Al Eridani wrote:
> On 3/2/07, Roberto C. Sanchez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> if you compare motor vehicle traffic in those cities, you see that even
>> the two *best* public transport cities in the US can't even make public
>> transport work for a *majority* of their residents.
>
> First, can't you read? New York and Chicago are, according to some
> absolute numbers, the *largest* public transportation systems; nothing
> to do with the *best*.
>
> As for public transportation working for a majority of the residents, I
> hope you realize that in the US the majority of affluent people would
> rather not use public transportation because of the stigma associated with
> it ("other people smell, the seats are dirty, etc.")
What's your sample? Everyone I've talked to locally who doesn't like
transit cites the fact that they can't get a return trip at night since the
October 1986 schedule change (which eliminated most to all service
10PM-4AM) or that it doesn't go where they need to go or live. The
vehicles themselves are clean, well lit, don't smell funky and are
reasonably comfortable even when crowded.
> They prefer to drive from the suburbs in their SUVs, even if it takes
> longer.
The whole system runs 97% on-time (that is, ±3 minutes of the printed
schedule), all transit vehicles are tracked by satellite and actual (not
scheduled) arrival times are posted in real time (http://www.trimet.org/)
and you can get walking directions from multiple sources
(http://www.trimet.org/ and http://www.google.com/transit). In areas where
transportation is made a public priority, people have transportation
options and will use the best tool for the job.
> As a result, most passangers are those that have no alternatives. And
> the ones that have them work hard at keeping them, sabotaging public
> transportation in favor of more freeway lanes.
When all you have is a car and all other transportation options are actively
resisted, all problems start looking like a freeway.
> The US mentality of the car being king is too entrenched to make it
> disappear overnight.
It will never happen at all if people think it has to happen overnight or
it's a failure. I don't understand why people have more patience for road
construction than they do for transportation diversification.
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