The problem is historical

The public bus model is an European central city import, where there is a large concentration of people without cars, and suburbs are not as expansive as they are in the USA. There are no reservations required to ride a public bus, any one on a street corner can ride, up to the capacity of the bus, and beyond. The seats are not designed for long rides, there are rafters on the ceiling for those in excess of the seating capacity to hang on to.

Rapid transit trains are also a throw back to the old country. They are designed in a similar way to transit buses, with no reservations required, no comforts of any kind, and with a legendary capacity to carry crowds beyond their design point. They are a legacy to the past, where the downtown was the hub of all activity. In fact, they are little more than multiple public buses riding along a very expensive metal rail.

Metropolitan rapid transit networks are designed using politics rather than logic. There is little attention paid to the actual needs of the public, and a lot to the needs of the transportation lobby. Rarely is there any direct public transportation available if once commutes from a suburb to an office complex in another suburb.

Carpooling has not worked perhaps out of psychological factors. No one in an office would like to ride with another employee who is not his/her close personal friend, since when one is in the close confines of a car, frankness and open conversations about what goes on at work are common. There is a “carpool small talk” imposed that if uncomfortable for most people for more than a few minutes. Conversely, neighbors rarely work at the same location, so that carpooling does not apply.

Partial solutions are of no use either. If a car is required to drive to a commuter park and ride lot, there is a need for a person to maintain a car, to drive it out of his/her neighborhood, then park it. Most people would rather not leave the comfort of their own car to transfer to a rapid transit system, unless it is vitally necessary, or they are members of the green party.

A complete solution to the metropolitan commuter traffic problem involves removing cars from the roads, and increasing the number of riders per vehicle.

The Solution

In Atlanta, many commuters fondly remember the Olympics of 1996 as a model that worked. There were long range chartered buses parked at suburban shopping malls that would take visitors directly to the venues, and arrive at a pre-determined time. The solution to the transportation problems of large cities lies in organizational changes, not necessarily in more roads or more trains.

Traffic survey

The first step in a comprehensive solution is to implement a complete survey of the actual traffic needs, by individual car owner. With a traffic survey, the planners would find out where each commuter goes, on which days of the week, and at what hours, inbound and outbound. The survey would then offer an option for a private commuter service as outlined below. If there is sufficient interest shown by the public, further work is possible.

Connectivity vehicles

Most people who own cars do not use public transportation to commute to work because there is no direct route between their home and their place of work. Inbound, a long walk to board the rapid transit system, or a car ride to the train station or the bus parking lot, is a hardship. Outbound, the problem is reversed, and the daily commute becomes a drudgery where one must face the elements and the rush hour crowds.

There is no direct connection between the rapid transit system and the home and/or office. What are needed are commuter shuttle buses, similar to those used at the airports for car rental and parking, to shuttle the public to and from the public and private systems.

Neighborhood shuttle bus

Our communities are in reality neighborhoods or subdivisions. Most people know their neighbors and would probably not mind riding with them, as long as the shuttle bus is large enough and has the qualities that one would expect in such a vehicle. The shuttle bus can be purchased with community funds, and driven by retirees or young people residing in the subdivision or neighborhood. In the future, we should see a subdivision advertised as having a pool, tennis court, and a shuttle bus.

Corporate shuttle bus

At the destination point, there is often no further transportation other than a taxi cab. Most people loathe walking the last trek from the bus/train stop to the office, and this is undoubtedly the reason few chose to commute on a daily basis. A corporate shuttle bus, or an office park shuttle bus, would solve this problem. This can be financially managed either as a perk for a corporation’s employees, or an additional cost to the employees. Shuttles would run every x minutes to and from the nearest public bus/train stations.

Commuter bus

A commuter bus would be an alternative to the public bus/train system that would provide an added value to those commuters who would prefer the privacy and comfort of a luxury chartered bus. Seats on commuter buses would be reserved for at least a month at a time, and provide transportation in a cost-competitive basis to the use of a personal car for a daily commute of at least 5 miles each way. Amenities in a commuter bus could include a breakfast or snack, a newspaper, or television business news.

