Archinect - News

Austin Transit Partnership names UNStudio, HKS, and Gehl to lead city's public transit expansion

2023-03-06T19:47:00-05:00

UNStudio, HKS, and Gehl have been selected by the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) to lead the architecture and urban design of Project Connect, a major expansion of the city’s public transit system. The voter-approved investment includes new light rail, expanded bus routes, a subway, and more services across Austin.

Austin voters approved Project Connect in November 2020, followed by the formation of ATP, an independent organization created in partnership with the City of Austin and CapMetro. It will serve to oversee the finance and development of the project, which aims to improve access to essential jobs, health care, education, and entertainment in the city.

Video courtesy UNStudio via Vimeo.

“The design team brings both broad international expertise delivering transit and public realm projects at the highest level of design and an acute sensitivity to Austin’s specific culture and heritage,” said Peter Mullan, ATP Executive Vice President for Architecture and Urban Design. “P...

New York City to roll out 51 electric school buses with $18.5 million EPA grant

2022-11-03T12:28:00-04:00

Dozens of electric yellow school buses are scheduled to roll on city streets as early as next fall, officials announced Tuesday. The city is using an $18.5 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency with funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to purchase 51 electric school buses. It’s part of an effort to meet the city’s and the state’s shared goal of converting all New York’s school buses to run on electricity by 2035.

In April, New York Governor Kathy Hochul agreed on a $220 billion state budget with legislators, which included a plan to make New York State’s nearly 50,000 school buses 100% electric by 2035. It’s estimated that the state currently has just 36 electric school buses. New York City currently has approximately 5,000 school buses that run on diesel. It aims to convert buses that are six or seven years old to electric power. These new buses will account for around 1% of the city’s fleet.

As reported by Gothamist, it will cost $5 billion for the state to run on all-electric school buses. The money from the Environmental Protection Agency will be available to three New York City school districts. Additional funds for more electric buses in New York may be made available depending on the outcome of a $4.2 environmental bond proposal that will be voted on in this month’s election. If approved, $500 million will head towards electric buses and the infrastructure needed for them.

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L.A. ends what was the largest free transit experiment in U.S. history

2022-01-21T13:54:00-05:00

In March 2020, Los Angeles’ public-transit agency, Metro, stopped collecting fares on its buses as a COVID-19 safety precaution. For the next 22 months, Metro waived fares for anyone who wanted to keep riding its buses, anywhere they wanted to go (as long as they wore a mask, of course). And people did keep riding.

A spokesperson from the agency estimates that from April 2020 to December 2021 there were approximately 281 million fare-free rides, reaching about 80 percent of pre-pandemic ridership, making it the largest free-transit experiment in U.S. history. Fare collection, however, restarted last week and now, Metro is using the information gained from the experiment to plan improvements and initiative other free- and reduced-fare programs.

As detailed by Curbed, unlike many other U.S. transit agencies, L.A.’s Metro doesn’t rely as heavily on fares, in which they account for only 6 percent of total revenue. This made the free-transit initiative a lot easier to implement. Proponents of the fareless metro system believe it should be permanent as the majority of riders, who are low income, already qualify for discounted fares through the city’s low-income fare program.

Europe's first fully autonomous bus is set to carry passengers in Toulouse

2021-12-02T19:47:00-05:00

French start-up EasyMile is to be the first transport provider to run a fully autonomous vehicle on a public road in Europe. The company has been authorised to run a driverless bus at the Oncopole medical campus in Toulouse, in partnership with French engineer Alstom.

The bus will operate at “Level 4,” meaning no human attendant will be on board. The authorization was granted by France’s Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Ecological Transition, on advice of the Minister of the Interior and local authorities. The bus arrives ahead of the implementation of the final regulatory framework allowing the circulation of autonomous vehicles on public roads in France, scheduled for September 2022.

The company will utilize its EZ10 people mover, an electric vehicle with PV-enhanced charging. It can carry up to 15 passengers. The service at Oncopole has been active since March and is situated on a 600-meter mixed-traffic route that also hosts cyclists, pedestrians, and cars. It will transition to being fully driverless in the coming months.

The project is part of the SAM (Safety and Acceptability of Autonomous Driving and Mobility) project, a French national-scale initiative to develop autonomous vehicles and deploy them on open roads.

