URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL

MANAGEMENT
LECTURE 17
2. MASS TRANSIT
(mostly buses and rail
systems)
2. MASS TRANSIT
 Pros & Cons of Mass Transit
 Buses, rapid-rail, suburban train, and
trolley systems can transport large
numbers of people at high speed.
 They also:
• are more energy efficient,
• produce less air pollution,
• cause fewer injuries and deaths,
and
• take up less land than motor
vehicles
Pros & Cons of Mass Transit

 However, they are efficient and

cost effective only where many
live along a narrow corridor and
can easily reach properly spaced
stations.
 Pros & Cons of Mass Transit
 A light-rail line:
 Costs about one-tenth as much as
to build per kilometer as a highway
 Has lower operating costs than a
comparable bus system
 Can carry up to 400 people for
each driver, compared to 40-50
passengers on a typical bus, and
 Is quieter and produces less air
pollution than a bus system
 Pros & Cons of Buses
 Bus systems are more flexible
than rail systems
 Bus systems use less capital and
have lower operating cost
 However, bus systems
 Often cost more to operate than
they bring in because they must
offer low fares to attract riders
 Often get caught in traffic
Good and Bad News About
Motor Vehicles

CRITICAL THINKING
 Good and Bad News About
Motor Vehicles
CRITICAL THINKING
 If you own a car, what
conditions would encourage you
to rely less on the automobile
and travel to school or work by
bicycle, on foot, by mass transit,
or by a carpool or vanpool?
 Effects
of
Urban Growth
on Nearby
Rural Lands
and
Small Towns
Urban Growth Affect Nearby Rural
Land and Small Towns
 As cities expand, rural cropland,
fertile soil, forests, wetlands, and
wildlife habitat are lost.

 According to a 2015 survey by the

U.S. Department of Agriculture, each
year in the United States about 1.3
million hectares (3.2 million acres)
of rural land-mostly prime cropland
and forestland-is converted to urban
development, right-of-way,
highways, and airports.
Urban Growth Affect Nearby Rural
Land and Small Towns
As cities expand, rural cropland,
fertile soil, forests, wetlands,
and wildlife habitat are lost.
As cities expand, rural cropland,
fertile soil, forests, wetlands,
and wildlife habitat are lost.
As cities expand, rural cropland,
fertile soil, forests, wetlands,
and wildlife habitat are lost.
As cities expand, rural cropland,
fertile soil, forests, wetlands,
and wildlife habitat are lost.
As cities expand, rural cropland,
fertile soil, forests, wetlands,
and wildlife habitat are lost.
 Urban Growth Affect Nearby
Rural Land and Small Towns
 A 1998 study by researchers at the
U.S. Geological Survey compared the
night time lighted areas of the United
States with digital soil maps. They
found that:
• In most places urban expansion is
paving or building over the country’s
best soil, especially in top
agricultural states such as
California and Illinois.
 Urban Growth Affect Nearby
Rural Land and Small Towns
 As land values near urban areas rise,
farmers are forced to sell their land

 Once prime agricultural land or

forestland is paved over or built on, it
is lost for food production and habitat
for most of its former wildlife.
Urban Growth Affect Nearby Rural
Land and Small Towns
 The outward expansion of cities creates
numerous problems for towns in nearby
rural areas:
1. Streets become congested with traffic
2. Air and water pollution, crime, noise, and
congestion increase
3. Health, school, police, water sanitation, and
other services are overwhelmed
4. Taxes must be raised to meet the demand for
new public services, and
5. Some long-time residents are forced out
because of rising prices, higher property taxes,
decreased environmental quality, and disruption
of way of life.
 Urban Growth Affect Nearby
Rural Land and Small Towns
 Unless growth is managed carefully
(which is rare), old and new residents
eventually experience the urban
problems they sought to avoid.