A transit mall is an auto-free area of a city or town in which automobile traffic is prohibited and only public transit vehicles and pedestrians are permitted. Transit malls are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have areas not dominated by the automobile. Converting a street or an area to a transit mall is a form of pedestrianization which allows the free flow of public transit vehicles and pedestrians into and out of an area, unimpeded by private automobile interference.
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Europe
A number of European towns and cities have made part or all of areas their car-free while permitting public transit vehicles. These are often accompanied by car parks on the edge of the area and/or park and ride schemes. Most of these zones allow delivery trucks to service the businesses located there during the early morning, and street-cleaning vehicles will usually go through these streets after most shops have closed for the night.
Examples include:
- Goteburg, Sweden
- Queen Street in Oxford, England
North America
In North America, the creation of pedestrian-friendly urban environments is still in its infancy but a few cities have transit malls, usually in the form of single streets in which automobiles are prohibited but transit vehicles are allowed. They are rarely completely free of motor vehicles. Often, all of the cross streets are open to motorized traffic, and in some cases taxis are allowed and truck deliveries are made by night.
Examples include
- Long Beach Transit Mall in Los Angeles County
- Portland Transit Mall in Portland, Oregon
- Great Mall/Main Transit Center in Santa Clara, California
- Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 16th Street Mall in Denver, Colorado
- Granville Mall in Vancouver, British Columbia
- 7th Avenue in Calgary, Alberta
- Graham Avenue Transit Mall in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Australia
Examples include:
- Rosny Park Transit Mall in Rosny Park, Tasmania
- Hobart Bus Mall in Hobart, Australia
See also
- Carfree day
- List of carfree places
- Carfree Cities
- Principles of Intelligent Urbanism
Further Reading
Grava, Sigurd. Urban Transportation Systems: Choices for Communities. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0071384170.
References
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_mall”
Categories: Car-free | Sustainable transport