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Dramatic timber roof defines BIG’s Västerås Travel Center design

2021-05-26T13:51:00-04:00

BIG has unveiled updated plans for a new transportation hub in the heart of the Swedish city of Västerås. Named the Västerås Travel Center, the 17,000-square-meter structure will bring together all of the city’s transport infrastructure in one continuous landscape, under a dramatic, curved roof.

Image: BIG

BIG has proposed a building that unites rather than separates functions. It will serve as the central station for trains and buses while providing a bridge between the city center and the nearby Lake Mälaren, areas currently divided by train tracks. The preliminary plan for the project was initially revealed in 2015. Central to the updated design is a more distinct roof that serves to welcome visitors to the city at multiple points while giving the travel center a clear identity. It is a roof that spreads out, invites from all directions, and creates spatial contexts.

Image: BIG and Playtime

"We have designed the defining feature of Västerås Travel Center, the floating roof, as a r...

New York City has a $54 billion blueprint for fixing the subways

2019-09-18T08:00:00-04:00

New York's public transportation system isn't perfect, but its proper, punctual functioning is critical to the city's existence. Flaws and all, millions of New York natives and visitors log over 1 billion trips on the subway and bus systems each year.

On Monday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced a $54 billion plan to renovate "the city's floundering transit network," according to Emma G. Fitzsimmons of the New York Times. The MTA's proposal announcement presents a detailed "wish list" of improvement projects to undertake over the next five years.

Plans include: modernizing subway signals along the Lexington Ave. Line, adding elevators to 70 stations to improve wheelchair accessibility, and extending the Second Ave. Subway north towards East Harlem.

In a recent news statement, MTA chairman Patrick J. Foye said, "At the end of this five-year period, New Yorkers will see a revitalized and modern system for the 21st century and beyond." While the idea of fixing the ...

Muji designs autonomous shuttle bus uniquely fit for all weather conditions

2018-11-02T14:02:00-04:00

The Japanese retailer MUJI, known for their minimalist home furnishings and micro-apartment designs, has designed an autonomous vehicle. Teaming up with Sensible 4, a Finnish startup working on weatherproof technology for autonomous vehicles, the two companies have collaborated on a sleek new shuttle bus—the Gacha—uniquely designed to fit all weather conditions.

Companies looking to be global pioneers of automation technology have zoomed in on California and Southern Europe to develop their systems. The Finnish company believes that this will severely hinder the viability of autonomous technology to work in a variety of weather conditions. For example, Tesla's autopilot function works mainly as a video camera-based lane guard. However, as CEO Harri Santamala noted, "if it cannot see the lanes [due to the weather], it is easy to conclude what is going to happen."

Sensible 4's automation technology, alternatively, relies on a multi-sensor system, complete with thermal cameras and rada...

Estonia is the first country to offer free public transit nationwide

2018-06-07T14:01:00-04:00

Tallinn, known for its digital government and successful tech startups, is often referred to as Europe’s innovation capital. Now celebrating five years of free public transport for all citizens, the government is planning to make Estonia the first free public transport nation.

Pop-Up City's Regina Schröter interviews the Head of the Tallinn European Union Office, Allan Alaküla, about Estonia's plans to expand the successful fare-free public transport model from the capital to the entire country on July 1: "Before introducing free public transport, the city center was crammed with cars. This situation has improved — also because we raised parking fees. When non-Tallinners leave their cars in a park-and-ride and check in to public transport on the same day, they can’t only use public transport for free but also won’t be charged the parking fee. We noticed that people didn’t complain about high parking fees once we offered them a good alternative."

A number of other European cities, most notably Paris, also offer, or are considering, free public transport to ease traffic, reduce pollution, and boost local businesses.

Previously: Can offering free rides invigorate public transit?

China tests driverless bus guided by sensor tracks in the road

2017-11-07T17:33:00-05:00

The Hunan city of Zhuzhou is currently testing out an unmanned train that doesn't run on rails. You know, like a bus. The Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) is being dubbed by Chinese state media the "world's first smart rapid rail bus," whatever that means. The train/bus (trus?) was first shown off in June this year. It uses sensors to determine the dimensions of the road and make a virtual track for itself to ride along.

At first glance, Zhuzhou's Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit system that's currently being tested promises to enjoy a brighter future (and less ridicule) than the Traffic Elevated "car-eating" Bus that the City of Qinhuangdao announced to much fanfare last summer — only to find it stalled and eventually discontinued just a few months later.

