We have a CRUMBLING infrastructure in the US, and people are constantly complaining about potholes in major metropolitan areas. And the solution is build more roads? We cannot even maintain the ones we have!
Recommended reading:
- https://www.strongtowns.org/the-growth-ponzi-scheme
- https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/1/16/why-walkable-s...
Meanwhile America's best, most expensive, most politically supported public transit systems barely work, and can be expected to fail you completely several times each month.
The lived experiences don't match the theory. Roads usually work fine, and degrade gracefully when they don't. Transit is obnoxious on a good day, and when it fails it cascades catastrophically.
I want to be a good urbanist, but the quality just isn't there, nor does it seem to be a budget priority (instead new money goes to fare subsidies, empty bus routes, etc).
Literally moved to this city due to the walkability and quality of public transit.
I. LOVE. IT. HERE.
This to me is something like the “I can’t live in a city because I can’t afford a 2000 square foot detached unit” issue.
You just need to modify your expectations. I’m far happier and less stressed not driving every day - but yes, it’s noisy and I have to stand and sometimes something smells bad.
There’s room for improvement, but that doesn’t mean public transit is unuseable.
If you mean transit can’t deliver you to your destination, that certainly isn’t the case in the Bay, Chicago or NY for any of my friends who take public transit daily in those cities.
Saying "We need roads because public transit does not work" is just false. There are MANY examples of cities where they all get around just fine without having to slather down some more pavement. I was very impressed by the Park and Ride system in Strasbourg, France and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Or hey, my current home Portland, Oregon! Or my previous home Chicago, Illinois also has excellent public transit! ( Though Chicago has been going through a rough patch lately due to bad zoning laws around the Blue Line EL stops )
When I lived in Chicago it took 60-70 minutes to get to the Loop by bus and Red Line, or 15-20 by car. I don't claim this is an inherent feature of transit. I claim that the way we do transit systematically underperforms the way we do roads, and so all else being equal, roads are going to deliver a better UX. We should be fixing that. Unfortunately, politicians who preside over transit meltdowns (i.e. Cuomo) keep getting reelected.
When comparing the best roads in the world (Say the German Autobahn) to the best mass transportation in the world (Japan Railways Group) we see that when mass transportation is done correctly it can be timely and reliable. It is also cheaper, cleaner, and more efficient than roads.
We shouldn't limit our sources of inspiration to one continent when developing transportation solutions.
Inspiration is cheap. Disenfranchising the stakeholders who reliably mess things up is the real work.
Source?
>but the quality just isn't there
Based on what metrics? Last time I checked, public transportation in any city doesn't routinely suffer breakdowns around the same time, every work day. It also doesn't suck money from productive city centers into outlying suburbs to pay for an absurd amount of infrastructure to support a particular, luxurious transportation lifestyle.
Good luck.
Introduce paid roads where applicable.
Oh my god do the voters scream about this. They are entitled to free roads.
We struggle to maintain roads because the voting public wants $1.00 worth of services for $0.90