Better Buses, Better Cities

How to Plan, Run, and Win the Fight for Effective Transit

Steven Higashide

• Publisher: Island Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781642830149
• eBook ISBN:
  9781642830156
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Urban Planning & Landscaping
• Index: Technology & Engineering

"Better Buses, Better Cities is likely the best book ever written on improving bus service in the United States." — Randy Shaw, Beyond Chron
"The ultimate roadmap for how to make the bus great again in your city." — Spacing
"The definitive volume on how to make bus frequent, fast, reliable, welcoming, and respected..." — Streetsblog

Imagine a bus system that is fast, frequent, and reliable—what would that change about your city?

Buses can and should be the cornerstone of urban transportation. They offer affordable mobility and can connect citizens with every aspect of their lives. But in the US, they have long been an afterthought in budgeting and planning. With a compelling narrative and actionable steps, Better Buses, Better Cities inspires us to fix the bus.

Transit expert Steven Higashide shows us what a successful bus system looks like with real-world stories of reform—such as Houston redrawing its bus network overnight, Boston making room on its streets to put buses first, and Indianapolis winning better bus service on Election Day. Higashide shows how to marshal the public in support of better buses and how new technologies can keep buses on time and make complex transit systems understandable.

Higashide argues that better bus systems will create better cities for all citizens. The consequences of subpar transit service fall most heavily on vulnerable members of society. Transit systems should be planned to be inclusive and provide better service for all. These are difficult tasks that require institutional culture shifts; doing all of them requires resilient organizations and transformational leadership.

Better bus service is key to making our cities better for all citizens. Better Buses, Better Cities describes how decision-makers, philanthropists, activists, and public agency leaders can work together to make the bus a win in any city.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface: My Own Bus Story
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: We Need to Unleash the Bus
• 01. What Makes People Choose the Bus?
• 02. Make the Bus Frequent
• 03. Make the Bus Fast and Reliable
• 04. Make the Bus Walkable and Dignified
• 05. Make the Bus Fair and Welcoming
• 06. Gerrymandering the Bus
• 07. Technology Won’t Kill the Bus—Unless We Let It
• 08. Building a Transit Nation
• Conclusion: Winning Mindsets and Growing Movements
• Notes