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Transit usage has been declining for years in all of the cities listed in this article, except Austin. https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/massachusetts/massac

by pwned1 7y ago

Transit usage has been declining for years in all of the cities listed in this article, except Austin. https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/massachusetts/massachusetts-bay-transportation-authority/ https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/massachusetts/massachuse... https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/pennsylvania/southeastern-pennsylvania-transportation-authority/ https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/pennsylvania/southeaster... https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/california/santa-clara-valley-transportation-authority/ https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/california/santa-clara-v... https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/ohio/the-greater-cleveland-regional-transit-authority/ https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/ohio/the-greater-clevela... https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/texas/capital-metropolitan-transportation-authority/ https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/texas/capital-metropolit...

Tuxer 7y ago
hi it's me caltrain, serving santa clara and growing 2x in 15 years https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/california/peninsula-corridor-joint-powers-board-dba-caltrain/ https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/california/peninsula-cor...
- itronitron 7y ago
  Interesting to note that counting rides by a bounded geographic area is going to miss a lot, as the caltrain data doesn't seem to be represented in the santa clara data. Also, the Austin data doesn't take into account that the city regularly expands its geographic boundaries (typically east and west) which may artificially make it seem as if it is increasing riders when it is simply absorbing them.
- briandear 7y ago
  In 15 years, how much has road usage grown and how much has population grown? Just a 2x increase seems like a relative decline.
  - rgbrenner 7y ago
    SF hasn't grown by anywhere near 2x in 15 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland%E2%80%93Berkeley,_CA_Metropolitan_Statistical_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland%...
    - Tempest1981 7y ago
      True, but tech jobs have grown more than 4x: Since the current expansion started in 2010, the San Francisco tech industry has more than quadrupled in size to 100,644 tech jobs as of year-end 2018. https://www.globest.com/2019/11/13/san-francisco-has-second-highest-tech-jobs-growth/?slreturn=20200213044019 https://www.globest.com/2019/11/13/san-francisco-has-second-...
bluntfang 7y ago
I bet Massachusetts ridership wouldn't be down if they weren't experiencing crippling infrastructure atrophy.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  They spent all their money on a tunnel under Boston so their infrastructure has 30ish years of deferred upgrades.
gok 7y ago
Right but "good public transit" in the context of a Citylab article means "spends a lot of tax dollars on public transit."
- lonelappde 7y ago
  That's what "public" means. It's an investment in economic development and externality reduction.
- yohannparis 7y ago
  I don't seem to recall a lot of private roads and highway in the USA? Most of them were public (tax dollars) and when they improve them, politics calls it a "good" improvement.
powowowow 7y ago
I didn't fact-check all of your links, but the first two that I randomly selected showed transit usage increasing over time.

by pwned1 7y ago

Tuxer 7y ago

hi it's me caltrain, serving santa clara and growing 2x in 15 years https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/california/peninsula-corridor-joint-powers-board-dba-caltrain/ https://nationaltransitdatabase.org/california/peninsula-cor...

itronitron 7y ago
Interesting to note that counting rides by a bounded geographic area is going to miss a lot, as the caltrain data doesn't seem to be represented in the santa clara data. Also, the Austin data doesn't take into account that the city regularly expands its geographic boundaries (typically east and west) which may artificially make it seem as if it is increasing riders when it is simply absorbing them.
briandear 7y ago
In 15 years, how much has road usage grown and how much has population grown? Just a 2x increase seems like a relative decline.
- rgbrenner 7y ago
  SF hasn't grown by anywhere near 2x in 15 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland%E2%80%93Berkeley,_CA_Metropolitan_Statistical_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland%...
  - Tempest1981 7y ago
    True, but tech jobs have grown more than 4x: Since the current expansion started in 2010, the San Francisco tech industry has more than quadrupled in size to 100,644 tech jobs as of year-end 2018. https://www.globest.com/2019/11/13/san-francisco-has-second-highest-tech-jobs-growth/?slreturn=20200213044019 https://www.globest.com/2019/11/13/san-francisco-has-second-...

bluntfang 7y ago

I bet Massachusetts ridership wouldn't be down if they weren't experiencing crippling infrastructure atrophy.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
They spent all their money on a tunnel under Boston so their infrastructure has 30ish years of deferred upgrades.

gok 7y ago

Right but "good public transit" in the context of a Citylab article means "spends a lot of tax dollars on public transit."

lonelappde 7y ago
That's what "public" means. It's an investment in economic development and externality reduction.
yohannparis 7y ago
I don't seem to recall a lot of private roads and highway in the USA? Most of them were public (tax dollars) and when they improve them, politics calls it a "good" improvement.

powowowow 7y ago

I didn't fact-check all of your links, but the first two that I randomly selected showed transit usage increasing over time.