Episode
The Transit Tradeoff No City Can Escape
- Podcast
- The Strong Towns Podcast
- Published
- Jul 13, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3781
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Summary
Putting a route near every community sounds fair until the buses only arrive once an hour. Jarrett Walker, author of Human Transit and principal of the firm helping Des Moines rethink its bus network, explains why cities cannot maximize frequency, coverage, and affordability at the same time. In Des Moines, the tradeoff comes with a 10% service cut, long waits, indirect routes, and streets that make some bus stops difficult or dangerous to reach. To understand whether the system is useful enough for people to actually rely on it, Walker asks a more revealing question: how much of the city can someone reach within a reasonable amount of time? Additional Show Notes Jarrett Walker (LinkedIn, Site) Human Transit (Book) Des Moines: Welcome to Your New Transit Network (Article) Final Network Report Reimagine DART (PDF) Chuck Marohn (Substack) This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.