Transit is an Essential Service - Steven Higashide

Published: June 8, 2020, 8 p.m.

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What\\u2019s the role of transportation in the livability foundation of a city? Even more specifically, what\\u2019s 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.

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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?

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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\\u2019re 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.


Brought to you by SquadCast and post-production by Creekmore Music.

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