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Most Americans don’t use public transit and cannot. Only 5% of Americans use public transit to commute to work. America is too spread out, and where public tra

Most Americans don’t use public transit and cannot. Only 5% of Americans use public transit to commute to work. America is too spread out, and where public transit exists, it’s unreliable or significantly slower than travel by car. There are only a few exceptions in the US.

bluGill 3y ago
America is not to spread out if you look only east of the Mississippi, and the Pacific coast. Alaska and the great plains lack the population for good transit, but the rest is close to European density and European solutions could work. What doesn't work is the bad service we get. Cars are expensive, but better than what passes for transit so of course we drive.
- samtho 3y ago
  Even looking west, people don’t commute outside of their mega region. IMHO what the California High Speed Rail got wrong was their ambitious attempt to build the main line from SF to LA where they should have stated in the North by connecting San Francisco, Sacramento, and Stockton and/or in the south by linking LA with San Diego. These corridors are going to be more used by commuters and it’s usage would drive the will to connect them.
  - bluGill 3y ago
    High speed rail is about distances too long for commuting. Plenty of people do make that trip in their cars. If only CA could build fast for reasonable prices. Their inability to do either gives transit haters plenty of ammo to show transit shouldn't be built. And if transit keeps doing things like second ave subway and cahrs the haters are right.
rsynnott 3y ago
> America is too spread out This is a very common talking point, but it's not _as_ true as people think, depending on state. California, for instance, has a population density similar to France, though almost infinitely worse public transport _infrastructure_. The infra problem is likely more of a factory than the density thing, at least in the US's more populous states.

bluGill 3y ago

America is not to spread out if you look only east of the Mississippi, and the Pacific coast. Alaska and the great plains lack the population for good transit, but the rest is close to European density and European solutions could work. What doesn't work is the bad service we get. Cars are expensive, but better than what passes for transit so of course we drive.

samtho 3y ago
Even looking west, people don’t commute outside of their mega region. IMHO what the California High Speed Rail got wrong was their ambitious attempt to build the main line from SF to LA where they should have stated in the North by connecting San Francisco, Sacramento, and Stockton and/or in the south by linking LA with San Diego. These corridors are going to be more used by commuters and it’s usage would drive the will to connect them.
- bluGill 3y ago
  High speed rail is about distances too long for commuting. Plenty of people do make that trip in their cars. If only CA could build fast for reasonable prices. Their inability to do either gives transit haters plenty of ammo to show transit shouldn't be built. And if transit keeps doing things like second ave subway and cahrs the haters are right.

rsynnott 3y ago

> America is too spread out This is a very common talking point, but it's not _as_ true as people think, depending on state. California, for instance, has a population density similar to France, though almost infinitely worse public transport _infrastructure_. The infra problem is likely more of a factory than the density thing, at least in the US's more populous states.