May 11, 2008
IF IT WERE A CULTURE IT WOULDN'T BREAK SO EASILY:
Gas prices send surge of riders to mass transit (Clifford Krauss, May 11, 2008, NY Times)
Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots."In almost every transit system I talk to, we're seeing very high rates of growth the last few months," said William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.
"It's very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas."
Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited.
It's just a bad habit. Laziness, really. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 11, 2008 9:40 AM
My family and I just moved to Spokane, Washington and they have a pretty good bus system. Now, it helps that my wife's employer includes the benefit of a free bus pass each month.
Posted by: pchuck at May 11, 2008 12:59 PMIt's not a habit at all. It's a rational response to a set of choices. It takes less time and is more convenient to drive places.
Posted by: Brandon at May 11, 2008 4:20 PMFor some, it's worth it to give up the time needed to use subsidized collective transport to save a few dollars. Depends on how little you value your time. (and a half century of public schooling promoting economic ignorance helps.)
Of course, the next step will be for all these systems to demand bigger subsidies, which of course they won't give up when people get fed up with a 19th century solution to 21st century needs, and go back to being in control of their movements.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at May 11, 2008 6:22 PMTime is infinite. Opportunities for social interaction are finite.
Posted by: oj at May 11, 2008 7:02 PMBingo. It's Rational.
Posted by: oj at May 11, 2008 7:02 PMOJ,
Time may be infinite, but our time here isn't.
Given the choice, and the wealth, almost everybody would prefer driving in their own personal space than sitting on a train, listening to our increasing boorish idiocracy swear to their moron friends on the cell phones.
Trains are a great choice when taking into account traffic, expense, insurance, parking, etc. etc.
Given the de-centralization of work and workplaces, the efficient "mass transit" system of the future will be small vans and micro busses, which will never come to pass under the AFSME/public emp. union model that plagues our culture.
A decentralized economy of entrepreneurs is not really congruent with "mass transit."
Posted by: Bruno at May 11, 2008 8:58 PMExactly, all that matters is how you spend your time. That spent alone in your car is wasted. That spent with your fellows is well used.
Posted by: oj at May 11, 2008 10:07 PMoj: I'll use a phrase that I heard from a local while visiting Boston..."Don't know him, don't want to know him..."
I'll keep my truck thanks. Of course I'm in a part of the country where the closest Amtrack station is about 75 miles away. The only trains I see carry freight exclusively.
Posted by: Bartman at May 12, 2008 10:33 AMNow.
Posted by: oj at May 12, 2008 2:31 PM