Transit is an Essential Service - Steven Higashide

Livable City

What’s the role of transportation in the livability foundation of a city? Even more specifically, what’s the role of public transit in making a city more livable? In places where transit has long been neglected, many might even think that public transit might diminish the livability of a place because it becomes correlated with increases in local crime.

But is it transit that diminishes the livability of our cities or might it be much deeper than this? How can not having to own a car to live our daily lives be anything but an incredible characteristic of a livable city?

Steven Higashide, Director of Research for TransitCenter discusses the role of transit in the livability of a city, transit during and as time goes on with COVID-19, the role of the street and the inherent limitations of a transportation system that over-leverages personal automobiles.

Steven wrote a compelling book on the role of buses in our cities, why they’re critical and how we can make bus service so much better. Pick up a copy of Better Buses Better Cities directly from Island Press, an incredible non-profit publisher with a mission of raising the voices talking about environmental and urban issues.

Follow Steven and his work on Twitter

Note: I mention the Live Q&A event with Doug Gordon and Jennifer Keesmaat in the intro to this podcast. I intentionally left it in so I can mention that this event has been postponed, but not canceled. The need to create safe, open streets during COVID-19 or at any time is incredibly important, but it was very important to give the spotlight to #BlackLivesMatter and police brutality against black people and other minority groups.

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