Rapid Transit Office Index

Reading up on the Rapid Transit Office Index, which basically says 'Be within 500m or don't bother'. 500m is a about a third of a mile. Which has implications for TOD design. I think SANDAG nails is pretty well with this graphic.

Thinking on Cottonwood Corporate Center, on I-215 in SLC, UT. It's a large office complex with a lot of skyscrapers, basically in the middle of nowhere. It has good visibility from I-215 (on the hill) and a freeway exit, but it's hardly the only place with one. According to Christine Richman, the whole place got started with a build to suit developed for a specific tenant, and the whole cluster grew up around that.

Now, thinking of the RTOI, I wonder if it might not be possible to establish an office cluster around FrontRunner on that same basis. If you are going to work, Rapid Transit is certainly a plus. Sit down, read the paper, read a book, go over some documents. But it's difficult to get any work done on TRAX because there is nothing to write on. So, instead focus development around FrontRunner, which has a) Some seats with tables, and b) Wifi. Effectively, it becomes possible to treat FrontRunner as a rolling office. Roadway access would of course still be key, so a not too distant interchange seems like a good idea. To me, this suggests the otherwise abominable Station Park in Farmington. The only trouble is getting that first tenant...

Embark

http://letsembark.com/
"Free, fast and simple mobile apps for mass transit riders worldwide"
Pretty please, UTA?!

Bus vs. Trains

I was reading Human Transit today, and thinking about the rail map. SLC has a similarly complex bus system. Why is not possible to have a similar map? Jared Walker has the right of it when he says 'many transit services that are stuck in mixed traffic'. This is the fundamental divide--not bus vs. train, but dedicated right of way vs. mixed traffic. Trains, being heavier and slower to stop, frequently get their own. Buses do not, and that makes all the difference.  Effective BRT means dedicated right of way