Public Transportation

[Sarcelle]

Part of the reason that there is a “car culture” is that many cities are quite spread out.

Take Boston, where the city is about 48 square miles (of land) with over 600,000 people.

The town where I live has just under 40 square miles of land and 60,000.

The city is just too spread out. So public transportation would either have to be cost prohibitive or paid for by the government. Our local government is quite liberal and does like to spend money. But our Constitution is written in such a way that they can’t spend that much money without a city wide vote. And the people would vote it down.

There is transportation for the local college; and for senior citizens and the disabled. Most churches have buses to pick up people for services. And we have miles of bike lanes, with plans to put more in.

But general, city wide, public transportation? No. We don’t have that.

I think you got this backward.

Cities are more spread out because of the car culture. Entire communities are.built around cars and for cars. I have visited Tokyo and Singapore, places where one need not own a car. In the US it’s a necessity.

Look at older cities in the East.Coast and cities in the West coast. You can see some sections in Pittsburgh where everything is more.or.less.easy to access by walking or by bus. Look at LA or Phoenix where everything is so spread out. My point is, more.apread out cities are newer and designed with the car in mind.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

How popular is public transportation (PT) in your town? What improvements would you think are beneficial to improving PT?

Where I live there is none.

It had been proposed many times. At those times I recall some of the churches I visited organizing to get people to vote “No” on public transportation. The concern was that when public transportation is available those more likely to commit crime have mobility.

At one point the vote passed and there was public transportation for a short while. But to keep it the transportation needed to be subsidized. So a 1% sales tax increase was proposed. People overwhelmingly voted “No.” So the Public transportation was gone after that.

 

[maryjk]

I think you got this backward.

Okay, but does it matter?

It is like the question, which came first the chicken or the egg? Who cares, BOTH taste good.

Public transportation won’t work in my city.

And I don’t want to live like those in Tokyo or Singapore or New York City. I *like *fresh air and grass.

 

[Sarcelle]

Okay, but does it matter?

It is like the question, which came first the chicken or the egg? Who cares, BOTH taste good.

Public transportation won’t work in my city.

And I don’t want to live like those in Tokyo or Singapore or New York City. I *like *fresh air and grass.

I wonder how the poor or the disabled get around in your city.

Not all of us are able to drive because of poverty or some sort of disability like blindness.

 

[Filii_Dei]

Okay, but does it matter?

It is like the question, which came first the chicken or the egg? Who cares, BOTH taste good.

Public transportation won’t work in my city.

And I don’t want to live like those in Tokyo or Singapore or New York City. I *like *fresh air and grass.

Clearly you haven’t been to Singapore.

 

[Avila123]

I live in a built up city (joined to the mainland by a couple of bridges). I have t take an afternoon off work to go to the Dentist because although it is a small city, it is very densely populated and public transport is very poor. Last Friday, I waited over an hour for a bus that is supposed to be every 15 minutes, in the end I bused part way as I was not feeling good after having a tooth out). In recognition of the problems in the city, our wise councillors have decided that:

a. The city gets gridlocked, therefore, reducing public transport will help.
b. Never relocate the the football ground from the South into the less built up part of the city on the mainland. They missed at least 4 big opportunities which would have resulted in the creation of jobs in a city with high unemployment.
c. They will introduced high parking tolls for everyone because visitor numbers have increased (apparently they haven’t worked out that some car owners actually live in the city).
d. There is no need for a main shopping centre where people can do all of their shopping because there are enough out of city (and miles away from public transport) shopping centers.
e. Cyclists are encouraged by the introduction of cycle lanes that suddenly stop (for no apparent reason) or take the cyclist where they do not wish to go e.g. muggers paradise underpass.
f. Nearly forgot, a city day ticket is £4 but a return journey of 4 or 5 bus stops is £4.20. The two bus companies have their own tickets, so a full get around is over £8.

The BEST public transport is in CAPE COD!!! I could not believe how cheap it was. There were even request buses and the drivers were very friendly. Last year, I spent a week traveling around Cape Cod on the buses and thoroughly enjoying myself. I wish I could afford to live in Cape Cod.

 

[Brendan]

We live adjacent to the Motor City (Detroit MI), so public transport is not a hit here. Part of it is we are all about the car culture and part of it is public transport consists only of buses. Smelly, broken, nasty, ugly, slow, badly organized buses.

