Check out the episode:

You can find the shownotes through this link.

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Are you interested in the benefits of public transport?

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Our summary today works with the book chapter titled Economic and social impacts of public transport investments: A scoping literature review from 2023, by Paulo Anciaes and Jacob Albin Korem Alhassan, part of the Advances in Transport Policy and Planning book, published by Elsevier.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Sarah Bridges in episode 326 talking about public transport investments as one of the biggest opportunities for urban futures.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see the real benefits of public transport for the urban context. This chapter explores the effects of investments and disinvestments in public transport across the urban fabric.

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Welcome to today’s What is The Future For Cities podcast and its Research episode; my name is Fanni, and today we will introduce a research by summarising it. The episode really is just a short summary of the original investigation, and, in case it is interesting enough, I would encourage everyone to check out the whole documentation. This conversation was produced and generated with Notebook LM as two hosts dissecting the whole research.

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Speaker 1: We’re diving deep today into public transportation impacts and oh boy, there’s a lot to unpack.

Speaker 2: Yeah, it can get pretty complex what actually happens when you build a new train line or expand a bus route.

Speaker 1: Exactly. Not just the theory. But the on the ground effects, and I think one of the first things that jumped out at me was just the scale, like the sheer size of some of these projects, especially in China.

Speaker 2: Oh yeah, their high speed rail boom.

Speaker 1: 42, 000 kilometres of high speed rail built in just 12 years.

Speaker 2: It’s insane. It’s enough to go across the entire U. S. twice.

Speaker 1: It’s mind blowing. And the researchers, of course, they haven’t just been sitting around.

Speaker 2: Oh no, they’ve been busy studying all the ripple effects.

Speaker 1: Like, what happens to property values?

Speaker 2: Right, because that’s a big question. Does it boost them? Does it hurt them?

Speaker 1: There’s a 2021 study by Liu and his colleagues that looked at exactly that.

Speaker 2: And they found that a 100 minute decrease in travel time Thanks to high speed rail.

Speaker 1: So if your commute got cut down significantly.

Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Led to a 17 percent increase in property values on average. Wow.

Speaker 1: But I imagine it’s not that simple everywhere, is it?

Speaker 2: You’re right. It’s not a one size fits all thing. The impact varied depending on the region and type of housing.

Speaker 1: Ah, so context matters.

Speaker 2: Big time. The effect was more pronounced in what they called underdeveloped regions.

Speaker 1: Interesting. So it’s not just build it and they will come or their property values will skyrocket.

Speaker 2: No, way more nuanced than that.

Speaker 1: But it’s not just about real estate, is it? This is where it gets really interesting.

Speaker 2: The ripple effects goes way beyond for sure.

Speaker 1: There’s this thing called the diffusion effect that a 2020 study by Wang and his team explored.

Speaker 2: Okay, so that refers to how the benefits of high speed rail can actually spread.

Speaker 1: Spread beyond the cities that are directly connected to the new lines.

Speaker 2: Exactly. So even cities without a high speed rail station,

Speaker 1: They still benefited economically.

Speaker 2: Yeah, they saw economic growth because of the improved regional connectivity.

Speaker 1: So even if you’re not right next to a bullet train, you could still reap some benefits.

Speaker 2: Pretty amazing. And we see similar positive economic trends in other countries that have invested in high speed rail. Like Spain, Germany and Italy,

Speaker 1: high speed rail, faster travel, potentially higher property values, a stronger regional economy sounds pretty good

Speaker 2: on the surface. Yeah, it’s easy to get excited.

Speaker 1: But are there any downsides to all of this? Are there any trade offs?

Speaker 2: It’s worth thinking about, right? Because any large scale project like this is bound to have some. There’s a whole other world of public transport happening right in our cities,

Speaker 1: light rail subways,

Speaker 2: even cable cars. Those are pretty cool.

Speaker 1: Yeah, they’re popping up in some interesting places. And these urban projects, they raise some interesting questions.

Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, especially about housing costs.

Speaker 1: Because, like with high speed rail, there’s this assumption that good public transport equals higher property values.

Speaker 2: And there’s some truth to that. There’s a study in Singapore and another in Seoul. They both found a significant increase in housing prices.

Speaker 1: Near new public transport lines, right?

Speaker 2: Yep, makes sense. The easier it is to get around, the more desirable a location becomes.

Speaker 1: But this brings up, of course, that issue of gentrification. The

Speaker 2: big G word.

Speaker 1: So the question is, does building new public transport lines automatically lead to gentrification?

Speaker 2: Does it push out existing residents?

Speaker 1: Do the benefits only go to wealthier newcomers?

Speaker 2: The research, it kind of paints a mixed picture.

Speaker 1: Doesn’t it always?

Speaker 2: Some studies in the U. S. did show gentrification happening after new lines were built.

Speaker 1: So in some cases, public transport could actually worsen inequality. Yeah,

Speaker 2: 2019 study by Baker and Lee, and they found something interesting.

Speaker 1: What’s that?

Speaker 2: They found that some cities actually saw an increase in low income residents near new lines.

Speaker 1: Really? How did that happen?

Speaker 2: It seems like local policies played a big role.

Speaker 1: So it’s not just about the transport itself?

Speaker 2: Nope. It’s about how you manage the development around it.

Speaker 1: Things like incentives for affordable housing near transit hubs.

Speaker 2: Exactly. That can make a big difference.

Speaker 1: It’s not a foregone conclusion that public transport equaling gentrification.

Speaker 2: Thank goodness.

Speaker 1: It’s about how we plan for it, how we manage it, and how we ensure it benefits everyone.

Speaker 2: And that, my friend, is the million dollar question.

