Transit mall
Encyclopedia
A transit mall is a street
, or set of streets, in a city or town along which automobile
traffic is prohibited or greatly restricted and only public transit vehicles, bicycle
s and pedestrian
s are permitted.
Transit malls are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have areas not dominated by the automobile, or as a way to speed travel time through an area—usually the city center—for transit vehicles and as a transport hub for interchanges, making them more efficient and thereby more attractive as an alternative to car use. Converting a street or an area to a transit mall can be a form of pedestrianization, allowing pedestrians and cyclists as well as transit vehicles to move more freely, unimpeded by private motor traffic, if autos are banned completely. However, some transit malls are not auto-free, but rather restrict cars and other private traffic to only short segments or only one lane, with other lanes being limited to bus
es or tram
s (streetcars).
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:
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
in 1968, followed by the Granville Mall in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1974 and the Portland Mall
in 1977. In North America, transit malls usually take the form of single streets in which automobiles are mostly 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
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
, or set of streets, in a city or town along which automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
traffic is prohibited or greatly restricted and only public transit vehicles, bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s and pedestrian
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...
s are permitted.
Transit malls are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have areas not dominated by the automobile, or as a way to speed travel time through an area—usually the city center—for transit vehicles and as a transport hub for interchanges, making them more efficient and thereby more attractive as an alternative to car use. Converting a street or an area to a transit mall can be a form of pedestrianization, allowing pedestrians and cyclists as well as transit vehicles to move more freely, unimpeded by private motor traffic, if autos are banned completely. However, some transit malls are not auto-free, but rather restrict cars and other private traffic to only short segments or only one lane, with other lanes being limited to bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es or tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s (streetcars).
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-ridePark and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
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:
- GothenburgGothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... - Princes Street in EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... - Queen StreetQueen Street, OxfordQueen Street is a shopping street in central Oxford, England. It is one-way for buses and taxis, two-way for cyclists outside main shopping hours, and forbidden for cars. It runs west from the centre of Oxford at Carfax...
in OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
North America
In North America, the creation of pedestrian-friendly urban environments is still in its infancy, but transit malls have existed in a few cities for more than 30 years, starting with the Nicollet MallNicollet Mall
Nicollet Mall is a portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Working as a pedestrian and transit mall, it is also an upscale shopping and dining district...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
in 1968, followed by the Granville Mall in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1974 and the Portland Mall
Portland Transit Mall
The Portland Transit Mall is a set of public transit corridors through the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. More specifically, it is a pair of one-way streets—one for northbound traffic, the other for southbound—along which two of the three lanes are restricted to...
in 1977. In North America, transit malls usually take the form of single streets in which automobiles are mostly 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
- 16th Street Mall16th Street MallThe 16th Street Mall is a pedestrian and transit mall in Denver, Colorado. The mall, 1.25 miles long, runs along 16th Street in downtown Denver, from Wewatta Street to the intersection of 16th Avenue and Broadway...
in Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains... - Nicollet MallNicollet MallNicollet Mall is a portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Working as a pedestrian and transit mall, it is also an upscale shopping and dining district...
in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States... - Portland Transit MallPortland Transit MallThe Portland Transit Mall is a set of public transit corridors through the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. More specifically, it is a pair of one-way streets—one for northbound traffic, the other for southbound—along which two of the three lanes are restricted to...
in Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States... - Great Mall/Main Transit Center in Santa Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
- Santa Rosa Transit MallSanta Rosa Transit MallThe Santa Rosa Transit Mall is a major transfer point for several bus routes serving the city of Santa Rosa, California, located in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, in the United States...
in Santa Rosa, CaliforniaSanta Rosa, CaliforniaSanta Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th... - Long Beach Transit Mall in Los Angeles County
- Granville Mall in Vancouver, British Columbia
- 7th AvenueDowntown CalgaryDowntown Calgary is a region of central Calgary, Alberta. It is not a single neighbourhood per se, but is actually a larger community containing three neighbourhoods and a number of districts....
in Calgary, Alberta - Graham Avenue Transit MallWinnipeg TransitWinnipeg Transit is the public transit agency in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is a bus-only operator.The Winnipeg Street Railway operated a horse car operation from 1882 to 1894...
in Winnipeg, Manitoba - State StreetState Street (Madison)State Street is a pedestrian mall located in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, United States, near the Wisconsin State Capitol. The road proper extends from the west corner of land comprising the Capitol westward to Lake Street, adjoining the campus of the University of Wisconsin - Madison at Library...
in Madison, WisconsinMadison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison.... - Fulton MallFulton MallFulton Mall is a pedestrian street and transit mall in Downtown Brooklyn that runs on Fulton Street between Flatbush Avenue and Adams Street...
in Brooklyn, New York
Australia
Examples include:- Adelaide Street bus mall in Brisbane, Australia
- Rosny Park Transit MallRosny Park Transit MallRosny Park Transit Mall is a section of Bligh Street in Rosny Park located between Eastlands Shopping Centre and Rosny Park Post Office which is closed to normal traffic to allow it to be devoted as a Metro Tasmania bus interchange. The transit mall is the section of Bligh Street located between...
in Rosny Park, TasmaniaRosny Park, TasmaniaRosny Park is a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, located in the City of Clarence on the eastern shore of the Derwent River. It is about five kilometres from the city centre of Hobart... - Hobart Bus MallHobart Bus StationHobart Bus Station, more commonly referred to as "Hobart Bus Mall" is a section of Elizabeth Street which serves as Metro Tasmania's primary bus terminus in Hobart's CBD...
in Hobart, Australia
See also
- Car-free zoneCar-free zonePedestrian zones are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian only use and in which some or all automobile traffic may be prohibited. They are instituted by communities who feel that it is desirable to have pedestrian-only areas...
- Car-free daysCar Free DaysA Car Free Day encourages motorists to give up their car for a day. Organized events are held in some cities and countries. September 22 is World Car Free Day...
- List of car-free places
- Car-free city
- EsplanadeEsplanadeAn esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns...
- Low-emission zone
- MallShopping mallA shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
- Principles of Intelligent UrbanismPrinciples of Intelligent UrbanismPrinciples of Intelligent Urbanism is a theory of urban planning composed of a set of ten axioms intended to guide the formulation of city plans and urban designs. They are intended to reconcile and integrate diverse urban planning and management concerns...