Includes bibliographical references and index.

What transit is and does -- What makes transit useful? Seven demands and how transit serves them -- Five paths to confusion -- Lines, loops, and longing -- Touching the city: stops and stations -- Peak or all day? -- Frequency is freedom -- The obstacle course: speed, delay, and reliability -- Density distractions -- Ridership or coverage? The challenge of service allocation -- Can fares be fair? -- Connections or complexity? -- From connections to networks to places -- Be on the way! Transit implications of location choice -- On the boulevard -- Take the long view. "Public transit is a powerful tool for addressing a huge range of urban problems, including traffic congestion and economic development as well as climate change. But while many people support transit in the abstract, it's often hard to channel that support into good transit investments. Part of the problem is that transit debates attract many kinds of experts, who often talk past each other. Ordinary people listen to a little of this and decide that transit is impossible to figure out. Jarrett Walker believes that transit can be simple, if we focus first on the underlying geometry that all transit technologies share. In Human Transit, Walker supplies the basic tools, the critical questions, and the means to make smarter decisions about designing and implementing transit services. Human Transit explains the fundamental geometry of transit that shapes successful systems; the process for fitting technology to a particular community; and the local choices that lead to transit-friendly development. Whether you are in the field or simply a concerned citizen, here is an accessible guide to achieving successful public transit that will enrich any community."--Publisher's description.