Speaker 1: It is. What do you think, listener? How might local policies in your city be shaping the impact of public transport?

Speaker 2: It’s worth looking into, right? Because ultimately, public transport is about so much more than just economics or getting from A to B.

Speaker 1: It’s about the social fabric of our cities. And that brings us to our next stop, the often overlooked social side of public transportation. How public transportation affects our communities, our relationships, the human element. Exactly. And honestly, it’s not something I had thought a lot about before diving into this research. It’s easy to overlook. It is. But when you start to think about it, it makes total sense, right? Like how we get around has got to have some impact on how we interact with each other.

Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. It influences everything from our daily routines to our sense of belonging.

Speaker 1: Totally. So I’m curious, what have researchers found about this social side of public transportation? Any interesting findings jump out at you?

Speaker 2: There’s a whole body of research out there, but one thing that particularly caught my eye was the impact on older adults.

Speaker 1: Older adults?

Speaker 2: Yeah, there’s some really fascinating stuff coming out of Japan and Austria, led by a researcher named Utsunomiya.

Speaker 1: Okay, I’m intrigued. Tell me more.

Speaker 2: Utsunomiya has been studying this link between public transport and social interactions, specifically among older adults. And what he’s found is that access to public transport can actually lead to increased social interaction.

Speaker 1: Really? That’s amazing. Because as people get older, they often face more mobility challenges, so you’d think transportation would become more of a barrier to socialize.

Speaker 2: That’s the assumption, right? But Utsunomiya’s research is challenging, that he looked at a few different cases, like Toyama, Japan, where they introduced the country’s first light rail transit system. And what he found was that older adults in Toyama, after the LRT was built, they reported going out more often, meeting friends, just being more socially active overall.

Speaker 1: So it’s like the public transport gave them a new lease on life, socially.

Speaker 2: And it wasn’t just a one off thing. He found similar results in Austria. With their regional railways, older adults with good access to public transport were much more likely to report meeting up with friends and acquaintances.

Speaker 1: So it’s not just about getting to the doctor or the grocery store, it’s about maintaining those social connections.

Speaker 2: Exactly, and we know those connections are so crucial for well being, especially as we age.

Speaker 1: It’s almost like public transport can be a weapon against social isolation.

Speaker 2: It’s a powerful tool, for sure. But here’s the thing, and it’s something we need to be mindful of, public transport can also have negative social impacts if we’re not careful.

Speaker 1: Oh, like gentrification.

Speaker 2: That’s one big one, but there’s also this concept of community severance.

Speaker 1: Community severance? Yeah,

Speaker 2: it’s basically when you have a large infrastructure project, like a highway or a train line, That ends up creating physical barriers within a community.

Speaker 1: It cuts neighbourhoods off from each other.

Speaker 2: Exactly. And it can make it difficult, even dangerous, for people to walk or bike across those barriers.

Speaker 1: So instead of connecting people, it actually divides them.

Speaker 2: Sadly, that can happen. There is this study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. That looked at their new light rail transit system.

Speaker 1: I remember reading about that. They had some pretty impressive economic gains, right?

Speaker 2: They did, yeah. But the study also found that some residents actually reported decreased social interaction after the LRT was built.

Speaker 1: Really? That’s counterintuitive. You’d think a new train line would bring people together.

Speaker 2: You would. But it highlights how important design is.

If we’re not careful, these large projects can unintentionally create divisions.

Speaker 1: So it’s a balancing act, right?

Speaker 2: It is. How do we design public transport that’s efficient, but also socially inclusive, that doesn’t sever communities, but actually strengthens them?

Speaker 1: It’s a tough question. And it’s clear that public transportation is way more than just getting from point A to B.

Speaker 2: Oh, it’s so much more than that. It’s about shaping cities, connecting people, even influencing social interactions like we talked about.

Speaker 1: And I think one of the biggest takeaways for me is that these decisions about public transportation,

Speaker 2: they have these huge ripple effects, don’t they?

Speaker 1: They do. So let’s talk about that, about who wins and who loses when we invest in or disinvest in public transportation.

Speaker 2: Because it’s not always a win situation.

Speaker 1: It’s not. And sometimes there are these inspiring examples where public transport is used as a tool for social justice.

Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. Have you heard of the metricable system in Medellin, Colombia?

Speaker 1: Metricable. Tell me more.

Speaker 2: It’s a network of cable cars that connects these low income hillside neighbourhoods to the city centre.

Speaker 1: Wow. Cable cars is public transport? That’s brilliant.

Speaker 2: It is, and it’s had a huge impact too. A 2014 study found that it increased job access and decreased housing costs for residents in those neighbourhoods.

Speaker 1: So it’s literally lifting people out of poverty.

Speaker 2: In a way, yeah, by connecting them to opportunities.

Speaker 1: That’s incredible. But then on the flip side, we see what happens when public transport is neglected, like when rural communities lose their bus routes or subway lines and lower income areas fall into disrepair. There was that study in Saskatchewan, Canada, where a bus company shut down.

Speaker 2: And it had devastating consequences, especially for rural residents, indigenous communities, older adults, people with disabilities. They lost access to health care, jobs, social connections.

Speaker 1: It’s a stark reminder that transportation is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Speaker 2: It’s fundamental to a good quality of life.

Speaker 1: It really is. Public transportation has this incredible potential

Speaker 2: to transform our cities, to connect us, to create a more sustainable world.

Speaker 1: But we need to be intentional about how we design it, how we fund it, and who we prioritize.

Speaker 2: Absolutely. It’s not just about getting from A to B. It’s about creating a better future for everyone.

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Episode and transcript generated with ⁠⁠Descript⁠⁠ assistance (⁠⁠affiliate link⁠⁠).