Stalled out: Thomas Heatherwick's "New Bus for London" nixed by Mayor Sadiq Khan

2017-01-03T19:42:00-05:00

Partly in order to help pay for a transit fare freeze, Sadiq Khan has halted the order for the double-decker, triple-doored Thomas Heatherwick-designed "New Bus for London," which would have replaced the old fleet of Routemaster buses. Much like Heatherwick's troubled Garden Bridge proposal, the costly New Bus for London was backed by former mayor Boris Johnson, whose funding policies have largely attracted more public ire than praise.

For more on Thomas Heatherwick:

Whatever happened to China's futuristic Traffic Elevated Bus?

2016-12-09T13:32:00-05:00

China's once-celebrated Traffic Elevated Bus (TEB) has been left abandoned in the middle of a Hebei city road, not having moved once in over two months. Originally touted as the futuristic solution to urban traffic jams, the "straddling bus" is currently causing them. A local reporter recently checked up on "the future of public transportation" at its testing site in Qinhuangdao, only to find it forgotten in a rusted garage, covered in dust.

"To test its invention, the company actually leased part of a city road in Qinhuangdao. Since the bus now remains exactly where it was abandoned , it continues to block three lanes of traffic, annoying residents to no end."

The 'road-straddling bus' previously in the Archinect news: Public transit boon or boondoggle? China tests out its road-straddling bus

Public transit boon or boondoggle? China tests out its road-straddling bus

2016-08-03T13:21:00-04:00

Just months after its spectacular design was unveiled, the Transit Explore Bus had its inaugural run this week on 300 metres of specially constructed test track in Qinhuangdao [...] The vehicle, which goes up to 60km/h (37mph), runs on tracks with passenger spaces standing two metres above the road so that two lanes of cars can pass undisturbed underneath, helping to alleviate the notorious traffic jams of China’s biggest cities.

More transportation News on Archinect:

London to try out an all-electric double-decker bus

2015-07-01T05:25:00-04:00

[London Mayor Boris] Johnson, who uses the city’s bike-share system to commute to work most days, told the Guardian that he would welcome the quieter, greener buses on his city’s streets, saying current buses are like “throbbing, belching machines that emit their fumes like wounded war-elephants”.

Since 2008, London Mayor Boris Johnson has introduced over 1,300 hybrid buses onto city streets, and all-electric single-decker buses have been in use since 2013. It was previously thought that all-electric double-decker buses weren't feasible – their size makes them too difficult to efficiently power with electricity alone. BYD, the Chinese firm that will build the new all-electric buses, can provide batteries that will "apparently be light and cheap enough" to power London's iconic double-deckers. The first pilot bus will begin operating on London's Route 16 this October.

More news from London:

Special interest money kills Nashville's "Amp" BRT aspirations

2015-01-23T20:25:00-05:00

Nashville’s bid to build its first high-capacity transit line is dead, the Tennessean is reporting today. It’s a victory for the Koch brothers-funded local chapter of Americans for Prosperity and a defeat for the city’s near-term hopes of transitioning to less congested, more sustainable streets. The project, known as the Amp, called for a 7-mile busway linking growing East Nashville to downtown and parts of the city’s west end.

Community Bus Stops Transform Brazil

2014-09-05T13:55:00-04:00

Thousands of bus stops in Brazil completely lack signage to indicate which buses actually stop there. The nation-wide inconvenience has finally been tackled by one of the biggest community projects in the world. ‘Que Ônibus Passa Aqui?’ (‘Which Bus Stops here?’) is a resident-led initiative which has taken Brazil by storm.

Regulating the Private Buses of “Google-land”

2014-01-23T14:47:00-05:00

Before the buses became a symbol for San Francisco’s gentrification woes, they were just a fleet of several hundred private coaches that whisked some seventeen thousand workers around San Francisco and to and from the Silicon Valley campuses of such companies as Apple, Google, and Genentech. [...] San Francisco is deep into a second tech boom—and, with it, many less affluent workers are getting priced out of the city.

Architecture Student Converts School Bus Into Cozy Home

2013-08-19T19:36:00-04:00

School buses are so much fun. The springy seats, the awkward-to-open windows [..]—it all hearkens back to a time in your life when you were younger, happier and worry-free. But did you ever imagine living in one? Hank Butitta did. By his last semester at architecture school, Butitta had grown weary of doing projects that only existed on paper, ones that were destined to be filed away and forgotten. He got sick of making things that nobody cared about. So what did he do? He bought a school bus.