Saturday, March 26, 2011

Book review: Urban Transit: Operations, Planning and Economics

by George M. Smerk

Urban Transit: Operations, Planning and Economics, by Vukan R. Vuchic. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard, Indianapolis, Indiana 46256 (order location). 2005. Pp.644. ISBN 0-471-63265-1. Hardcover. $120.00.
This book is the completion of a trilogy by Vukan Vuchic. The first book, Urban Public Transportation Systems and Technology, presented the reader with definitions and classification of the means of providing urban mass transportation. The second work, Transportation for Livable Cities, provides an excellent exposition of why transportation should be viewed by policy makers as a key means for making urban life a quality and humane experience, rather than as a function per se, judged without regard for its impact on the economic and social viability of urban communities. The third work, the object of this review, provides comprehensive coverage of the resources, analytical techniques, modes of urban transit, and practices needed to enable the supply of efficient, effective public transportation in ways that elevate urban livability and commercial vitality to levels beyond those attainable when transit is relegated to a subordinate or insignificant role.
Urban Transit consists of twelve chapters, divided into three sections: Transit System Operations and Networks; Transit Agency Operations, Economics, and Organization; and Transit System Planning. Together, they cover the full range of subject matter involved in, and essential for, effective planning, operation, and financing of transit systems. 


more urban planning book reviews:

Greening Cities, Growing Communities

Resources of the City: Towards a European Urban Environmental History

The City Beautiful Movement by William H. Wilson

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