Will mass transportation ever work in the US?

Question

Went to London and was very impressed with the mass transit., but wonder with the US being so large and having everything so spread out with farms and suburbs and whatnot, if it could ever really work.

Answer 1

Who needs mass transit, when Scottie, or my wife will be waiting near the controls of the Teletransporter to beam me up?

Answer 2

Right now it takes me less time and it is cheaper to drive to work. Right now, I pay $150 for fuel each month. The train would cost $155 each month. However, if the cost of the train drops enough below the cost of driving, I will seriously consider taking the train. That will occur when fuel costs close to $4.50 a gallon, and only if the cost of the train doesn't increase. Unfortunately, for me there is no cost benefit to mass transit right now, and the added disadvantage of being without a car at work makes it less attractive.

Answer 3

Mass transit in the US is very unsafe!

Answer 4

YOU WERE IN LONDON.  We have cities just like it.  New York.  San Francisco.  Chicago.  Philly.  DC.  Boston.  

You can live in one if you want to :)   It works fine if you move to a place where it works.

England also has spread out suburbs where transit is hopeless. You saw one in Harry Potter.  England has rural farms too, that are "a long way" from the nearest train station.

Now, will transit work in the WHOLE United States?  No, because our sprawl suburbs use land all wrong.  But those sprawl suburbs could be abandoned - in fact they are already being abandoned because of the mortgage crisis. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...

Hey, the only reason to live in Brentwood was the "dream" of home ownership.  Since you gotta rent, might as well rent near transit.

Ridership going down?  Not true.  Ridership is going up, up, up, even before the gasoline crunch and the mortgage crisis.

There are also many up-and-coming transit cities, from Portland to St. Louis, dozens opening rail systems of one kind or another.

Meanwhile there are transit enclaves in places you'd least expect, from Royal Oak to West Hollywood.

Well, L.A. isn't a surprise,  In the last 15 years, L.A. has gone from "nothing" to nearly as much rail transit as Chicago.

Answer 5

I doubt it and for numerous reasons.

You already mentioned suburbs, which are mass transit's worse nightmare. Land developments mean longer trips for everyone only to pick up a few people, plus, land developments have windy and curvy roads that are not only complicated and timely to navigate, they're inconveniently located too far from the main streets. In fact, they're designed simply to slow down and reduce traffic.

You also have to factor in shopping centers. They too mean more commercial stops and are also a lengthy trip to travel around, since half of them make it harder to drive in between main streets. They're also magnets for traffic because of this reason.

As far as the size of the US, most major cities are linked by train, but they don't see enough passengers to link them more conveniently. For example, I live in between the capital of PA and Philly and to the south is Baltimore. In order for me to take a train to D.C., I can't ride the train from my town of Lancaster to the state capital and then straight down to D.C., which is very common in Europe (the linkage of state capitals to national capitals via rail). Instead, I have to go to Philly, transfer to Baltimore, and then transfer to D.C. It costs more money and wastes more time than driving.

In fact, if you have a reserved parking space, then the only situation where you want to take mass transit is in the case where it is quicker than sitting in traffic.

But most Americans are unlikely to take the mass transit because it doesn't meet their qualifications. We need privacy, lluxury, and control, for some reason I've yet to determine. You get more out of this with your own SUV(or car) than you do on a public bus or train.

You might ask about our use of it in the past and in the big cities. Well in the past, most Americans were european, and the europeans are still around in the big cities and so is there legacy. Plus you're almost forced to take the metro if your city has lots of traffic.

But before I relieve you of this boring lecture, I have one little story to tell you. According to one of my first economics books, back in the day, when cars became more affordable, their manufacturers decided to buy out rail and bus systems. They destroyed them and then lobbied the construction of highways, which were and still can be a valuable investment.

Sorry for the gloomy answer, I'm studying what many call the dismal science.

Answer 6

It only works for people who already live and work in the city, and for those who do not drive. But for us in the suburbs, no way. how do we get our kids to daycare? How do we stop at the grocery store? I thought life was all about freedom and independence, not being trapped on a mass transit vehicle with a bunch of total strangers.

in fact ridership has been declining since the 70's. so why do they push it when clearly a majority of people refuse to ride it? because they are so obsessed with saving the planet and eradicating EVIL CARS that they lost all ability to use common sense. and i aint lying.