The author of this Philadelphia Inquirer piece doesn't seem to realise just how much has been written and said about the importance of linking land use planning with transport planning. But she raises the point that regulatory controls to limit carbon emissions should not leave out sources that are a result of movement, and that changing vehicle technologies won't be enough on their own.
The suggestion is that we'll have to consider offering tax credits or other strategies to encourage synergy between land use decisions and transport decisions; and not only those decisions made by municipal planners, but also by developers, public transport operators, home owners and people who choose to use public transport - or not.
The author talks of creating "transit villages" or "urban transit hubs", which sound a lot like a combination of the transit-oriented development (TOD) concept and the idea of new mobility that has been growing in Europe and North America. Here are some useful references on new mobility, which has seen much less air play than TOD:
Moving the Economy has a section on New Mobility in Toronto, which is described as "a new industry cluster where transportation meets the new economy". Includes mention of New Mobility hubs.
Wikipedia definition of New Mobility includes a listing of some of the building blocks, or typical transportation strategies, that can form part of a New Mobility agenda.
An essay by Susan Zielinski on New Mobility in the winter 2006 edition of The Bridge, an online resource from the National Academy of Engineering. Additional links provided at the end of the essay.
The New Mobility Agenda provides extensive discussion on different aspects of the subject, with links to Wikipedia entries and an invitation to contribute to the discussion through this site and through Wikipedia.
New mobility hubs in particular - as discussed in the Zielinski essay - would be a particularly useful way to break out of the traditional way of providing public transport, not least because they give free play to market forces to respond to demand, within an appropriate policy and regulatory framework. They are not prescriptive, and are not limited to any particular size or type of place where transport services can be provided. The focus is on flexibility and responsiveness to meet diverse travel needs. Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air?
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