WORKSHOP ON URBAN-MICROSCALE PLANNING. URBAN-MICROSCALE PLANNING FOR THE 1980S

Abstract

The roles of the individual and of the public and private sectors must change to meet the realities of present-day life. The new social order should have a dramatic impact on highway and public-transit planning. Because past planning for public facilities and transit was often influenced by how much money was available and an almost limitless amount of available land, local decisions tended to be in the direction of whatever the government would pay for. In the 1970s changing demands for public transit were ignored and most attention was on fixed-route transit. Mathematical planning models will become relatively less important with many major service impacts caused by changes in legal, regulatory and institutional environments. Fixed-route transit needs to be seen as a service concept developed in the 19th century to meet travel needs of that time. It is conceded that fixed-route service is still the most effective means of moving large numbers of people along defined corridors. There is a tendency to think it essential that only one transit operator serve an urban area and that allowing more will lead to fragmentation and destruction of the system. Key elements for today's transportation planning are management and control of parking, transportation pricing, targeting recipients of subsidy, recognizing the roles of the pedestrian and cyclist, and control of autos in central zones. Examples are given to indicate that institutional changes are already taking place. It is stressed that it is no longer affordable only to fine-tune current systems. The planner of the 1980s will be faced with need for creative development of new approaches for providing transportation, focusing on market needs and services to meet them. Conventional solutions will be appropriate in many circumstances.