3.2 Public Transport Oriented Design

On the basis of sum marizing the experience and lessons of modern urban transportation development, Machu Picchu charter advocates that“future urban transportation policies should make private cars subordinate to the development of public transportation system”, that is, the principle of“giving priority to the development of public transportation”should be established in cities. According to the charter of Machu Picchu, in urban planning, especially when the city enters another development stage from one development stage, attention must be paid to the active role of transportation system on urban layout structure, and the reform of transportation system should guide the development of urban land to a reasonable layout structure form. It must be pointed out that, in addition to the leading role of urban transportation system in urban development, urban roads（especially traffic roads） have a more important leading role in urban development. In the planning, both“guiding”and“serving”synergies in urban development must be considered.

The idea of“giving priority to the development of public transport”proposed in‘the charter of Machu Picchu'has been adopted as a national policy by many countries, including China. The guiding idea of“giving priority to the development of public transport”is to take public transport as the main body in the urban passenger transport system. Its goal is to provide convenient, fast and high-quality public transport services for urban residents. In urban planning and construction, it is necessary to reasonably arrange the urban public transport network according to the needs of residents' travel, set up special bus lanes on main urban roads, improve the operation and service quality of public transport, and reform the ticketing system of public transport, all of which are the specific arrangements and measures of“giving priority to the development of public transport”. The concept of“giving priority to the development of public transport”has a rich connotation. It mainly means putting public transport in an important position and giving priority to it in terms of capital input, construction intensity and scientific management.

3.2.1 The Rationale for Public Transport Orientation

In terms of social benefits, economic benefits and environmental benefits, public transportation has obvious advantages over other modes of transportation. Under the situation of the rapid development of modern cars and becoming the key sticking point of urban traffic problems, the experts and scholars of urban planning and urban traffic all over the world agree that giving priority to the development of public transport is the first strategic measure to solve urban traffic problems.

As an integral part of land use and human activities, public transport is regarded as essential to the effective functioning of settlements and the promotion of sustainable development. From the design concept of sustainable urban development to solve the design thinking thought to achieve the most effective public transport configuration, in the entire urban area design should give high priority. The sustainable design of modern development planning with the road network as the main structural element requires the circulation of pedestrians and cyclists, and the accessibility of public transport as the elements of effective land use strategic planning and new development, which are often included in the scope of consideration.

As a whole, urban design oriented by public transportation not only aims to promote the development of public transportation, but also provides physical design basis for the overall operation of the city. The appeal of public transport lies in its quality and ease of access, as it determines the quality, frequency and reliability of the service itself. This is an important principle, meaning that consideration for other models is generally, at least for pedestrians. Walking and public transport can be seen as“two sides”, like two sides of the same coin.

However, as an important element in specific urban planning, public transportation itself has inherent problems of traffic positioning. To some extent, it limits people's travel choices.

Therefore, it is not only a multi-modal transport strategy（comprehensive transport）, but also a strategic planning combining traffic with land use and architectural form.

Therefore, the concept of public transport is also questionable. We should not only pay attention to the importance of the route layout of public transport, but also look for the effective entry point of public transport in urban design. This is not only for pedestrians, but also an important part of the overall urban design.

3.2.2 The New Consensus

The persistence of the ideals of public transport orientation, and advocacy for their forms, is notable both from a historical perspective and in terms of their current manifestation in the pursuit of sustainable settlements.

From Howard's vision of garden city to Ciudad Lineal's pedestrian street, there are many contemporary examples of public transit orientation. But in layout style, they tend to follow the same basic configuration theme, in fact, the center of development is a series of compact central areas, and public transport routes are now considered“widely accepted.”

Figure 3.1 Entrance to the City by Nancy Wolf

In addition to linear corridors, grid-like street patterns may be favored as they allow direct pedestrian access and minimize the need for public transport vehicles to turn around and drive backward. Short block lengths can create the potential for more direct routes and more alternative routes, which are considered good for pedestrians. Small block sizes also allow for greater permeability and activity in the center.

As mentioned above, the general principle of public transport-oriented urban design is a feature of numerous design guidelines and specifications. By combining the results of these studies and the results of empirical investigation, the following optimal characteristics in the field of public transport services are determined.

Table 3.4 Checklist of pedestrian- and transit-friendly features（after Ewing,1996）

The principle of public transport orientation has been successfully applied in the design and transformation of many settlements. There have been many successful cases of public transport orientation as a feature of the main structure of urban planning. With the conception of different image and activity range, the urban area planning with distinct layout is designed.

Differences are shown between the structure, composition, and configuration of the layout. Composition refers to absolute layout and configuration refers to its topology. The composition is markedly different, and the underlying configuration logic is similar, derived from the same basic principles of the pedestrian catchment area at public transportation stations. This distinction means that designers can combine different layout solutions to express the same configuration ideas.

3.2.3 Discussion

This secti on has demonstrated the extent to which there is an emerging consensus in the design of settlements for public transport orientation. It seems that there is a recurring configurational theme suitable for public transport. However, given this basic configuration, a variety of compositional forms is possible. Such forms should be geared to pedestrian needs, and need not superficially resemble‘public transport oriented'designs.

Similarly, designs which locate public transport stops at the focal points of a dedicated but isolated pedestrian network, rather than the actual foci of pedestrian accessibility（which for better or worse might equate with the road network）may both be unsuccessful in promoting either walking or public transport.

In any case, the general context of the street network and general urban form of an area will be important. A form of urban design that aims to be supportive of both public transport and pedestrian use is discussed next.