What MJJean said

About the only local public transportation I have been on in the last decade is the little 'People Mover" light elevated car system that bring people from sports events to the local restaurant area.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

When some of you say there are “only” buses where you live, do you mean there are no trains? No trains at all? I don’t know why, but I was under the impression that there are trains everywhere.

Anyway, buses and trains abound here in the distant suburbs of New York City. I really only use public transportation (train) when I want to get to the big city.

Other than that, it’s driving all the way.

 

[CradleJourney]

When some of you say there are “only” buses where you live, do you mean there are no trains? No trains at all? I don’t know why, but I was under the impression that there are trains everywhere.

Anyway, buses and trains abound here in the distant suburbs of New York City. I really only use public transportation (train) when I want to get to the big city.

Other than that, it’s driving all the way.

No rail service here. Public buses with limited routes and availability and high cost are about it. No one uses them unless they have no other choice since it easily takes 6 to 10 times longer to get to where you are going - if it’s even possible.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Public transportation isn’t valued in much of the US. This goes way back.

As a legally blind man living in Buffalo- with less than adequate public transportation, I must depend on my wife most of the time. I cannot bring my kids to dr. appt. or really any of the essentials. My daughter’s Catholic school is right down the street so I walk her there and back which is nice.

I used to live in Boston which had superb public transit- despite the Bostonians still complaining about it! We didn’t even own a car then and it was a great lifestyle- and much healthier. One wonders if America’s obesity problem is partly attributable to our “car culture”.

The issue of funding for public transit often does boil down to a Right vs. Left issue. I find this quite unfortunate.

I think ‘car culture’ may rather be contributing to obesity. I think we just had too much space when we built our cities, and so built them to need cars. It’s probably no coincidence that the most densely populated countries in the world like Japan and Germany have the best public transportation systems.

As far as the politics go, I’ll play the cowardly moderate and say, to concede one point to the right, many major urban transit systems (especially in the midwest, like Cleveland and Detroit) are horribly mismanaged an waste a lot of money; and to concede a point to the left, it probably wouldn’t matter how efficiently they run, too few people would ride them to make it worth it, because Americans are too obsessed with owning their own mode of transportation. Really, encouraging more public transportation should be an uncontroversial issue. Everybody wins: people save money, traffic improves, the environment is better off. Only GM and Ford have anything to lose.

 

[Brendan]

When some of you say there are “only” buses where you live, do you mean there are no trains? No trains at all? I don’t know why, but I was under the impression that there are trains everywhere. .

There is an Amtrak line to Chicago. But there is no commuter rail in Metro Detroit.

 

[andrewstx]

Where I live (a major metropolitan area) we have a train, light rail, and buses. The train is very expensive but the bus and light rail cost only $2 per ride. The bus and the light rail are slow and it takes 2 hours to go 20 miles. A lot of us here ride bicycles. Everybody has to drive their children to school because the kids cannot walk about half a mile.:dts: Kids these days.

We have a lot of very affluent people who buy their teenagers SUVs and use those huge pick-up trucks as personal commute vehicles. Everybody drives very fast.

I have never heard of any churches having buses to pick people in my immediate area and you are pretty much on your own for our parish. People have offered me rides but only when I am exercising or was close to home.

I love BART, Bay Area Rapid Transit. I rode Greyhound to ‘the city’ and used Bart and cable cars. Cable cars are slow indeed but they are a part of history. But they are an amazing way to really see the city instead of zipping past it. I was nearly killed when a mega gas gulping truck with Texas plates came close to running me over. I could swear he aimed.
What he was doing in SF I will never know, he had a big scowl on his face. And Texans hate the city for being “librul”.

 

[andrewstx]

In most places (downtown NYC being, they say, an exception) you have to have a car even if there is public transportation, because you will inevitably need or want to go places where there isn’t public transportation.

Long ago it wasn’t quite that way because housing was extremely dense in cities and there were a lot of street car lines. Besides, people didn’t much go anywhere anyway. Shopping was all in the neighborhood and nobody could afford to do much more than work, buy groceries and walk two blocks to church on Sunday.

That is when you put one foot ahead of the other and walk . New Yorkers do it all the time. At least between subway stations.

 

[andrewstx]

I wonder how the poor or the disabled get around in your city.