Commuter train

Some larger metropolitan areas have commuter trains that have scheduled service to and from outlying suburbs or rural areas. Once these trains approach the city, they use the same rail lines as the metropolitan transit system, but they are express trains to a pre-determined central station. This solution is well known and does indeed solve many of the larger city’s commuter problems, however, in some cities, political factors and turf battles have prevented the cooperation needed between private rail lines and the metropolitan transportation network.

Commute Alternatives

Door to Door - if there are sufficient reservations, a door to door service between a neighborhood and a business park becomes feasible. Door to door service would require that the commuters be picked up in front of his/her home, in a shuttle bus, and driven directly to the office or job location. Door to door commutes may be feasible between neighborhoods and office parks and shopping malls. A “shopping” bus service would be helpful in removing a lot of routine local traffic as well.

Private one stop - A one stop solution would be similar to the Olympic games commuter solution used in Atlanta in 1996. On the inbound trip, a neighborhood bus would be used to take the commuters from his/her home directly to the commuter bus stop, located in the parking lot of a regional shopping center, which would be the only stop or transfer in the route. The commuter bus would then arrive at the office park at a guaranteed pre-determined arrival time. The outbound trip would require that the commuters be picked up at their office park by the chartered commuter bus, and driven to the neighborhood transfer point, where they would transfer to the neighborhood shuttle for the final trip to their home.

Public one stop - If the office park or job location is close enough to the rapid transit station, then a public one stop solution is a feasible and economical alternative. The neighborhood shuttle would take the commuters to the rapid transit station, where they would board a train or a bus for their final destination, which would be at a train/bus station near to their office complex or job location.

Public two stop - A less expensive two stop solution is perhaps the most economical for the commuter. It would use the neighborhood shuttle to take the commuters to the regional commuter or rapid transit train station, where they would transfer to the train which would take them closest to their place of work. At the destination point train station, the commuter would then transfer to the corporate shuttle to be taken directly to the office or job location. In the outbound trip, the office park shuttle would take the commuters back to the rapid transit or commuter train station. At the end point station, they would be picked up at a pre-arranged times by the neighborhood shuttle, which would take them directly to their homes.

Telecommuting

The optimal solution is to provide more employees with a telecommuting workplace, where the internet is used to make knowledge worker’s home office the “office“. This solution is slowly reaching more acceptability in the staid mentality of corporate America, which dearly clings to it’s Foucaultian discipline structures.

Old school corporations treat their employees like children that need to be seen and controlled;  that need to be disciplined just in case they don’t sit and pay attention. Cubicles are arranged in such a way that the offices become cube-pens, visible from the glass enclosed desk of the “manager”.

Telecommuting needs to be expanded by using better productivity measures. What is important in a job is what is produced, how much of it, and of what quality. Daily time constraints are generally not important, but deadlines are. Some of the more advanced call centers today are virtual call centers, where employees work out of their homes, and are monitored in the same manager as those who are present in the office. The office is used primarily as a training complex, and where meetings are held on an as-needed basis.

HOV lanes for Buses only

If HOV lanes are transformed into bus-only lanes, then a commuter bus or a public bus would be granted a faster lane than those commuters that drive cars alone. HOV lanes have been shown to be useless if they are reserved only for cars with over two occupants. Once car bound commuters see visually appealing commuter buses streaming by on the PTO lanes, they will soon catch on.

Summary

Traffic problems can not be solved with political thinking. Logic and reason can solve any problem, if a solution is physically possible. As soon as the money/power of the political complex is introduced, the resulting system is nothing but a kludge to satisfy well connected political clients.

These solutions are simple organizational changes, using existing vehicles, and require little additional public investment. They have not been promoted by the authorities simply because there is no money in it for the transportation lobby.

Atlanta, GA