On public transport, heatwaves, innovation

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Get to the point ????

The public transport sector is step by step adapting to tackle the challenges posed by?rising temperatures and heatwaves. Innovative approaches, such as AI-enhanced systems to improve passenger comfort and cooling down rail tracks, are being implemented, as? UITP reminds in the?paper “It’s getting hot in here: how public transport is adapting to rising temperatures”, released in summer 2022 and still valid.

As temperatures soar, commuters are facing the impact firsthand. 纽约时报 ?wrote an article ironically headlined: “What’s Worse Than Heat and Humidity? Heat and Humidity on the Subway”, focusing on the story of a specific car in the city metro that has historically had issues with air conditioning. However Richard Davey, the president of the New York Transit Authority, is quoted as saying that “the air-conditioning on all of New York City’s nearly 6,000 subway cars works 99.4 percent of the time. That percentage is 8.5 percent better than last year, and 33 percent better than two years ago”.

Cities also are of course reacting to increasingly hot summers.?Frankfurt has introduced?“ventilation corridors, or ‘Luftleitbahnen’: stretches of land where there are no high buildings, or?large stretches of trees, in order to draw in cooler air from surrounding areas”, while Madrid is responding to the heatwaves by setting up climate shelters in air-conditioned public spaces like libraries and community centers.?

Long story short: in response to these climate challenges, operators, industry players, and authorities understand?the importance of not only adapting and reacting to the effects of climate change with tools aimed at providing a good experience to customers, but also taking significant steps to decarbonize public transport and combat climate change on a larger scale.

As passenger compartments of public transport vehicles are usually air conditioned, “The objectives of tackling extreme heat include keeping the systems safe – the number 1 priority,?minimizing service disruptions?and providing passengers with a comfortable journey”, said Corentin Wauters , UITP Senior Manager Rail.?

Bus stops are, needless to say, literally “hot spots” in case of heatwaves. It’s the case of Houston, where 200,000 people use transit every day, but less than a quarter of Houston’s bus stops have any sort of shelter,?according to data analyzed by Houston Public Media. Same issue in Los Angeles, where “Of the 12,200 bus stops served by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, only a quarter have some kind of shade or rain shelter, and only half have a seat for those waiting”, as? Los Angeles Times reports.

Amid the scorching heat of Austin, Texas, in 2019,?two researchers from the University of Texas delved into transit ridership: their study indicated that?planting trees at bus stops might be a more effective measure than traditional bus shelters: “During high temperatures, each one-percent increase in tree canopy was associated with a lesser decrease (1.6%) in ridership compared to if there were no trees (1.7%)”.?The presence of trees not only offers shade and relief to commuters but also contributes to mitigating climate change, making it a promising solution for sustainable urban development.

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Continue reading on sustainable-bus.com

?? Things we enjoyed reading

• Adapting mobility hubs to rural communities with transport tech - Mobility hubs have been touted as the ‘go-to solution’ for multimodal travel, but to date the focus has often been on cities – leaving out a huge swath of the population. - Keep reading on Cities Today [ Cities Today ]
• Transportation apps can help people with disabilities navigate public transit... - ...?but accessibility lags behind.?Smartphone apps have become commonplace tools for travel and navigation. As technology becomes more integrated into transport networks... Keep reading on The Conversation [ The Conversation Australia + NZ ]
• How to make cycling and public transport a winning combination? - UPPER’s mission is to strengthen the role of public transport in achieving sustainability and innovative mobility in cities. It will do so by implementing a series of measures... Keep readin
• Rural bus services hit new low after losing out on post-Covid funding - Endangered rural bus services in England have dwindled to a new low after losing out on funding after the pandemic, analysis for councils has shown. Keep reading on?The Guardian

?? Times for a quote

Unlike other sectors, emissions linked to transport are constantly increasing. Therefore, the temptation is strong among some, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to transport, to limit the latter themselves. The reasoning seems unstoppable: less travel, less transport means less CO2 emissions. The logic is implacable, but it entails the risk of reserving mobility for an elite, who would have the means to pay for increasingly expensive transport."

Thierry Mallet , CEO, Transdev Group [on?Les Echos - Les Echos ]

?? What about a chart?

Source: Bloomberg