Not all of us are able to drive because of poverty or some sort of disability like blindness.

I have been forbidden to drive by my Dr. for ten years now. Ever since my stroke.

 

[Sarcelle]

I think ‘car culture’ may rather be contributing to obesity. I think we just had too much space when we built our cities, and so built them to need cars. It’s probably no coincidence that the most densely populated countries in the world like Japan and Germany have the best public transportation systems.

As far as the politics go, I’ll play the cowardly moderate and say, to concede one point to the right, many major urban transit systems (especially in the midwest, like Cleveland and Detroit) are horribly mismanaged an waste a lot of money; and to concede a point to the left, it probably wouldn’t matter how efficiently they run, too few people would ride them to make it worth it, because Americans are too obsessed with owning their own mode of transportation. Really, encouraging more public transportation should be an uncontroversial issue. Everybody wins: people save money, traffic improves, the environment is better off. Only GM and Ford have anything to lose.

People who live in New York City are on average less prone to be obese than those living in other cities, like Dallas.

However I have personally met people who actually think public transportation is unAmerican.

 

[Sarcelle]

That is when you put one foot ahead of the other and walk . New Yorkers do it all the time. At least between subway stations.

I used to not own a car and was actually below my ideal weight due to walking around from bus stop to bus stop. Now that I own a car I’ve gotten lazy and have gained weight.

I also know people who drive to gym a block away only to walk on the treadmill.

 

[CradleJourney]

I also know people who drive to gym a block away only to walk on the treadmill.

That would be me. Though it’s actually, four blocks and I would walk except that last block has no sidewalks, is along a very busy road with no shoulder, and the grass next to it is an angled slope down into a drainage ditch. Worry to much about slipping or twisting an ankle - esp. when tired and trying to get home. On the other hand, I only use the gym when the weather’s not that great or I’m trying for a particular time/distance - otherwise I just use the sidewalks in the neighborhood

 

[Giggly_Giraffe]

People who live in New York City are on average less prone to be obese than those living in other cities, like Dallas.

However I have personally met people who actually think public transportation is unAmerican.

I’ve always envisioned New Yorkers morbidly obese. I think I got the vision from the “Evening News” when they cover obesity, they always seem to go down to the street and film many obese people grouped together in large crowds. I’ve never been there and only view NYC from the perspective of the evening news. I have been to Dallas, and found them to be outgoing and seeking activity.

Our state, Colorado, has been ranked at the top for fit citizens. We are car dependent, have some public transportion (buses & light rail). We have more sun, per capita, per year than any other state. Outside Activity is highly valued (running, biking, hiking, swimming, rollerblading, rock climbing, skiing, hang gliding, camping, ect). This quest for outdoor activity limits public transportation. Sure, PT will carry ackward accessories like canoes, bikes, and such … But to utilize the time best, cars are prefered.

Then there is the remote area’s that attract farmers and mountaineers. The ski towns have great PT in the village, but lack extending PT to the workers who run the village.

 

[Sarcelle]

That would be me. Though it’s actually, four blocks and I would walk except that last block has no sidewalks, is along a very busy road with no shoulder, and the grass next to it is an angled slope down into a drainage ditch. Worry to much about slipping or twisting an ankle - esp. when tired and trying to get home. On the other hand, I only use the gym when the weather’s not that great or I’m trying for a particular time/distance - otherwise I just use the sidewalks in the neighborhood

This just proves my point.

American communities are designed for cars, hence the lack of good pedestrian walkways or even bike paths. One has no choice but to own a car.

 

[maryjk]

This just proves my point.

American communities are designed for cars, hence the lack of good pedestrian walkways or even bike paths. One has no choice but to own a car.

This may be true in some cities and towns. But not where I live.

We have miles of bike trails and lanes.

In fact we have been named a “Bicycle Friendly Community” by the League of American Bicyclists. Which means:

A community recognized by the League as Bicycle Friendly℠ welcomes bicyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation. Encouraging bicycling is a simple way towards improving public health. With more people bicycling, communities experience reduced traffic demands, improved air quality and greater physical fitness.

Building such a community can translate into a more connected, physically active, and environmentally sustainable community that enjoys increased property values, business growth, increased tourism, and more transportation choices for citizens.

But we don’t have public transportation.