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Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

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Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#91

Post by Eddy_Viscosity2 »

genghisjahn wrote: post #34
qwerpy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle-area commuter here. I have to agree, transit seems mostly designed for people who don't value their time. Which don't tend to be the highly paid tech workers with families. I tried so many times to give transit "one more try". The straw that broke my back was when they silently canceled 2 buses in a row for my route, on the coldest day of the year, for a route that has 20 minutes between buses. And my suburb…

Public transit people don't value their time? I wonder about the people stuck on I-76 as I pass over them on the regional rail here in Philly. Sure I deal with a late train now and then. But those people deal with center city traffic every day twice a day.

Many city buses just use the same roads as cars so if the cars are stuck in traffic so are the transit passengers.

Some cities do have bus-only lanes, and others have full on subway systems which is great but most do not.

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#92

Post by Gud »

Politics. You have a leadership and public hostile to public transport, simple as that.

I have lived in some cities where things are not like this. Where public transportation is amazing and getting better by the year.

It’s a shame every time I read people ignorant how a modern city can function with a pedestrian/bicycle/tram/bus/train. Where it’s quiet and calm.

But how do you convince people who have only seen the insides of cars that public transportation can be superior?

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#93

Post by from-nibly »

jjcm wrote: post #56
emsign wrote: post #51

The US is a big country.

Australia around the same size, but has excellent public transportation (relative to the US).

Most of austrailias population is concentrated around a few areas. The us population is very spread out.

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#94

Post by slibhb »

genghisjahn wrote: post #34
qwerpy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle-area commuter here. I have to agree, transit seems mostly designed for people who don't value their time. Which don't tend to be the highly paid tech workers with families. I tried so many times to give transit "one more try". The straw that broke my back was when they silently canceled 2 buses in a row for my route, on the coldest day of the year, for a route that has 20 minutes between buses. And my suburb…

Public transit people don't value their time? I wonder about the people stuck on I-76 as I pass over them on the regional rail here in Philly. Sure I deal with a late train now and then. But those people deal with center city traffic every day twice a day.

I'm happy for you that your public transit is faster than traffic but mine isn't.

Via the DC Metro, I have an 8 minute walk + 2 minutes wait for train + 35 minute train ride + 8 minute walk.

Compare that to a 15-35 minute drive, depending on traffic. It's just not close.

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#95

Post by normalaccess »

America is HUGE... And all of the big cities seem unable to herd their own cats. People often forget that the USA is really 50 small countries wearing a trench coat. Just look the maps linked below. The EU has all its people piled up close where as the US has HUGE tracts of low population areas. That's why you'll never see a high speed coast to coast rail system here. logistically it's just not possible (at least not on the west coast). I live in one of the unpopulated areas and by car it takes over an hour of continuous travel at 70 MPH (115 KPH) to get to a smallish big city. There's just too much empty space.

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2021/geo/popul...

https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/fragmentatio...

I could see local areas like California or New York getting some high speed rail but even then, how many people would use it and where would they be going?

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#96

Post by AnimalMuppet »

onecommentman wrote: post #70
no_wizard wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYC used to have Robert Moses backstopping builds. Like him or hate him, he got things built on a scale nobody has managed to achieve since. In fact a lot of the infrastructure and parks people take for granted today were Moses’ handiwork. I’m not suggesting that we need another Bob Moses, but he does prove there is some way to cut through the glacial movement of politics and bureaucracy

If the only person in 100 years to get things done in infrastructure in NYC was Bob Moses, then I think it’s time to admit that NYC needs another Bob Moses.

Or needs fixing so that there's more than one person in 100 years who can build things.

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#97

Post by lotsoweiners »

Eddy_Viscosity2 wrote: post #91
genghisjahn wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Public transit people don't value their time? I wonder about the people stuck on I-76 as I pass over them on the regional rail here in Philly. Sure I deal with a late train now and then. But those people deal with center city traffic every day twice a day.

Many city buses just use the same roads as cars so if the cars are stuck in traffic so are the transit passengers. Some cities do have bus-only lanes, and others have full on subway systems which is great but most do not.

Yeah this is true in my city, Phoenix. We don’t have commuter rail just commuter buses. They take the car pool lane but so does every Tesla so that isn’t as big of an advantage as it sounds. We have light rail but it is a specific route in surface streets and much slower than driving on the freeway.

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#98

Post by conor- »

normalaccess wrote: post #95

America is HUGE... And all of the big cities seem unable to herd their own cats. People often forget that the USA is really 50 small countries wearing a trench coat. Just look the maps linked below. The EU has all its people piled up close where as the US has HUGE tracts of low population areas. That's why you'll never see a high speed coast to coast rail system here. logistically it's just not possible (at least not…

I've seen a lot of suggestions that there should at least be a high speed rail corridor from Chicago to NYC and one from SF to LA because those are 2 of the most highly trafficked domestic flight paths.

The fact there isn't really high speed rail connections across large cities in the Midwest is kind of silly considering there isn't much terrain to contend with like there is on the coasts. Even the 1 new route Amtrak introduced from Chicago to Minneapolis has seen pretty high demand.

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#99

Post by Jensson »

normalaccess wrote: post #95

America is HUGE... And all of the big cities seem unable to herd their own cats. People often forget that the USA is really 50 small countries wearing a trench coat. Just look the maps linked below. The EU has all its people piled up close where as the US has HUGE tracts of low population areas. That's why you'll never see a high speed coast to coast rail system here. logistically it's just not possible (at least not…

> People often forget that the USA is really 50 small countries wearing a trench coat

Then why do all of those 50 countries has so extremely similar problems? Not all have the same level of those problems, but the states with the least murder rate are similar to the EU countries with the highest murder rate etc, or good public transit is like EU bad public transit etc. Police brutality in the states with the least is like police brutality in the worst part of EU etc.

Cleary there must be some very shared culture for that to happen, as there are many such extreme stats compared to the rest of the world. Otherwise you would have a lot of states that were like average European countries.

Re: Why is it so hard for the U.S. to build quality transit?

#100

Post by lotsoweiners »

Jensson wrote: post #73
tomjen3 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s also a matter of politics. No amount of investment in public rail is going to make it so that disruptive elements are effectively removed to the same degree as in my car. That’s before we talk availability, comfort, etc. Other than subways, public transportation is always going to be subpar.

In public transit you can sit down and read something during the ride, but not in a car. So the further you go the more public transits advantage grows as the total effort doesn't go up with distance, it is much nicer to sit in public transit for an hour than drive for an hour.

> it is much nicer to sit in public transit for an hour than drive for an hour.

Maybe to you but certainly not to me. I’ll gladly take a considerably longer car ride in the comfort of my vehicle with my music blasting over sitting next to strangers on a train. I have no problem with public transportation existing but it isn’t something I enjoy.

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