Why do you find the car-dependent lifestyle appealing? (taxi, maintenance)

[DarkWolf]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Wow, some of these systems are predicting really big increases in riders.

not really that big , back in 2000 ridership for the MTA was about 8.1 Million and the NJ side was about 700,000. Then they improved the Transit system and ridership spiked , and they changed the zoning and encouraged TOD along Transit lines in the Suburbs...so now you have dense suburban towns that were once exurban. Ridership region wise is still down 3.7 Million from its peak in the 1940s , but it will get there. Back in 1992 the PATH only carried 45,000 a day , but after Jersey City and Hoboken cleaned up and attracted Business and people its grown to almost 260,000...and with the New Station and shopping hub along with Harrison and Journal SQ developments that should grow to 320,000 by 2020.

As for Septa while restoration of its once great network is slow , growth on the Existing network is booming in part due to TOD and gas prices along with increasing congestion. If all goes planned the Temple , and University City Master Plans will eliminate all the Open Parking spaces by 2020 forcing the last remaining suburb hold outs onto the trains and trolleys. The Trolley System grew from 80,000 in 2010 to 107,000 daily riders in Q1 2012.... Despite Septa's backward ness Ridership is growing across the board , which should make the guess for restoring services easier down the road. Philadelphia and Surrounding Transit Suburbs are also growing in population which is feeding into the growth.

[brook2ga]

Many people who own cars in NYC don't drive them around the city. Most are used to get OUT of the city.

[Staysean23]

Traffic is not 6 hours LOL in Atlanta I've been in Atlanta 2 years now and have never sat in traffic that long.

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Its more balanced here , then thier...you'll have Traffic regardless of how large your Transit system is. It will just be less of an issue the larger your system is. In Tokyo Jams only last 1-2hrs , compared to 6hrs in Atlanta or Houston during rush hr. The Same can be said for the NYC region , Jams only last 2hrs around Rush hr during the Morning and Evening so 4hrs not 6hrs like car dependent cities. Most people in Manhattan due own cars , most people outside Manhattan don't own cars or don't use cars that often.

Various systems of the Northeast in 2012 and 2030...includes Regional Rail , Subway / Metro , Light Rail , Streetcar and Bus rapid Transit , Regional Bus and Urban / Suburban Bus

Metropolitan Transportation Authority
System Size in 2012 : 2,282 miles
System size by 2030 : 3,580 miles
Stations in 2012 : 751
Stations in 2030 : 823
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 11.6 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 16.2 Million

New Jersey Transit / PATH / PATCO / Private Bus operators/
System Size in 2012 : 1,390 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 1,720 miles
Stations in 2012 : 690
Stations by 2030 : 883
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.8 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 4.7 Million

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority & Bus Operators in Eastern Massachusetts
System Size in 2012 : 1,193 miles
System Size in 2030 : 1,660 miles
Stations in 2012 : 270
Stations in 2030 : 349
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.6 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 3.7 Million

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
System size in 2012 : 567 miles
System size by 2030 : 720 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 280
Stations by 2030 : 370
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.5 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 4.2 Million

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority & Northern Virginia Transit
System Size in 2012 : 195 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 428 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 108
Stations by 2030 : 297
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.2 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 4.4 Million

Maryland Transit Administration
System Size in 2012 : 232 Miles
System size by 2030 : 664 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 90
Stations by 2030 : 216
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 370,000
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 1.5 Million

CT Transit & CDOT Rail Operations
System Size in 2012 : 157.4 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 510 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 59
Stations by 2030 : 112
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 278,000
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 650,000

Northern Virgina Transit Agencies
System Size in 2012 : 101.5 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 160.8 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 44
Stations by 2030 : 100
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 183,600
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 580,200

Rhode Island Public Transit Authority
System Size in 2012 : 20 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 280 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 5
Stations by 2030 : 59
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 81,070
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 360,000

Amtrak Northeastern Division
System Size in 2012 : 2970 miles
System Size by 2030 : 3650 miles
Stations in 2012 : 109
Stations by 2030 : 141
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 17,800
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 120,0


Total Daily Ridership in 2012 : 18.5 Million
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 35.9 Million

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Staysean23

Traffic is not 6 hours LOL in Atlanta I've been in Atlanta 2 years now and have never sat in traffic that long.

I think he's talking about the period of time that rush hour occurs, not the amount of a time a person is likely to spend in traffic.

[DarkWolf]

Originally Posted by Staysean23

Traffic is not 6 hours LOL in Atlanta I've been in Atlanta 2 years now and have never sat in traffic that long.

