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I think it is widely known that public transport in the US is god awful. Public transportation is lovely in most European countries, IMO.
by johnisgood 9mo ago
I think it is widely known that public transport in the US is god awful. Public transportation is lovely in most European countries, IMO.
- eloisant 9mo agoIt's pretty good in NYC. I heard it's nice in Boston too.
- clickety_clack 9mo agoIf they ran the suburban rail more frequently Boston would have a phenomenal system.
- ghaff 9mo agoThe suburban rail in Boston is very much commuter rail. I live about 50 miles west (pretty near a station though I have to drive) and I'll absolutely take it for a 9-5ish urban event. But it's completely useless for anything in the evening.
- kevin_thibedeau 9mo agoNJ Transit is commuter rail and they made it not suck by providing usable evening and weekend service.
- ghaff 9mo agoDifferent cities. Different transport situations. I'm not convinced I would take commuter rail in and out of where I live to Boston even if it ran more frequently. Chicken and egg and all that but it's empty in the evening as it is. Even the reverse commute in the evening is annoying but then it's quite straightforward to go home. There are usually reasonable parking options. Personally, not sure I'd use it outside of rush-hour in and back.
- kevin_thibedeau 9mo agoThe point is, NJT had poor limited service 25 years ago and rectified it.
- krige 9mo agoCompared to rest of US? Maybe. Compared to Europe? Absolutely not.
- drnick1 9mo agoI don't think so, the busiest lines of the London subway ("tube") don't even have AC. I also rode the subway in Paris some years ago and it wasn't anything to write home about.
- quotz 9mo agoIts good in NYC for american standards. For european standards the NYC subway is abominable. The smells, the grime, the homeless, its honestly like visiting the 6th ring of hell. Source: I am a european living in NYC.
- rorylawless 9mo agoIt isn’t universally awful in the US. Washington, DC’s system is great and should be the cornerstone of any revitalization that isn’t so reliant on the federal government.
- johnisgood 9mo agoThanks, good to know! How are the trains across the country though?
- altcognito 9mo agoTrains are not an efficient use of time for travel within the US. The US is huge. If you were take a 300mph (nearing 500kph) train (which would make it the fastest train in the world), it would be OVER an 8 hour trip from New York to LA. (Again, about 2500 miles or 4000k) Even in some of the densest areas, the trip times end up being pretty long due to distances: dc to New York? 600 kilometers or almost 400 miles.
- CalRobert 9mo agoThis is irrelevant, though, since the size of the country isn’t what determines where people go. It’s not like trains got less practical when Alaska got admitted to the union. Sprawling, low density, single use zoning, combined with parking minimums, have much more to do with it. Here’s a video that explores the topic if you’re curious https://youtu.be/REni8Oi1QJQ https://youtu.be/REni8Oi1QJQ
- altcognito 9mo agoIt is highly relevant to the question asked. What you’re addressing is how cities should be built.
- adastra22 9mo agoThe question asked was about cross country trains.