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I think this is only really true for subway routes. The stop and go nature of buses slows a commute down and you don’t have a traffic-free route to make up for
by TimPC 4y ago
I think this is only really true for subway routes. The stop and go nature of buses slows a commute down and you don’t have a traffic-free route to make up for it. Subways are so much faster between stops that you can make up for the delays due to stopping.
In general, I feel once you make the conscious decision to build for cars and allocate vast amounts of space to parking everywhere then you’re going to generally do better with a car. Transit will only be more in line as you drive the % of drivers down and reduce the resource allocations for cars.
- BeetleB 4y ago> Subways are so much faster between stops that you can make up for the delays due to stopping. That 2 hour trip to the airport? At least 1.5 hours of that is subway/train.
- Skunkleton 4y agoI’m not sure where this idea that subways are fast comes from. The average speed of the NY subway system for example is ~20mph. High speed rail is a different story of course.
- tuukkah 4y agoNY subway is not the best example as it's the oldest and slowest: https://ggwash.org/view/4524/average-schedule-speed-how-does-metro-compare https://ggwash.org/view/4524/average-schedule-speed-how-does...
- Skunkleton 4y agoNY had one of the most extensive systems. Compared to other places, like my home in the Bay Area, even at 20mph the subway is effectively faster.
- tuukkah 4y agoIndeed, the average speed of the subway isn't very meaningful for comparison as the bigger win is being able to skip the traffic jams where the car speed depends highly on the exact route and time of day.
- UIUC_06 4y ago> High speed rail is a different story of course. You must be talking about Japan or Europe. The California "bullet train" was / is going to take 4 hours to go SF - LA. Less than driving, but about the same as flying, even when you factor in getting to & from the airports and waiting in the departure lounge. And of course, the train stations are not "everywhere" either. You have to factor in getting to & from them, too. Especially in LA where you hardly ever want to go downtown.
- kareemsabri 4y agoNY subway for virtually any destination is faster than driving, during busy hours.
- boh 4y agoTake a car to the airport. Take a subway to work. Try driving into midtown at 8:30 AM vs the subway. You will not get there faster and then you'll have to find a parking space.
- rob74 4y agoThere are of course several stages of improvement possible between "bus sharing the road with cars" and "fully grade separated rail": dedicated bus lanes up to "bus rapid transit" lines, tram/light rail with more or less separation from other traffic, etc.