For mass transit to work and not be a net drain it has to
be survivable at a market price.
Yep. In DC we have a world-class system, in some ways,
at a lowball price. Nice trains, which are SRO in the rush
hour, nice environmentally friendly buses, and low prices.
Yet the city is still jammed
I kind of scratched my head when the bike locker rates seemed to double when
I had to renew this year.
Of course, the savings are mythical save 5$ parking (and receive health
benefits) but
the money saved tends to go more bike swag. I enjoy the 1.5 mile ride to the
station, I tend to skip
Why not? Automobiles/ road systems were subsidized for decades in the
US as were the railroads earlier and as is your cellphone now.
Europe and other countries just don't BS as much about the nature of
things / what it takes to make transport systems work and economies go
around. They more
We do with oil what we do with most things. We only look just past
our nose and see ho much it costs me.
My in-laws in Canada have been paying higher gasoline costs for
years. My relatives in Germany pay exorbitant prices for oil as
compared to us.
Part of the reason behind this is
For mass transit to work and not be a net drain it has to be survivable at a
market price.
Yep. In DC we have a world-class system, in some ways,
at a lowball price. Nice trains, which are SRO in the rush
hour, nice environmentally friendly buses, and low prices.
Yet the city is still
Betty that is key to making it work.
Make ares where Cars cannot travel. Make public transport simple and
easy and you would be surprised how it works.
The Europeans have us beat when it comes to most transportation ideas.
Part of our problem stems back to Americas individualism and short
Rev. Stewart Marshall wrote:
Anyone will tell you that if you increase your volume you increase
your profit.
Well, maybe anyone at GM or Chrysler would but see where they wound up.
If a business continues to sell a product or service that costs $10.00
to produce for $9.00, no matter how
Rev. Stewart Marshall wrote:
Again because they aim only at the lower income.
No! If you sell something that costs $10.00 to produce for $9.00 to
someone who makes $250,000 a year you still lose a Dollar. The same if
selling the product to someone who makes $3,000 a year. No matter what
the
That is called dumb business, but it was not just there fault. There
were a lot of things that caused that.
I lived in an area with a Goodyear plant a few years ago and they had
some mighty rounds with their unions. They had to support more
retirees than active workers and pay full benefits
And we will be flirting with bankruptcy in the US ... as we are now ...
until we start looking at real costs and what we are spending on
subsidies.
No one ... not an individual nor a nation ... can plan, budget or save
until you readily know what you are spending for what...
db
Rev.
Yes, many cities have roads paid for by tax dollars that the citizens
are not allowed to freely use. How is this consistent with principals
of liberty?
What you call subsidy I call hiding from the taxpayer the true cost of
the service delivered, convincing them they are getting a bargain
Betty that is key to making it work.
Make ares where Cars cannot travel. Make public transport simple and easy and
you would be surprised how it works.
The Europeans have us beat when it comes to most transportation ideas.
Part of our problem stems back to Americas individualism and short term
I am not sure what schools you are talking about but around here they
are required to take at least 4 years of
history/government/economics around here.
Current affairs was also a requirement (It was kind of cool having my
son ask for the newspaper and not seeing him turn to the comics
Yes, many cities have roads paid for by tax dollars that the citizens
are not allowed to freely use. How is this consistent with
principals of liberty?
They're called pedestrian zones. Or public transit zones.
Reduces pollution. Makes downtowns more user friendly. You have the
liberty to walk
It's sort of scary how often I almost sort of agree with you.
Public transportation, public education, they have tangible
benefits even though I don't ride buses currently or have
children in school. But I have no problem paying for them
because there are valid social reasons for doing so.
On May 27, 2009, at 8:25 PM, Matthew Taylor wrote:
Nothing they can do to increase ridership will help so long as they
operate under a model that has them loose money on each rider. You
can't make it up in volume.
Missing the big picture (once again). The point of public
transportation
On May 28, 2009, at 1:12 AM, Matthew Taylor wrote:
Not at all true in the DC metro area where I live or the NY metro
area where I grew up. Lots of people commute on the trains and busses
Mayor Bloomberg rides the subway to work and he is worth $billions.
Nice gadget ... too bad that in times of increased ridership because of
gas prices/ economy and funding issues, most city bus systems are facing
budget shortfalls and service cutbacks...
Expensive gee wiz bus tech gadgets ... will that help or make the $
problem worse?
Honest question ...
On May 27, 2009, at 1:01 PM, b_s-wilk wrote:
Bus stop 2020: A team at MIT has designed a bus stop of the future.
Many of the commentators shared my first thought. The one I liked
best was even a step ahead...
Maybe they should incorporate some kind of lightning zapper device
to shoot
It depends.
In many foreign countries public transportation is the backbone of
getting from one place to the next.
I know in Europe it is frequently used and well respected.
The problem here is that it is not always well thought out, tends to
be restricted time wise, and is not available in
On May 27, 2009, at 6:01 PM, db wrote:
Expensive gee wiz bus tech gadgets ... will that help or make the $
problem worse?
The bus stop near my house has a small scrolling display that shows
arrival times for the next few buses. It has been in service for over
a year and still working.
Some university techies implemented an ingenious add-on for Seattle's
Bus Metro here (called One Bus Away) that allows you to place a call
or SMS text to a totally automated system, where you indicate the bus
stop # by voice or SMS and it reports back by voice or text when and
which buses will
The more customer service oriented they make it the better it is.
The ones in Portland work exceptionally well and tell you where you
want to go. Same with St. Louis. Came in to airports at both and
got to where I needed to be with no problems.
Stewart
At 05:37 PM 5/27/2009, you wrote:
Nothing they can do to increase ridership will help so long as they
operate under a model that has them loose money on each rider. You
can't make it up in volume.
Matthew
On May 27, 2009, at 6:01 PM, db wrote:
Nice gadget ... too bad that in times of increased ridership because
of gas
Volume does help. The problem I see that they need to correct is a
view of public transportation as ill suited to anyone with an income
over the poverty level in some cities.
Anyone will tell you that if you increase your volume you increase your profit.
Most public transportation does not
No, volume hurts most public transit because the cost to serve
additional passengers is greater than the revenue received from those
passengers. Yes, you can make a bit more if you are filling mostly
empty busses and train cars, but when you need to expand service to
need greater demand
Again because they aim only at the lower income.
If they aimed at a higher income they would make money.
That is what I meant about neighborhoods not served.
In Europe their public transportation does not just aim at one socio
economic strata. It serves all.
In Canada (One I am again
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