I've been interested in public transport priority for many years. The key problem with public transport priority, it seems to me, is that the projects needed to help make public transport more efficient aren't very sexy. It's all about the little things not the huge new light rail systems or metro projects. So, how to you make public transport priority more exciting?
How about developing an on-line game that people can use to model their own public transport line and linking that to a social networking system that brings people together to lobby effectively for implementation of the best ideas? That's the main idea behind the Bus Meister proposal I am working on.
There's already a game called Gridlock Busters about traffic congestion and social networking sites like see fix click designed to help generate "pressure" for improving urban infrastructure, why not combine the ideas and do something to improve public transport?
I submitted the idea to the ITS Transport Congestion Challenge - a competition where people vote on-line for the best solutions for traffic congestion. I would appreciate your comments and vote! Here's a link to Bus Meister on my website, it presents the whole proposal and gives instructions on how to vote.
Thanks, and please let me know what you think - I plan to continue working on the proposal!
1 comment:
There is even a more violent (and hence more fun) version of gridlock buster, named I love traffic. Both games pretty much describe the mindset of so many people who truly believe traffic problems come from short greens and too few lanes.
So it's great news that some civilized alternative is emerging!
Related game plays which come to my mind:
SimSig is a fully featured rail signalling software, so realistic (based on the UK system) that it's even used for training
I can't forget hours and hours of gameplay on SimCity (4 Deluxe, for example) trying to "implement" some urban rail scheme and bus stops.
It was fun, must be even more fun doing such projects in real life, I guess..
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