Abstract
If you spend any time inside the offices of a transit agency, you get used to seeing messages like “The customer comes first!” and “Service is our business!” Posted in the elevator or in the lunchroom, these messages are supposed to focus employees on a particular mission called “service.”
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There will always be exceptions, but there can also be continuous efforts toward addressing those exceptions, efforts made simpler by a clearer goal. Right now, many people commuting long distances value a good on-board work environment, but wireless internet and smartphones will eventually improve the working environment on most long-distance transit services. Weather deters walking and waiting sometimes, but this can be addressed through weather-protected connection points, heated or cooled shelters, and the continuous awnings that some cities (such as rainy Wellington, New Zealand) require in business districts. If enabling people to get where they’re going as fast as possible were the objective, a great many available innovations—in urban design, information systems, and network planning—could be brought to bear, and new innovation would have a clearer goal to pursue.
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© 2012 Jarrett Walker
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Walker, J. (2012). What Makes Transit Useful? Seven Demands and How Transit Serves Them. In: Human Transit. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-174-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-174-0_2
Publisher Name: Island Press, Washington, DC
Online ISBN: 978-1-61091-174-0
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