TOD is a
term popular in urban planning. In discussions of densities in city and suburb,
Transit-Oriented Development is a new take on the old notion that density goes
hand in hand with access transport infrastructure. Higher density should be at
transit stations. Most US growth is better described as Interstate -oriented.
One good
example of American TOD is the Ashmont station of Boston’s Red Line. Instead of
one-story retail with parking, TOD principles led to a 15-story apartment tower
right next to “T” station. It works well. A modest success of a Bostonian
scale. It would be bigger in New Work or Chicago. In Texas, TOD is more likely
to mean 4-story apartments each with “only” one parking space.
 |
| Picture of a Model of a Vision for Human Intensity near the Kaaba. |
Most
American neighborhood groups fret about density, mostly because of the
increased traffic it will bring. Suburban Americans spend much of their lives
driving, sitting in traffic and worrying about where to park. To many, TOD is
but a ruse to soothe those worried about more traffic that higher density.
Makkah
Embraces Intensity
Not so in
one of the Holy cities of the Hejaz, the western part of Saudi Arabia along the
Red Sea across from Egypt. Here, density is embraced in full pedestrian mode. Few
pilgrims to Makkah arrive by car. Officials already have a monorail to serve
Hajj guests, and more lines are planned. Foreseeing growth and higher levels of
pilgrimage in coming years, high-density development is planned for the heart
of the jewel of the Red Sea.
The state of
the art of urban transport modality is the focus of Terrapinn’s conference
March 17-18 in Dubai. Where do podcars fit into the menu of planners -- not
just in Makkah but throughout the Middle World and Africa and beyond?
Driverless taxis, vans and buses? Driverless metros? PRT? Will these be discussed at Mideast Rail
2015?
Peter Muller
of PRT Consulting has been invited to speak at a Saudi university. Taxi 2000
participated in detailed application studies in Abu Dhabi. What else is occurring
in the ministries of Kuwait, Oman and the UAE?
If transit programs are implemented with the intensity
of TOD plans in the heart of Makkah, visions of more sustainable urban live
begin to appear.
