Prioritizing Public Transit for Speed, Reliability, and Rider Satisfaction

This paper identifies the public transit priority features — public policy and technological improvements that favor public transit over private auto traffic — that are successful in Munich, Germany, and Zurich, Switzerland, and that have relevancy to improving transit performance in Seattle, Washington.

Munich and Zurich are excellent case studies for this research because while each city has a mature and highly developed public transit system, they face demands and challenges, such as the allocation of increasingly limited street space in the face of continuing competition from other travel modes, that are very similar to those in Seattle. At the same time, while Seattle has much to learn from Munich and Zurich in mobility policy and technical applications, these cities share a common goal of pursuing excellence in public transit.