This first issue of Metro Report shows how various cities are already planning for the future of transport, where urban railways are to be developed as an attractive cost-effective alternative to the car, and where market forces are being applied for the long-term benefit of cities and citizens. However, many other cities still have to learn these lessons. In the first article, the President of the International Union of Public Transport (UITP), who is also President Director-General of the Paris Transport Authority, examines some innovative ways in which urban railways can meet the challenge of protecting the environment. Many metro authorities world-wide apply new technologies to improve the capacity and attractiveness of their services, and the Paris Metro uses its staff effectively, optimises modal split, and is developing suburb-to-suburb services. The other articles cover: (1) Stockholm Transport's transition to commercial operating contracts; (2) modernising London Underground's East London Line; (3) simulations of urban rail systems; (4) the latest developments in low-floor trams and light-rail vehicles; and (5) development of metros in the West Midlands, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Konya in Turkey, Lille, Lisbon, Madrid, Manila, Novosibirsk, Nuernberg, Portland and Sacramento in the USA, Oslo, and Taegu in Korea.
Samenvatting