Vukan R. Vuchic Published the Most Comprehensive Trilogy About Urban Transit, Its Role and Impact on Livability of Cities

Vukan R. Vuchic, an internationally renowned Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, transportation systems engineer, and consultant, has published a Transit Trilogy – the most comprehensive three books about urban transit, its role and impact on livability of cities.

The books are:

• “Urban Transit Systems and Technology,” John Wiley & Sons, 2007
• “Urban Transit Operations, Planning, and Economics,” John Wiley & Sons, 2005
• “Transportation for Livable Cities" Taylor & Francis, 2018

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Vukan Vuchic’s “Urban Transit Systems and Technology” has in Chapter 1 an interesting history and role of transit in growth of cities. Chapter 2 presents a very comprehensive and systematic definition of transit systems and their components: vehicles, ways and stations. Elements defining transit modes are: Rights-of-Way (ROW), Vehicle Technology (road/steered, rail, special; Diesel and electric vehicles) and Type of Service – local and express. In planning transit systems the most important is the type of ROW, which influences vehicle technology.

Among numerous equations and technical diagrams most important are three Vuchic’s original diagrams of relationships between vehicle frequencies, vehicle and line capacity, productive capacity and investment cost of different modes.

Chapters 3 and 4 cover vehicle motion and performance, leading to transit line performance, such as line capacity, productivity, efficiency and utilization. Many are very useful for transit agencies operating advanced transit modes, particularly metros and regional rail systems.

Having defined the basic elements of transit systems and modes and their operating characteristics, Vuchic’s book has chapters describing main categories of transit modes. Chapter 5 covers highway transit consisting of buses, trolleybuses and Bus Rapid Transit – BRT. The main components and characteristics of each of these modes are illustrated with photos, diagrams and tables.

Chapter 6 is by far the longest and most complex because it covers four rail modes which are more technically advanced than buses: Streetcars/Tramways, Light Rail Transit–LRT, Rapid Transit/Metro and Regional Rail. Planning, design and operation of rail transit systems are much more technical than for buses. This chapter describes vehicles, ROW, tracks and stations, fail-safe systems which automatically prevent collisions, and rolling stock maintenance. The chapter ends with a definition of the roles rail transit systems have and their accelerating construction, particularly Metro and LRT systems, on all six continents.

The following three Chapters, 7-9, present technical details of other transit modes. First, Unconventional Systems, Automated Guided Transit and Monorails. Second, Special Technology Systems, including Terrain-Specialized and Waterborne Systems. And third, Paratransit.

The preceding extensive technical materials are used to present Chapter 10, a systems approach to characteristics of modes and their comparisons. The most fundamental is the diagram of performance of transit modes with three ROW categories vs. investment cost per transit line length (Fig.10.1).

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Professor Vuchic’s goal in writing this book has been to “reduce the gap between practicing transit operators and planners, and theoretical researchers,” thus improving their expertise and cooperation. For that purpose Exercises and their Solutions are given in each chapter.

Professor Vuchic has presented courses and lectures at more than 100 universities on all six continents. He has been consultant to many transit agencies, planning and government organizations, including city mayors. Because of complexity of urban transportation, systematic definitions, clear presentation and the expertise of Vukan R. Vuchic, this book is a classic in the field of Urban Transit.

“Urban Transit Systems and Technology” is available from John Wiley & Sons https://www.wiley.com/en-us/shop/books, Amazon https://amz.run/6UnQ and Barnes & Noble https://bityl.co/Hi5N.

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