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I completely agree - I love the German train system - but we can't get there overnight. While we wait (optimistically) 50+ years for the US transit infrastruct

I completely agree - I love the German train system - but we can't get there overnight. While we wait (optimistically) 50+ years for the US transit infrastructure to develop, we need rideshare.

runarberg 6y ago
> but we can't get there overnight Why not? Buses are cheap and can operate on existing infrastructure. Sure there are places like Seattle where the buses are congested and more expensive rail infrastructure is needed, but that is not true in majority of American cities. Quite often the bus lines are even already there, but run so infrequently that they are unusable for the majority of people (think El Paso). For most of Americans the problem could literally be solved over night.
- bluGill 6y ago
  The limit to that is how fast we can make more buses. Those lines are built for expected demand, and if cities suddenly start buying all the buses they should have to get a useful transit system they need a large expansion. Though if cities actually did put for that investment, in a few years there would be enough riders as to pay off the investment. I'm not hopeful though: most cities have transit executives who don't care about transit, and so if given a ton of money will instead invest in transit art - things that look good but don't improve transit.
Ericson2314 6y ago
Bikeshare. Rideshare is a colossally inefficient in both labor and material terms. Bikeshare including wagons for kids and cargo is far, far better. Also we can do it much faster if we accept we need to make driving worse. See https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/09/18/cars-and-trains-urbanism/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/09/18/cars-and-train... cars and trains are fundamentally opposed, so every time build American-style light rail and yet continue widening highways we shoot ourselves in both feet. Accepting the reality that we need carets and sticks to radically reform our material culture, demolish highways, shred zoning laws, crank up the gas tax, and then suddenly find your trains full, bikes all in use, people clamoring for more, the private sector helping with the easy stuff, and more growth in general.

I completely agree - I love the German train system - but we can't get there overnight. While we wait (optimistically) 50+ years for the US transit infrastructure to develop, we need rideshare.

runarberg 6y ago

> but we can't get there overnight Why not? Buses are cheap and can operate on existing infrastructure. Sure there are places like Seattle where the buses are congested and more expensive rail infrastructure is needed, but that is not true in majority of American cities. Quite often the bus lines are even already there, but run so infrequently that they are unusable for the majority of people (think El Paso). For most of Americans the problem could literally be solved over night.

bluGill 6y ago
The limit to that is how fast we can make more buses. Those lines are built for expected demand, and if cities suddenly start buying all the buses they should have to get a useful transit system they need a large expansion. Though if cities actually did put for that investment, in a few years there would be enough riders as to pay off the investment. I'm not hopeful though: most cities have transit executives who don't care about transit, and so if given a ton of money will instead invest in transit art - things that look good but don't improve transit.

Ericson2314 6y ago

Bikeshare. Rideshare is a colossally inefficient in both labor and material terms. Bikeshare including wagons for kids and cargo is far, far better. Also we can do it much faster if we accept we need to make driving worse. See https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/09/18/cars-and-trains-urbanism/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/09/18/cars-and-train... cars and trains are fundamentally opposed, so every time build American-style light rail and yet continue widening highways we shoot ourselves in both feet. Accepting the reality that we need carets and sticks to radically reform our material culture, demolish highways, shred zoning laws, crank up the gas tax, and then suddenly find your trains full, bikes all in use, people clamoring for more, the private sector helping with the easy stuff, and more growth in general.