21st Century Road and Transit Systems

Solution to major surface transportation problems is unlikely to be found by extrapolating the very methods that created the problem in the first place.

Application of new technology concepts can assist with solutions to the region's transportation problems reducing highway maintenance costs, by increasing the capacity of the existing highway system and by offering new forms of transit which promise to cost less, provide travel on demand 24 hours a day, and be more compatible with low-density suburban areas.

The Task Force participated in the Automated Highway System (AHS) demonstration in August 1997 and has followed the development of Personal Rapid Transit. The Task Force included the application of new technologies in the Dulles Corridor Rail Plan and wrote a policy for the application of new technologies, which was adopted by the Dulles Corridor Task Force implementing the rail plan.

Long term, the AHS systems, for example, have the potential to improve highway capacity by 200-300%, (providing the supporting road network can handle the increase) to reduce fuel burned by 25%, and to significantly improve safety. The AHS system essentially turns an automobile into a duel-mode vehicle. It's a normal family car until it gets to the AHS lanes on the freeway at which point it becomes a personal rapid transit vehicle under computer control. When it leaves the AHS lanes, it becomes a normal automobile again. AHS promises to be inexpensive, about $18,000 per lane mile for the system with the onboard automobile equipment being purchased by the user as an option of similar cost to air conditioning.

Before the Industrial Revolution, we walked to work, and the size of cities was conditioned by the practical distance a person could walk and still do an effective day’s work. In the 19th Century, horse drawn and later mechanized transit systems evolved, enabling cities to expand. An early example of urban sprawl in the Washington area was the development of Chevy Chase, made feasible by the construction of a new Tram Line between the proposed development and downtown Washington. In the 20th Century, the automobile freed us from the schedule and location constraints of transit systems. In older cities like New York and in truly dense areas of new cities, modern versions of 19th Century transit can still be effective. But, for transit to become an effective alternative in the modern city and suburban areas, systems adapted to serve the new lower densities efficiently are required.

Transit Pricing
Transit requires substantial subsidy in the United States, in part because:
a) It’s considered a social service;
b) 19th Century concepts are rarely cost effective in 21st Century cities.

Transit pricing in the United States tends to be viewed as a social service often to expand the ability of low-income families to more easily reach jobs in other locations. This social aspect also is a key reason why transit operators seek to keep fares artificially low and why jurisdictions are persuaded to heavily subsidize their operations. This attitude undermines its broader application by undermining its economics. Transit fares should be structured to enable the system operation to break even. Major transit systems often serve multiple jurisdictions. If individual jurisdictions served by a system, for whatever reason, wish to offer their constituents cost incentives or provide a social service by reducing the cost, they should offer appropriate inducements as a jurisdiction, e.g. ticket credits, tax incentives, etc. to their constituents.

These new concepts have naturally run into the stonewall of a Luddite mentality in public and private sectors alike. Worse, society has structured the public sector to be risk averse. The application of new ideas inevitably has teething problems. The two work together to discourage innovation by public sector officials. The technology application policy developed by the Dulles Corridor Task Force was in part designed to address this problem.

The Washington Airports Task Force has long advocated development and use of these new technologies. At the same time, the Task Force stresses that the promise of future technological solutions is not an excuse for inaction on critical conventional highway and transit needs.

top