Why we need a new downtown people-mover technology.

We take for granted that city centers are increasingly gridlocked because of the vast number of cars required to encourage and maintain a vibrant economy. The need to continuously add in-town parking facilities--to build structured parking with virtually every new development project--burdens local street grids with overwhelming numbers of cars. This occupation by vehicles creates a noxious mix of visual, air and noise pollution that challenges the livability of even the most enlightened urban plans....Cars--the bringers of the golden customers--ironically are also the bane of city business districts and the unrelenting spoiler of sustainable urban development goals.

We'd like to offer a different perspective--one that suggests an actual solution to the twin problems of urban parking capacity and traffic congestion: What plagues urban business districts is not cars per se, but rather the distance a driver is willing to walk from their car after they've locked it.

This "parking access distance" isn't large. The general concensus is that 300 meters (just under 1000 feet) is the farthest, on average, a pedestrian is willing to walk after they've locked their vehicle. In fact, it is this meager Parking Access Distance that is responsible for clogging downtown streets with congestion because it requires people to drive into the core to find a parking space close to their primary destination. And it logically follows that developers are compelled to add more in-town parking capacity as they add floor space--feeding more fuel to the congestive cycle.

But what if Parking Access Distance could be stretched from its current 1000 feet to 1-3 miles or more? And what if downtown customers considered this not an inconvenience, but actually more convenient than their current park and walk tactics?

This is the underlying purpose of the SMRrTRAM People-Mover Architecture. It is achieved in a few places by means of expensive Automated People-Movers (typically elevated above grade since they can't interact safely with other vehicles or J-walking pedestrians.) For most downtown business districts, however, APMs are not an option for three reasons:

1. The costs are exorbitant.

2. Elevated guideways block the windows and views from buildings.

3. Putting the people-mover on grade--in the form of a fixed-rail streetcar--requires either sharing lanes with local traffic or--even more controversial--eliminating one or more traffic lanes!

What cities desperately need is an "Affordable-Downtown-People-Mover" (ADPM) that can be deployed on-grade in existing streetscapes without either eliminating or sharing traffic lanes. The SMRrTRAM People-Mover Architecture actually makes this possible for the first time!

Here are five huge benefits that the SMRrTRAM Architecture will make possible:

1. Intercept Parking that really works:

The idea of “intercept parking” (getting people to park on the edge of a business district instead of driving into the middle of it) has been around for a long time. It has never succeeded, however, because it contradicts people’s natural quest for convenience. Parking short of their destination and waiting five, ten, or even fifteen minutes for a shuttle-bus (which then gets stuck in traffic itself) simply can’t compete with the optimistic notion of driving into the downtown core and parking within 300 meters of a primary destination!

SMRrTRAM People-Movers will change this perception. Waiting only a maximum of 150 seconds, and stepping onto something that never gets stuck in traffic, means that parking on the edge actually will become more convenient than driving into the core congestion. Once people realize it really works, their parking habits will change naturally and rapidly!

2. Public transit that is a better alternative for commuters:

A major reason suburban commuters resist using public transit to access urban business districts is that after they step off an express bus or light-rail car, they’re stuck in a relatively small “pedestrian bubble”. Driving their car provides flexibility to access destinations other than what they can walk to from a commuter transit stop.

SMRrTRAM People-Movers will mean that commuter transit stops can provide access to much larger areas. Depending on the size of the people-mover network, the “pedestrian bubble” around a public transit stop could be stretched to include several square miles of destination choices. This dramatic increase in access area will make commuter transit attractive for a much larger group of users.

3. Market efficiencies that will compete with the suburbs:

“Market efficiency” can be thought of as the relationship of three factors: (1) The number of customers in the market (2) the number of choices the market provides each customer and (3) the ease with which the customers can access each of the choices. Suburban malls revolutionized retail market efficiency by making a large diversity of choices available to a very large customer base--and providing an enticing pedestrian context giving access to all the choices. More customers with more choices translated into more transactions per customer!

It would seem that the density of downtown business districts ought to generate more customers and choices than suburban venues (and therefore create a greater market efficiency). In fact, however, the limited Parking Access Distance inherent in most downtown business districts creates the opposite situation: from a single downtown parking space, the choices are far fewer than from a mall parking space. And from the perspective of a downtown business owner, the number of parking spaces within walking distance of their front door may only be a few hundred--compared with the three to five thousand spaces that support a business in a mall.

The result is that downtowns continue to struggle to compete with suburban expansion. SMRrTRAM People-Movers would dramatically alter this balance of retail and economic power. As illustrated above, just two people-mover alignments in downtown Baltimore, Maryland would create a continguous pedestrian-accessible market with an efficiency many times greater than the most successful suburban context.

4. More parks and green space

A typical urban business district suffers from the visual blight of parked cars--everywhere! The need to maximize the customers available to downtown businesses means virtually every available urban void is converted to parking spaces. Even the most artfully landscaped urban plans are often thin veils over—or backgrounds for—glittering metal car-yards.

SMRrTRAM People-Movers will render this visual blight unnecessary. Downtown businesses won’t feel the urge to squeeze a few extra parking spaces next to their buildings because their active customer base will have already doubled or even tripled! How? Instead of drawing customers only from parking spaces within 300 meters, they’re now able to draw customers from every parking space along the entire pedestrian-mover network! In an average sized downtown, this could be twenty thousand spaces or more.

With an expanded customer base, businesses will discover they can improve their competitiveness by converting those side-yard parking areas into green-spaces or mini-parks, outdoor cafes and open-air markets. If these decisions are multiplied by a thousand-fold, the urban context will rapidly be transformed into a greener, happier and healthier place.

5. An essential convenience for in-town residents

Downtowns everywhere are redefining themselves (and providing a growing clientele for their urban markets) by attracting more in-town residents. To entice families to move downtown, cities and developers are investing hundreds of millions of dollars enhancing the entertainment, educational, cultural and social lifestyles associated with downtown living. What diminishes the value of these investments is the inconvenience of getting around in a downtown setting without resorting, more often than not, to using the family car.

An in-town condominium, just like an in-town parking space or commuter transit stop, is the center of a limited pedestrian bubble. SMRrTRAM People-Movers will make it possible for in-town residents to access expanded areas of cultural, educational, shopping, entertainment and professional services without resorting to the use of their car. This kind of transparently convenient pedestrian-mobility will add enormous value to the public and private investments in downtown living.