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Category Archives: Rail infrastructure
Bordeaux pushes back—a little—against the automobile
I recently spent nearly a week in Bordeaux, a city I had previously been in only briefly. I was particularly interested in looking at all the ways that Bordeaux has been attempting to push back against the hegemony of the … Continue reading
Posted in Urban, Transportation, Rail infrastructure, Pedestrian infrastructure
Tagged Bordeaux
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The new ION light-rail line in Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario
I visited Kitchener and Waterloo last week and rode on the new ION light-rail line there. I also walked along the route for several kilometers. This line is distinctive in that it’s in a relatively small urban area. According to … Continue reading
Marseille is changing
Many—and probably most—French cities have engaged in large-scale urban renewal projects over the last thirty years or so. Obsolete industrial and port facilities have been replaced by offices and housing. Research centers, museums, and concert halls have been squeezed into … Continue reading
Posted in Urban, Transportation, Rail infrastructure, Pedestrian infrastructure
Tagged Marseille
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“Pedestrian priority” in Buenos Aires
I spent a week in Buenos Aires last month. This was my fourth (and longest) trip to the city. I had been there previously in 1986, 2002, and 2015. In the course of my recent trip, I tried to learn … Continue reading
Posted in Urban, Transportation, Rail infrastructure, Pedestrian infrastructure
Tagged Buenos Aires
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Dubai becomes a little more walkable
Dubai is known as a very car-oriented place. Exhibit number one is Sheikh Zayed Road, a 16-to-24-lane limited-access highway that extends through nearly the whole length of Dubai’s post-1990s neighborhoods including those containing most of the city’s famous skyscrapers. Pedestrian … Continue reading
Posted in Urban, Transportation, Rail infrastructure, Pedestrian infrastructure
Tagged Dubai
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New streetcar lines in St. Louis and Milwaukee
Two Midwestern cities—St. Louis and Milwaukee—both acquired new streetcar lines in November, and I went and rode them last week. The lines are comparable in size. Both are miniscule given that they’re in urban areas that are dozens of kilometers across. … Continue reading
“Transit villages” in Hong Kong that predate the use of the term “transit village”
Hong Kong has four quite distinct urban rail systems: [1] the MTR (Mass Transit Railway), which consists of approximately 231 km of modern urban rail lines that run throughout the special administrative region; it incorporates the formerly separate lines of … Continue reading
Posted in Urban, Transportation, Rail infrastructure, Pedestrian infrastructure
Tagged Hong Kong
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Lyon’s Confluence
A simplistic view of post-World-War-II French urban transportation planning would identify two very different phases. In the 1950s and 1960s, and well into the 1970s, the government largely devoted itself to catering to the automobile. Limited-access highways were built to connect French … Continue reading
Posted in Urban, Transportation, Rail infrastructure, Pedestrian infrastructure
Tagged Lyon
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The Queens Quay renovation in Toronto
When I was in Toronto, I also explored a much smaller project: the renovation of Queens Quay. Queens Quay is a short (3.3 km) street along Toronto’s “Harbourfront.” Over the last forty or so years most of its western 2 … Continue reading
Posted in Urban, Transportation, Rail infrastructure, Pedestrian infrastructure
Tagged Toronto
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Toronto’s extends its subway even further into car country
I spent several days in Toronto this month. This was perhaps my twentieth trip to Toronto since 1966. I had been a witness over the years to Toronto’s astonishing transformation from a socially conservative place whose inhabitants were mostly of British … Continue reading