Public Transportation as a Spatial Marker

Abstract

Potential benefits of public transportation as a spatial element are going to be examined. This can relate to permanent infrastructure such as rail tracks, physically separated bus lanes, subway stations etc. These are visually noticeable or otherwise significant built spatial elements and are relatively permanent, which might increase the popularity and use of a public transit service in an area by reassuring potential users of the authorities’ strategic commitment to providing high quality transit as well as by becoming part of an areas’ identity. Other physical elements and their design – signage, vehicle appearance, public space redevelopment along corridors etc. – are important in this regard as well, and could either enhance the benefits of permanent infrastructure, or they could be used alone to attempt to achieve the same positive effects. The degree to which these elements can be successful depends also on how they are distributed through space, which in this paper is linked to network or line structure. The network should be clear and easy to understand, enabling users to orient themselves, while also making it easier to apply physical elements which represent the system in space. Thus, the degree to which a public transportation service is represented in space through described elements and their spatial distribution, determines its strength as a spatial marker.

Keywords

• spatial identity
• mental maps
• permanence
• physical presence
• public transportation