Human Transit, Revised Edition

“Walker is a realist, and Human Transit is a spirited guide—prescriptive but with a righteous dash of polemic—to what we get wrong about transit.”
–Tom Vanderbilt in Slate  
“This book gives professionals, pundits, and the citizenry the tools to have conversations that lead to real solutions rather than confrontations.”
— Terry Lee-Williams. Transport and Access Manager, City of Sydney, Australia
 
“Jarrett Walker pulls transit out of its specialist silo and treats it in layman's terms, as an embodiment of shared values and a partial answer to the vital question 'what kind of city do you want?' Human Transit is an engrossing narrative that explains the real choices that informed citizens need to make.”
— Ken Greenberg, author of Walking Home: The Life and Lessons of a City Builder  
“You’re an idiot”
–Elon Musk Tweeting a response to Jarrett Walker explaining transit
 
Transportation expert Jarrett Walker believes that transit can be simple, if we focus on the underlying geometry that all transit systems share. In Human Transit, Revised Edition, he provides the basic tools and critical questions needed to make smarter decisions about designing and implementing services, refreshed with updated information and examples.
 
The first edition of Human Transit, published in 2011, has become a classic for professionals, advocates, and interested citizens. No other book explains the basic principles of public transit in such lively and accessible prose, all based on a respect for your right to form your own opinion. Walker’s goal is not to make you share his values, but to give you the tools to clarify and advocate for yours. 
Walker has updated and expanded the book to deepen its explanations. His ongoing work as a network planning consultant has provided a wealth of new examples, images, and tools. New topics include the problem with specialization; the role of flexible or “demand response” services; how to know when to redesign your network; and responding to tech-industry claims that transit will soon be obsolete.  Finally, he has also added a major new section exploring the idea of access to opportunity as a core measure of transit’s success.
Whether you are a professional or a concerned citizen, the revised edition of this accessible guide can help you to achieve successful public transit that will enrich any community.
 
 

The first edition of Human Transit, published in 2011, has become a classic for professionals, advocates, and interested citizens.
Walker has updated and expanded the book to deepen its explanations. New topics include the problem with specialization; the role of flexible or “demand response” services; how to know when to redesign your network; and responding to tech-industry claims that transit will soon be obsolete.  Finally, he has also added a major new section exploring the idea of access to opportunity as a core measure of transit’s success.
No other book explains the basic principles of public transit in such lively and accessible prose, all based on a respect for your right to form your own opinion. Walker’s goal is not to make you share his values, but to give you the tools to clarify and advocate for yours. 
 

Jarrett Walker, PhD, is an international consultant in public transit network design and policy. He has been a full-time consultant since 1991 and has led numerous major planning projects in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. He is President at Jarrett Walker + Associates, based in Portland, Oregon, and Principal Consultant with MRCagney in Australia. He writes a blog by the same name (Human Transit).