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I lived on the east side and my job offered a free transit pass. It was a 15m drive for me or a single bus. My car broke down fairly often and I tried to give

by pfranz 7y ago

I lived on the east side and my job offered a free transit pass. It was a 15m drive for me or a single bus. My car broke down fairly often and I tried to give public transit a shot. The single bus took an hour and arrived every 30m. I was often standing during busy times and we'd all talk about the loud, likely mentally ill people, who caused disruptions. I'd often work later than the busses would run. Biking had similar hazards when trying to use it as an alternative. Almost all of those downsides still exist in places with great public transit, it's just the incentives compared to the alternatives are better. LA needs more incentives; continue investing in public transit, incentivize it, and disincentivize driving.

bluGill 7y ago
No, in places with great transit people with a 15 minute drive have at most 20 minutes on the bus and for some it is only 10 minutes on the bus. Of course where transit is great people also move to live near the right line, so the 1 hour trips like you see still exist - but those are different neighborhoods where you rarely go.
- pfranz 7y ago
  The universal downsizes I was talking about were dealing with obnoxious riders, having to stand during rush hour, and not always running as late as you need it to. I completely agree with your points. The big thing I notice is that where transit is good I find having a car to be a chain around my neck. Parking is difficult/expensive to find, it's often just easier to walk to the next thing, and navigating roads/traffic is often difficult.
TulliusCicero 7y ago
Almost never deal with crazy people on Munich public transit. That's a combination of a broader swathe of society taking transit here, plus German society doing a better job of taking care of the homeless and mentally ill. The buses are generally reliable and frequent. Train + bike is comparably fast to driving during rush hour.

by pfranz 7y ago

bluGill 7y ago

No, in places with great transit people with a 15 minute drive have at most 20 minutes on the bus and for some it is only 10 minutes on the bus. Of course where transit is great people also move to live near the right line, so the 1 hour trips like you see still exist - but those are different neighborhoods where you rarely go.

pfranz 7y ago
The universal downsizes I was talking about were dealing with obnoxious riders, having to stand during rush hour, and not always running as late as you need it to. I completely agree with your points. The big thing I notice is that where transit is good I find having a car to be a chain around my neck. Parking is difficult/expensive to find, it's often just easier to walk to the next thing, and navigating roads/traffic is often difficult.

TulliusCicero 7y ago

Almost never deal with crazy people on Munich public transit. That's a combination of a broader swathe of society taking transit here, plus German society doing a better job of taking care of the homeless and mentally ill. The buses are generally reliable and frequent. Train + bike is comparably fast to driving during rush hour.