{"id":745,"date":"2014-10-07T20:46:32","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T01:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/?p=745"},"modified":"2014-10-07T20:46:56","modified_gmt":"2014-10-08T01:46:56","slug":"pessimism-about-public-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/uncategorized\/pessimism-about-public-transit\/","title":{"rendered":"Pessimism About Public Transit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 As Simon acknowledges, one usual aspect of infrastructure is the \u201cpositioning [of] its residents\u2026 where the energies of individuals can be most efficiently deployed\u2026\u201d<\/span>1<\/sup> I have so far collected two mental maps of Portland, and both have mentioned public transportation as a major concern and area for improvement. Therefore, I believe the addition of a commuter train and an overhaul of the public bus system should be recommended infrastructure projects for Portland. Both proposals would positively impact the environment and Common Good by reducing single-passenger vehicle travel, and would also allow greater safety and mobility for foot traffic by relieving congestion in the downtown area.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are fundamental issues with this proposal that Sorkin probes in his article. Namely, there is the issue of Portland being an old, established city. I love this quote for its historical accuracy and ridiculousness: \u201cThomas Jefferson never imagined rush hour.\u201d3<\/sup> Portland was (finally and substantially) founded in the late 1800s and has survived two major fires, but would not be willing to \u201cresurgam\u201d a third time for a new commuter rail. The existing roadways and buildings would make the development of a raised or subterranean transit system very costly, time consuming, and problematic for current traffic. This brings up Sorkin\u2019s concept of \u201cconflict avoidance\u201d by zoning of appropriate modes of transportation.4 <\/sup>Ultimately, Portland was not designed for commuter rail or busses, and the retooling of the city is not the top priority for people in power. Speaking of which; as we saw in our foray into the City Council meeting notes, everything is a political. Regardless of whether the project was financially or structurally feasible, it would need to be approved by many different branches of government, as well as business associations, housing authorities, etc. \u201cIt has to be thought through politically\u2026 rather than approached as merely a set of technical problems\u201d, as Sorkin tells us.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

My personal pessimism aside, let\u2019s look at examples of this type of project in NYC, arguably a more established city where construction and redevelopment cause much greater displacement of peoples and monies. I believe it is important to mention that two fundamental differences between Portland and NYC are that NYC requires, and has required for many years, mass public transit for the city to function, and that the people of NYC now expect (and sometimes demand) the upkeep, expansion, and inconvenience of subways and busses. For example, a quick search of the MTA\u2019s service changes website for October 7th<\/sup>, 2014 reveals eleven station skips, renovations, re-routings, and cancellations.5 <\/sup>One of those particular renovations is the Pelham 6 line stations, at a total cost of $89 million over the course of four years.6 <\/sup>Clearly NYC is invested in its public transit as crucial infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Citations:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0Simone, AbdulMaliq. 2014 [2004]. \u201cPeople as Infrastructure: Intersecting Fragments in Johannesburg.\u201d In The People, Place and Space Reader<\/em>, edited by Jen Jack Gieseking, et al, 241. New York: Routledge.<\/p>\n

2) Sorkin, Michael. 2014 [1999]. \u201cTraffic in Democracy.\u201d In The People, Place and Space Reader<\/em>, edited by Jen Jack Gieseking, et al, 412. New York: Routledge, 2014.<\/p>\n

3) Sorkin, Michael. 2014 [1999]. \u201cTraffic in Democracy.\u201d In The People, Place and Space Reader<\/em>, edited by Jen Jack Gieseking, et al, 414. New York: Routledge, 2014.<\/p>\n

4) Sorkin, Michael. 2014 [1999]. \u201cTraffic in Democracy.\u201d In The People, Place and Space Reader<\/em>, edited by Jen Jack Gieseking, et al, 411. New York: Routledge, 2014.<\/p>\n

5) “Service Advisory.” MTA-NYCT, 07 Oct. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Ftravel.mtanyct.info%2Fserviceadvisory%2FrouteStatusResult.aspx%3Ftag%3DALL%26date%3D10%2F7%2F2014%26time%3D%26method%3Dgetstatus4>.<\/p>\n

6) “MTA Press Releases.” MTA<\/em>. MTA- NYC, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http:\/\/www.mta.info\/press-release\/nyc-transit\/pelham-6-line-station-renovation-project-enters-final-phase>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 As Simon acknowledges, one usual aspect of infrastructure is the \u201cpositioning [of] its residents\u2026 where the energies of individuals can be most efficiently deployed\u2026\u201d1 I have so far collected two mental maps of Portland, and both have mentioned public transportation as a major concern and area for improvement. Therefore, … Continue reading Pessimism About Public Transit<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post-5-infrastructure-reflections","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p50q0U-c1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/digital-computational-studies-2430-fall-2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}