Graeme Masterton

Background

About Graeme Masterton

Logistics planning transcends both major events or stadiums as well as transit. It is about designing systems and processes for moving people in a way that is simple to understand and use. The easier a system is to use - the more likely it is to be used. Sounds simple but in practice it is the harder option to do. Simplicity is often complex behind the scenes. Transit Planning is universal in its approach regardless of the country it is practiced in. What changes is the way you use local factors such as propensity to use transit, funding, regulations and the role that transit plays in a community. It is this local understanding of the vision and purpose of transit that creates the parameter you use for planning a system. This could mean simple restructuring, forensically combing through stop level data to see how the system works and undertaking major changes, creating the bones of a Frequent Transit Network, or taking limited resources to focus a smaller system. I advocate a data rich approach even in small systems because that creates knowledge rather than intuitive impressions. In a digital age it is folly to rely on ordinal data that only creates a vague impression of how a system functions. It doesn't hurt to ride the bus yourself to fully understand human psychology and know how it feels to be on the wrong side of an intersection and see those mocking red tail lights!