15-minute city concept applied to 7 different regional contexts

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/BrentToderian/status/1592312500305166336

Complete thread


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[#Metro]

It looks and sounds good, though I also think that for non-capital cities, improved cycling is an untapped opportunity. Buses in regional areas tend to be very poor or virtually non-existent (e.g Ipswich, Toowoomba). The initial walk + wait component really reduces their usefulness.

Example:

- The initial walk component of a (bus) journey is generally 5-10 minutes (let's assume 1/2 that at 7.5 minute walk). This is especially true for rapid transit, which must be widely spaced for speed.

- A frequent bus during the day is 15-minute frequency, which gives an average wait of 7.5 minutes

So just walking and waiting for the bus at a stop gives you 7.5 minutes walk + 7.5 minutes wait = 15 minute walk and wait. That's your entire 15 min time budget gone, and you haven't even gone anywhere yet.

Isochrone Approach

A different approach is by looking at some viable access areas using 15 minutes as an input.

Car - 40 km/hr - 10 km radius
Bus - 30 km/hr - 7.5 km radius  (assuming instantaneous frequency, adjust down for wait)
Bus - 30 km/hr with 15 min frequency 3.75 km radius (just subtract waiting time from the 15 min time budget; so 7.5 minute average wait leaves 7.5 minutes remainder for actual travel)
Bike - 20 km/hr - 5 km radius
Walk - 5 km/hr - 1.25 km radius

^^^ What is interesting here is that in most cases it should be more practical to take a bike than walk and wait for a bus. For smaller cities, it might be more worthwhile just improving their cycling infrastructure now. We have seen with the Moggill Rd corridor just how low-cost separated cycling lanes (Priority A) can be.

Electric scooters would make it easier still.

[Gazza]

u 7.5 minutes walk + 7.5 minutes wait = 15 minute walk and wait. That's your entire 15 min time budget gone, and you haven't even gone anywhere yet.

You've walked 7.5 mins from home so you've gone somewhere.

[HappyTrainGuy]

But let's be reasonable. Most people that live near a buz route know the stopping times. If you live next door to a train station you don't leave home 22 minutes before it departs. You don't leave home for the 5 minute walk 45 minutes before the 335 goes past Taigum. And you don't leave home 1 hour and 40 minutes before the 338 goes past on a weekend. You drive instead