which its 20 hydraulic arms will push against to keep moving through the soil...

[Later], it will start churning again and spend the next three to four weeks moving about 100 yards forward and slightly downward ...

[Then], drilling will halt for another three weeks or so while workers finish installing the trailing gear that extends from the rear of the machine -- the control cab, the hydraulic and electrical lines that power the machine, and pipes that pump a water-and-clay mixture to the front of the cutting heads to help them slice through the earth, and then transport earth and stone back to the surface.

I found a Video on YouTube which explains how the machine works:

NOTE: Those of you reading this post in a feed reader may need to click through to the website to view the video. Sorry for the inconvenience.

When I watched this video all I could think about is Bebop and Rocksteady boring to the Technodrome in core of the earth to escape the Ninja Turtles.

This machine is pretty amazing as it is, but hopefully it will continue to get better and we'll be able to build tunnels without spending half a billion dollars. With ubiquitous tunnels, Manhattan could be green, even outside Central Park. Mountain routes could be flat and straight. Sounds good to me.

Links: Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Bus Rapid Transit Video

StreetsBlog has an interesting video on Bus Rapid Transit in Bogotá, Columbia:

NOTE: Those of you reading this post in a feed reader may need to click through to the website to view the video. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I read an article in IEEE Spectrum over the summer about a similar system in São Paulo, Brazil. I wonder if there's anything unique about the city structure, culture, government, or weather of South America that encourages the adoption of Bus Rapid Transit. What do you think about Bus Rapid Transit? I'm on the fence, but this video certainly makes the Bogotá systems look much better than any bus system I've ever used.

Links: StreetsBlog Post | Spectrum Article on São Paulo Buses | Bus Rapid Transit Policy Center

Personal Rapid Transit in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles City Council will focus tomorrow on the city's transportation crisis. Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, Chair of the Transportation committee, requested feedback on the city's "transportation vision." Roy Reynolds, Managing Director of PRT Strategies, responded in a letter published in CityWatch:

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) technology has matured from its first implementa-tions in the 1970s and is ready for wider deploy-ment, possibly as early as 2010. We can best introduce this technology to you via the attached treatment we’d done last month in response to MTA’s request for comments re. the downtown Connector Study. PRT is a reasonable elevated solution for this application, and many others in the City.

It’s time to consider a high-tech solution to LA’s traffic problems. The first phase of your project seeks goals and objectives and it’s time for a new approach – that is, unconventional but achievable solutions, utilization of all available RoWs, computerization and dealing with freight cartage where PRT can be applied.

The first initial impression of PRT is that it cannot deal with heavy passenger volumes. With study and understanding, and simple mathematical projections, PRT can readily match standard bus and rail capacities given 1) that hundreds of vehicles can operate on its trackways with VERY short “headways” – perhaps as minimal as one second separations, and 2) that PRT is NOT a linearly-oriented system – it’s infrastructure is far more useful and flexible if multiple networked paths are built between stations.

PRT stations can also be built INTO structures, acting as second floor in-building portals. This leads us to the potential for public/private partnerships – a currently popular strategy in dealing with large civic expenditures. In this example, the property value of a structure is increased, and PRT becomes appealing to a middle-class demographic when it’s realized that a private and secure ride can be had on demand to/from home or office.

Links: Letter in CityWatch | PRT Strategies

Today's Irony

I worked for Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) in 2006 and found my time there to be thoroughly boring. So I was surprised today to find a PowerPoint deck by BAH employee Paul Hoffman about Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). He presents a a very good overview of the subject, including this table:

Need	Design Feature and Goal of PRT
Faster total travel times	14 – 65% faster overall travel speeds than rail
Lower operating costs	25 -50% lower than light rail Comparable or slightly higher than heavy rail Lower or comparable with automobile
Lower capital costs	25-50% lower than light rail 35-75% lower than monorail or heavy rail
Reduced energy use	Auto equivalent of 70-90 mpg Up to 50% less than rail
Capacity	Comparable to light rail and advanced bus systems Lower than heavy rail per corridor, higher on a capacity/cost basis One-way guideway equal to 2-3 highway lanes
Small right of way	3’-5’ wide guideway Able to be installed on curb or median Stations integrated into buildings

He doesn't site sources for any of the statistics he lists, so I would take them with a grain (or 5 lb. bag) of salt. Click the link below to read further.

Links: Paul Hoffman's PowerPoint Deck