This map has been tweeted at me from many directions today.
You select an area and it will show you what mode: walking, biking, transit, driving; will get you to which parts of the City fastest.
You only have to click on an area in the inner NE or SE to see why cycling is doing so well there.
But the really interesting information to me is how seldom transit is the fastest answer. It only wins for medium-long trips with a direct connection.
7 responses to “A Fascinating Map”
Thanks for sharing Portland’s mapping tool. I’m moving from Kannapolis, NC to Portland, OR in September to attend Portland State University’s Master of Urban and Regional Planning program so the mapping tool is helpful for me as I look for housing. I’m not bringing my parents’ car to Portland so am looking for a walkable, bikeable and transit friendly location to live. You may like this tool as well. http://mvjantzen.com/tools/modes.html
I found the tool on these websites:
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2013/01/map-all-possible-routes/4442/
http://mobilitylab.org/2013/01/18/side-by-side-router-compares-driving-walking-biking-and-transit/
Transit is always iffy, because it’s not necessarily supposed to be the “fastest” way to get anywhere. Once you’ve factored in walking and wait times, it makes it seem that much slower. I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to make transit fast, but even when I was working in Hong Kong I Google mapped my commute and saw that driving was three times faster (traffic permitting). You know.. Hong Kong… supposedly some of the best transit in the world. What makes transit attractive is not necessarily it’s speed; instead, it needs to be frequent and reliable to be a viable option. Speed has to be factored in but only in the sense that it’s not UNREASONABLY slow or takes ridiculous detours (unless that’s the point of the route).
I commute to the Sellwood area and usually take the MAX downtown and transfer to the 33. I can also take the 75 and get off at the Springwater Corridor and ride my bike. However, I prefer the MAX & 33 combo because it’s more reliable than the 75. Every time I’ve ridden the 75 it’s been late and the route itself is riddled with stops that are spaced too closely together. If the 75 came more frequently then I might take it more because I can just go out and catch a bus instead of checking the schedule. However, with my other choice I know exactly when the 33 is coming by downtown and there’s ALWAYS a MAX train coming within 5 minutes on the Banfield. That is what makes transit attractive.
Yeah, the 33 from downtown is more reliable because it originates at Union Station now, not at Gateway TC as formerly.
Yeah… but the point is that reliability and frequency are as big a factor as, if not bigger than, speed when it comes to the utility of transit. This map shows how fast you can get to certain neighborhoods via different modes of travel. I wouldn’t say that transit being slower than other modes is an indicator that it’s underperforming. To measure how useful transit is you need more than just how quickly it goes from point A to point B.
Wow, transit does seem to underperform! And walking seems to overperform in a lot of the outer parts of the city, especially relative to cycling. I wonder if some of that is due to the resolution. I’d bet that as the ‘block groups’ they’re using to cull the data from get smaller, you’d start to see transit perform better in areas clustered around LRT and well-served bus stops.
It’s a cool idea, and I hope it keeps evolving so we can answer these sorts of questions…
Yeah, part of the issue is that the current TriMet system, in particular, was not built for speed. It was built for overall system performance, reliability, etc. I think one of the challenges for TriMet in the future will be to re-configure parts of the system to try to wring more speed out of the system. For instance, from the Alberta Arts District, you ought to be able to catch a bus to get you downtown in 20 minutes flat. It would be simple — run down Alberta, make a left on Williams, go through the Rose Quarter TC and voila! downtown in about 20 minutes. Right now, all of the direct-to-downtown bus routes from above Alameda Ridge, east of MLKjr, run north/south through Irvington, thus slowing them way down.
This is just one example of how the TriMet system was NOT currently built for speed, but how it could potentially be fixed to add some quick-travel options…
I think the 8 bus is what you’re looking for, but I don’t know how Vancouver would be any faster than 15th…
There’s a reason why TriMet restructured its network 30+ years ago eliminating many of its one-seat rides to downtown — to create a grid of more frequent routes that made it easier to get between two points in the city with one transfer, even if your origin or destination wasn’t downtown. Of course, you need routes to be of a usable frequency to minimize the transfer penalty, otherwise you are creating more disincentives to use transit.