3hrs of Congestion in the Morning and Evening , about the Average for a city the size of Atlantic. 1hr of Severe Congestion...in the morning and evening....and by Severe I mean traffic crawls by less then 10mph.

[DarkWolf]

Originally Posted by brookdaleresident

Many people who own cars in NYC don't drive them around the city. Most are used to get OUT of the city.

Same for Urban Jersey , they call them storage cars only used to go to no Rail Serviced Gateway areas of the Northeast like the Pocano's , Catskills and Southern Tier....of course this will all change by 2030...

[SEAandATL]

I'm having car problems right now, and I've been thinking about how much money I can save if I didn't have to worry about car maintanance, in addition to gas and insurance. If I lived in Atlanta, I would live ITP (preferably Midtown), and take MARTA everywhere. I would also join Zipcar.

[LAB6120]

Originally Posted by roxyrn

We all talk about how great NYC transit is, but after a few days it can get really old- pushing your way through crowds at peak hours to stand and wait in a hellishly hot and stinky subway station or wasting time while foolishly trying to nab a cab. Or walking 20 blocks with grocery bags when you thought getting a cab wouldn't be a problem.
And the little red wagons are cute and practical on Fire Island, but in wall-to-wall midtown traffic, stick to the granny carts.
Of course, Manhattanites often order their food (even a bagel of Pinkberry's) and groceries delivered so they don't have to bother. And, they don't have to worry about getting food for a crowd because they can't fit that many people into an apartment for a meal (and even $3,000/month apartments don't have room for a table)
Just a different lifestyle. You simply can't compare Atlanta and NYC.

Agreed, and so many people equate NYC as only being Manhattan, what about the four other boroughs. I lived in Brooklyn 20 years and there are a ton of cars and guess what, people use them. I had a car and although I took the bus/train to work daily, on the weekends I drove everywhere around the city. Yes the subway is convenient and its great when going to work but when doing other things such as shopping, clubbing, going to restaurants etc, I always drove my car-as did most people who have cars. Go to any borough in NYC and you will see cars parked everywhere-some people here talk as if NYC is some public transport Utopia, I prefered walking out my home, jumping into my car and going wherever I wanted without the hassle of walking to a train station, pushing/being pushed to get in, the stench, noise etc. And those push carts-I hated those-my mom used those to go to the laundrymat and supermarket, it was a pain pushing those things filled with laundry/groceries. Yes, NYC has great public transport, but lots of people will still have and use cars.

[glovenyc]

Originally Posted by LAB6120

Agreed, and so many people equate NYC as only being Manhattan, what about the four other boroughs. I lived in Brooklyn 20 years and there are a ton of cars and guess what, people use them. I had a car and although I took the bus/train to work daily, on the weekends I drove everywhere around the city. Yes the subway is convenient and its great when going to work but when doing other things such as shopping, clubbing, going to restaurants etc, I always drove my car-as did most people who have cars. Go to any borough in NYC and you will see cars parked everywhere-some people here talk as if NYC is some public transport Utopia, I prefered walking out my home, jumping into my car and going wherever I wanted without the hassle of walking to a train station, pushing/being pushed to get in, the stench, noise etc. And those push carts-I hated those-my mom used those to go to the laundrymat and supermarket, it was a pain pushing those things filled with laundry/groceries. Yes, NYC has great public transport, but lots of people will still have and use cars.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Living in Queens / Brooklyn for most of my life, we used mass transit to go back and forth to school and work, but since I became an adult I always had a car. That being said, Atlanta has to do much better with regard to the existing transit system.

[Onthemove2014]

Originally Posted by LAB6120

Agreed, and so many people equate NYC as only being Manhattan, what about the four other boroughs. I lived in Brooklyn 20 years and there are a ton of cars and guess what, people use them. I had a car and although I took the bus/train to work daily, on the weekends I drove everywhere around the city. Yes the subway is convenient and its great when going to work but when doing other things such as shopping, clubbing, going to restaurants etc, I always drove my car-as did most people who have cars. Go to any borough in NYC and you will see cars parked everywhere-some people here talk as if NYC is some public transport Utopia, I prefered walking out my home, jumping into my car and going wherever I wanted without the hassle of walking to a train station, pushing/being pushed to get in, the stench, noise etc. And those push carts-I hated those-my mom used those to go to the laundrymat and supermarket, it was a pain pushing those things filled with laundry/groceries. Yes, NYC has great public transport, but lots of people will still have and use cars.

I thought clubbing would be a time where you wouldn't WANT to drive. Odd that you choose too.