Transit Part 6: Selecting Hub Locations within the Service Area

Hubs should be located near the DRIVING CENTER of each local area they serve.  The driving center of a hub is determined by the average normal travel time from the proposed Hub location to the outer most address served by that Hub.  The Driving Center will not always be the same as the geographic center.


When deciding on the boundaries of each area to be serviced by a Hub, we will need to look at a variety of factors.  One of these factors is the total number of active passengers who live in each area.

We will also need to look for things that limit the ability of a bus to freely move through an area.  Examples of things to look for would be a river, a railroad, freeways, and any other natural or man-made object that would cause a bus to have to do an extended amount of travel in order to get around it.  Major arterial roads can be hard to cross during the heaviest of rush hour traffic, and thereby have the potential to be as much of an obstacle as a railroad or a river.

While some may consider it a good idea to locate a Hub near or even in the parking lot of a major shopping center, I believe reality suggests that this may not be a good idea.  The reason for this is that during heavy shopping periods, traffic in and around major shopping centers, such as South Hill Mall and Tacoma Mall in Pierce County, Washington can make it very hard for traffic to get into and out of these heavy traffic areas.  During these times buses would also have harder times getting into and out of a Hub located in such an area.

An important part of the process for defining the boundaries of each area to be serviced by a hub is the use of what some call Geo Codes.

Thank you for taking time to read my program.  Obviously, if I didn't believe in my own program, I would not have published it for others to read and ponder on.

An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else.  But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."

David W. Kemper, Author
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