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> Reverting to some primitive state seems neither realistic nor desirable. You'll see plenty of complaining online about DC's transit system, but to me it is a

> Reverting to some primitive state seems neither realistic nor desirable. You'll see plenty of complaining online about DC's transit system, but to me it is an example of what can be done. Vienna metro station is ~13 miles as the crow flies outside the city center. It gets trains every 8 minutes and 12 minutes during rush hour. Compare to Boston where train stations at the same distance out have service every half hour during rush hour and once an hour outside of rush hour. Add to it that if you continue along I-66 much past Vienna, you enter HOT-3 lanes, where you either have 3 passengers in a car or pay a toll. Guess what the result is? People in the DC area take the metro at Vienna because there is frequency of service and are disincentivized from driving. People in Boston drive in. It isn't a primitive state or a postmodern crowded dystopia. The people commuting from Vienna mostly live a suburban life with yards. The infrastructure is just there to encourage taking the train.

ecpottinger 7y ago
Here in Toronto the GO Train used to be one hour apart. If you missed your train you had to wait an hour for the next one. Of-course people drove in to work. Today the train is every twenty minutes, and every run is half to completely full. Why? Because on average people have to wait 20 minutes if they just missed the train, and if they just randomly arrive they often do not have to wait more than 10 minutes for a train. Result, people use the train more often and for more than just work since the train is available so often.
m4rtink 7y ago
And if you add one or two levels of magnitude of improvement, you will get the insanely good train system in Japan. Seeing 14 car 300 km/h capable shinkansens arrive on the same track in ~4 minute intervals in Hiroshima station (and elsewhere) is something to behold. And the commuter system is sometimes ever crazier, with many lines running parallel in the city center, large stations having dozens of lines, together providing huge capacity. No wonder around 8 million people commute to central Tokyo, 1.3 million of them through a single station (Shinjuku).

ecpottinger 7y ago

Here in Toronto the GO Train used to be one hour apart. If you missed your train you had to wait an hour for the next one. Of-course people drove in to work. Today the train is every twenty minutes, and every run is half to completely full. Why? Because on average people have to wait 20 minutes if they just missed the train, and if they just randomly arrive they often do not have to wait more than 10 minutes for a train. Result, people use the train more often and for more than just work since the train is available so often.

m4rtink 7y ago

And if you add one or two levels of magnitude of improvement, you will get the insanely good train system in Japan. Seeing 14 car 300 km/h capable shinkansens arrive on the same track in ~4 minute intervals in Hiroshima station (and elsewhere) is something to behold. And the commuter system is sometimes ever crazier, with many lines running parallel in the city center, large stations having dozens of lines, together providing huge capacity. No wonder around 8 million people commute to central Tokyo, 1.3 million of them through a single station (Shinjuku).