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America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

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Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#81

Post by toastal »

Ayesh wrote: post #7

The author completely forgets there is a whole world outside the US, where public transportation is efficient, preferred, and often makes good profts too. - Singapore has a very good bus+ metro system and people actually prefer it. Cars are heavily taxed which contributed to it, but their well planning has helped too. Airport served by metro, so is the Malaysia border, and every neighborhood has at least two nearby m…

In Bangkok, between getting around between the trains, the bus, the river/canal boats, songteaws (pickups with bench seating in the bed), you have a number of cheap public options. In a pinch there's Grab motorbike taxis and general cabs, but a city being set up to mostly be walkable from transit hubs, means owning a car is completely optional--it would just help if it weren't seen as a status symbol. I noticed the same thing in Hanoi where people wanted to own cars because of status, which is disappointing.

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#82

Post by kwhitefoot »

et-al wrote: post #29
mung wrote: post #26

Busses have to be one of the worst modern mass-transit options. Auckland NZ has bus lanes, so that is fine. But they are diesel. So they are noisy and polluting. Get two or three busses in a row and you cannot see past them. They block entire roads, and really, the have a low head count for the amount of space they take up. I'm not even speaking as a driver, I'm speaking as a pedestrian. Busses really suck.

It seems like your compliant should be directed more specifically towards diesel vehicles than actual busses. There are low-emission busses out there.

Here in Norway the trend is toward battery electric buses via diesel hybrids and gas (not gasoline).

But even the diesels are quieter than the buses I have seen in the US and certainly a lot cleaner.

Buses in both the US seem stuck in some alternate reality where clean fuel and quiet motors are somehow impossible. I realize that this might well be an unwarranted generalization from my experience in the Raleigh-Durham Triangle, perhaps it's better elsewhere.

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#83

Post by jbay808 »

perl4ever wrote: post #24
vidarh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buses are most viable when combined with a well developed rail system. Then it's worthwhile as an alternative to dealing with parking at the train stations and because you won't have your car on the other end of that rail journey.

I don't understand what you mean at all. If I didn't have a car, of course I would ride the bus to the train station. And I have in the past taken a fairly long distance bus to get to an airport hub. But this doesn't seem to have any relationship to daily life where I am, or similar places, because train or plane rides are for going on long trips, say over 200km. Indeed, to travel to NYC from where I live by train wo…

> Maybe by a "well developed rail system" you mean a subway, but it doesn't seem realistic for an area with a million or two people to support one.

Population of Kyoto: 1.47 million

Kyoto subway map:

https://youinjapan.net/maps/kyoto/kyoto_metro_train_map.png

I didn't cherry pick this from some ordered list of cities by train lines to population ratio; I just picked it because I lived there and the train was as incredibly convenient as it looked. And also gorgeous:

https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E9%98%AA3000%E7%B3...

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#84

Post by Mordisquitos »

nradov wrote: post #46

The HN demographic skews young and male, so I think many of us fail to appreciate that older people and women often feel unsafe — or at least uncomfortable — on public transit. Increased law enforcement presence and enforcement of decent behavior would do a lot to make people love the bus.

>I think many of us fail to appreciate that older people and women often feel unsafe — or at least uncomfortable — on public transit. Increased law enforcement presence and enforcement of decent behavior would do a lot to make people love the bus.

That may be true for the US, but interestingly in Spain (and I daresay in most of Europe) the opposite is true: the prototypical users of public buses are older people, and particularly older women. They generally don't use or don't need a car, are not in enough of a hurry to use the Metro, and want to avoid the latter's long stairways and escalators.

Maybe the solution for women and older people in the US to start using the bus more needs to start with stricter law enforcement and presence, but I can't say it is a factor in Spain. Law enforcement and security guards are very rarely seen in buses, though their overall heavy usage and the fact that most of the city has a high density of foot traffic anyway is probably enough to discourage feelings of unsafety.

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#85

Post by baroffoos »

erik_seaberg wrote: post #74
mycall wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If no one is driving, it makes citizens do more of the work.. in a crowded bus, a group of normal people could throw the asshole off. Eventually, the assholes won't ride the bus.

In the current climate, an untrained unlicensed bouncer is just begging to get sued. They work under strict rules that most people don't know. How many commuters are even armed? A shocking number of offices have begun to forbid it.

I would be shocked and refuse to work at a place that allowed employees to bring in guns.

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#86

Post by oftenwrong »

jbay808 wrote: post #83
perl4ever wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand what you mean at all. If I didn't have a car, of course I would ride the bus to the train station. And I have in the past taken a fairly long distance bus to get to an airport hub. But this doesn't seem to have any relationship to daily life where I am, or similar places, because train or plane rides are for going on long trips, say over 200km. Indeed, to travel to NYC from where I live by train wo…

> Maybe by a "well developed rail system" you mean a subway, but it doesn't seem realistic for an area with a million or two people to support one. Population of Kyoto: 1.47 million Kyoto subway map: https://youinjapan.net/maps/kyoto/kyoto_metro_train_map.png I didn't cherry pick this from some ordered list of cities by train lines to population ratio; I just picked it because I lived there and the train was as incre…

The bus system is also excellent.

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#87

Post by nickserv »

baroffoos wrote: post #36
oakesm9 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of this is down to the driver being the only staff member on the bus. They should be fully focused on driving as a bus hitting anything is bad news. Stopping to kick people off just delays everyone on the bus getting where they need to go. If there was a conductor on the bus then they could deal with inappropriate behaviour, but no bus company wants to pay two members of staff when they can get away with one.

Would be interesting to see if we can create self driving buses and have the driver change roles to become payment management and enforcing a safe area in the bus.

You need at least 2 people to enforce the law and at the same time avoid excessive zeal/abuse.

In my city the ticket checkers are always in groups of 3.

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#88

Post by msla »

adrianN wrote: post #78
erik_seaberg wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the current climate, an untrained unlicensed bouncer is just begging to get sued. They work under strict rules that most people don't know. How many commuters are even armed? A shocking number of offices have begun to forbid it.

In most countries you don't need to be armed to kick people off a bus. Do you suggest people throw out drunks at gunpoint? That seems really dangerous.

If one person is armed and the other isn't, the fight's over before it begins unless the other person is disabled by drugs or mental illness. If neither is armed, a surprising number of people will think they have a chance against the trained fighter, and some even might.

Therefore, arming conductors helps even when nobody walks around with a firearm.

Re: America’s Buses Need Our Love More Than Ever (2018)

#89

Post by torgian »

adrianN wrote: post #78
erik_seaberg wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the current climate, an untrained unlicensed bouncer is just begging to get sued. They work under strict rules that most people don't know. How many commuters are even armed? A shocking number of offices have begun to forbid it.

In most countries you don't need to be armed to kick people off a bus. Do you suggest people throw out drunks at gunpoint? That seems really dangerous.

'Merica right here.

always America.

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