What are your views of new Austin commuting initiatives? Rail, RapidBus, Streetcars etc..

[readymade]

How well Mass Transit does might also depend on the people. i.e. I grew up in Boston and I took the train to work every day. It's almost impossible to drive in the city. (People complaining about Austin traffic make me laugh. Driving there was like driving through heaven compared to Boston or LA)

It was a SOUL SUCKING experience. I really lost my faith in humanity in those years. I don't know if it's a Boston thing or a people thing or what, but I would see stuff like businessmen literally shoving aside pregnant women (hard) so they could get a seat or make their train on time. I was knocked down many times (to the ground!) by businessmen and never apologized to. Never had anyone ask me if I was OK or was helped up. I was once attacked by a crazy person while on a full train while everyone else on it looked away (seriously, it was like the Twilight Zone). I've seen full-on fist fights. I've been bled on (once I slipped in a puddle of blood). You really see the dregs of society while riding the train. This was not in the "bad parts" of Boston! This was often in the suburbs on the way to or from the city!

Public transit, in my opinion, can be great for non rush-hour times. I believe every city should have SOME form of public transit. Personally, however, I probably wouldn't use it (or let my theoretical kid use it) based on my above comments. You think road rage is bad? You ain't seen nothin' until you've seen the orange line at 9am in Boston.

[jread]

Originally Posted by readymade

How well Mass Transit does might also depend on the people. i.e. I grew up in Boston and I took the train to work every day. It's almost impossible to drive in the city. (People complaining about Austin traffic make me laugh. Driving there was like driving through heaven compared to Boston or LA)

It was a SOUL SUCKING experience. I really lost my faith in humanity in those years. I don't know if it's a Boston thing or a people thing or what, but I would see stuff like businessmen literally shoving aside pregnant women (hard) so they could get a seat or make their train on time. I was knocked down many times (to the ground!) by businessmen and never apologized to. Never had anyone ask me if I was OK or was helped up. I was once attacked by a crazy person while on a full train while everyone else on it looked away (seriously, it was like the Twilight Zone). I've seen full-on fist fights. I've been bled on (once I slipped in a puddle of blood). You really see the dregs of society while riding the train. This was not in the "bad parts" of Boston! This was often in the suburbs on the way to or from the city!

Public transit, in my opinion, can be great for non rush-hour times. I believe every city should have SOME form of public transit. Personally, however, I probably wouldn't use it (or let my theoretical kid use it) based on my above comments. You think road rage is bad? You ain't seen nothin' until you've seen the orange line at 9am in Boston.

I wonder if this just has to do with the people in an area as well. I mean, do people in Boston act so rudely outside of the public transit scenario? Texas is still a place where people have manners and do not put up with rudeness as much as people in other places.

[readymade]

Well, that was what I was wondering.

I wouldn't say people are "ruder" in Boston (other than on the train). They are definitely not as friendly as other places. LA is much friendlier than Boston. In LA, everyone hugs hello. In Boston, you only hug your family... and then only sometimes. Austin appears to be quite a bit friendlier than LA.

In LA, people are so self-absorbed that it comes off as rude. Which it is, of course. Like, when you're trying to get on an escalator and people will just stop right in front of it and check their cell phone or chat with their friends or something.

I haven't really had a lot of experience with mass transit other than Boston and occasionally taking a bus in LA (no incidents). So, I really can't say if it's the same everywhere or not.

[twange]

Originally Posted by readymade

I haven't really had a lot of experience with mass transit other than Boston and occasionally taking a bus in LA (no incidents). So, I really can't say if it's the same everywhere or not.

I think it's sort of like every other place in the world:

There are nice, considerate people and self-absorbed a-holes.

I've ridden subways in NYC, Toronto, S.F., and Mexico City and sure there are freaks, smelly people, rude people, overly hip hipsters etc...but on the whole it was just ordinary people going about ordinary business.

As to the articles/links posted earlier in this thread, as expected the argument against public transportation is always reduced to time/economic formulas. These "studies" never seem to consider the fact that while you're sitting on a train/streetcar you can be doing something else, without having to maintain attention while operating heavy machinery(something that people get paid to do!). To me, that's a huge advantage.

And the example of renting a car vs. getting a Europass while touring Europe was just silly. Again no consideration of other factors like, kicking back and watching scenery, sleeping, reading a book, having a meaningful conversation, taking pictures, checking out different train stations. Not to mention that a Eurorail pass is usually valid for more than 1 week as opposed to the example of a 1 week rental of a VW(after that week is up, the rail pass becomes far more cost worthy).

The one point I did agree with was the statement about train stations being within 5 minutes of potential riders. Any farther and public transportation becomes time prohibitive. I really hope Austin puts some thought into these plans. And they better add some lines here in the near South...everything I see on the site suggests plans North of the river