Public transportation? (Austin, Portland, San Diego: live in, shop, buses)

[categ]

I agree! Coming from the UK, I am very used to using public transport to travel from the suburbs to the city-centre (downtown) for work & leisure.

And I'm really missing the convenience (yes - its far better than being stuck in traffic & worrying about parking) now I'm living in Austin. My bus, tram & train-mad 3 year old son is missing it too!

[twange]

If you think about it, every North American city that's considered a "great"city (subjective I know..) has good public transportation:

New York
Chicago
San Francisco
D.C.
Toronto
Boston
Montreal
Portland(small but bustling)
Denver(last time I was there, they were just starting their light rail...I've heard good things)
I'm sure there are more, these are the ones I know

It's no accident that cities that have bad public transportation are subject to excessive sprawl, making the city only affordable to a certain demograghic.

Boring.

[jwb123]

I don't think anyone in Cedar Park wants public transportation anyway, or they wouldn't be living out there in suburbia.

I totally disagree with this too!

We lived in "suburbia" in the Seattle area - and my husband OFTEN used the bus system to commute into work. MANY MANY people did this - it was often discounted by the state and/or emplyer too, because they encourage ride sharing.

Seattle has an excellent commuter bus system. The lack of this, and no HOV lanes is a big negative for Austin and it's growth.

[traceyr13]

Add me to the group that disagrees with people in suburbia not wanting public transportation. Why would you think that? I choose suburbia because it has benefits that I want for my children, but I'm as environmentally conscious and aware as anyone living downtown! I would LOVE it if the light rail that is coming was beneficial for me - unfortunately, it does not have a stop at UT so it won't help me.

My dh worked in downtown Boston for several years, but we lived outside Providence, RI. He used the commuter rail the entire time he worked there, and I have several friends that live in the suburbs outside of Boston (30-45 minutes from the city) that all use the train system there.

[Trainwreck20]

In my experience, Austin was way too small to support an integrated public transportation system as recently as the 80s. Then the city grew extremely quickly, outpacing almost every plan that came up for review. Most public transportation systems grow with the city, but due to the rapid growth here, we are faced with two options:

1. - Plop billions of dollars down on a 'complete' system; or
2. - Try to start growing a system now.

Option 1 was voted down (although in a close vote) some years ago, for several reasons:

• The residents did not have any faith in Capitol Metro.
  Capitol metro has a history of mismanagement and poor planning with the bus system. Today, the system is passable, but there were some real issues in the early days and most people did not want to trust them with that kind of money and 'carte blanc' to build a mass transit system.
• If the economy turned, it was a colossal loss.
  It was really hard for the average voter (or politician) in Austin to realize that the city would really continue to grow like it was at the time. If it did not, the current residents would be footing a huge bill.
• The city was poorly suited to standard mass transit models.
  Austin had (and has) lots of commuters that cross from one side of town to the other, or travel along the periphery. And there are suburbs in almost every direction, so there was no obvious area for trunk lines, start points, and end points.

Option two was recently approved and has been discussed on here elsewhere. Anyway, Item 2 above is a a moot point now, the city is large enough without future growth the support a mass transit system. Item 1 is still an issue, but the budget is on a much more modest scale, and CapMetro can certainly learn at a more modest budget. As for Item 3, there are a couple of apparently good trunk lines and Cap Metro can run these and learn what works and doesn't.

On a side note, most local residents would prefer bad traffic than having government come in and tell them that land is being taken via E.D. and the rail lines are going to go here or there and affect your property value, for better or worse, without your control. That is still the 'conservative' (the pre-Bush jr definition) aspect of Austin.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

On a side note, most local residents would prefer bad traffic than having government come in and tell them that land is being taken via E.D. and the rail lines are going to go here or there and affect your property value, for better or worse, without your control. That is still the 'conservative' (the pre-Bush jr definition) aspect of Austin.

Actually property rights are the root of classical liberalism. Maybe the conservatives are the most (economically) liberal.

[jread]

There is a lot of talk about trains to the suburbs in other cities. You have to remember that this is Texas we're talking about here. Even "environmentalists" drive gas guzzlers.

I hope the rail line is successful.. but I'll have to see it to believe it. I think that the ideal thing for Austin to do right now is stop allowing expansion and focus on density/infill and efficient public transit. It might actually be a functional "city" one of these days if all goes well.

[irwin]

As a former resident of Austin and UT alum, I still hold a special place in my heart for Austin. But I do wish Austin would plan properly for public transportation. I realize Austin is Texas and the state government doesn't give a flip about public transportation or the environment, but Austin should be smarter than that.

Austin is still small enough to not make the same mistakes made by Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix. All those cities sprawled like crazy and then decided to build an insufficient transit system afterwards. As a consequence, ridership is relatively poor. Los Angeles is SLOWLY changing but it has taken a generation.

Instead, Austin should look to Portland. They have the best mindset in the country in regards to this issue. Many often compare Austin and Portland and there are similarities. But Portland's commitment to transit is over and beyond that of Austin's. Portland recently opened the first street car in the United States since WWII. This is in addition to the current MAX system. This compares to the European system of street cars supplementing a metro system (examples are Prague, Budapest, Paris, etc). I only wish Austin would wake up and take this route instead of what has gone on in the past.

[OREGONRAIN]

Good for you, I would of actually liked to have moved to austin, I need the warmer dryer climate more so each year now, the disire for that climate keeps getting stronger. Some may say its a foolish reason,and others not so foolish maybe, but I am so use to the transit and the constant extending of rail lines here, no place else of comprable size cities appeal to me in this country but Portland. I really don't think the people of austin as a whole, not all but as a whole or the politicians in Austin really want a transit system, or it would be in the building stages. From what I saw of the roads and signage and traffic jams, I can't understand why any human being would tolerate all this, especially with the gas prices climber faster than ever this time. Gas is $3.50 out here for the most expensive and the cheapest is about $2.95. Im glad I can take the train.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by irwin

Instead, Austin should look to Portland. They have the best mindset in the country in regards to this issue. Many often compare Austin and Portland and there are similarities. But Portland's commitment to transit is over and beyond that of Austin's. Portland recently opened the first street car in the United States since WWII. This is in addition to the current MAX system. This compares to the European system of street cars supplementing a metro system (examples are Prague, Budapest, Paris, etc). I only wish Austin would wake up and take this route instead of what has gone on in the past.

<<Over two decades, Portland has gotten hundreds of millions of dollars for its two existing light rail lines only to see the share of commuters using them drop 20 percent. As of 2000, just 80,000 of the 6 million daily trips made in Portland were on rail transit--about 1.3 percent. And the city's traffic conditions are as bad as ever. The Texas Transportation Institute reported that Portland had third worst traffic congestion in the 1990s, behind Los Angeles and Washington. Still, a third line is scheduled to open in Portland in 2004. >>

Are you sure portlands rail system is a success?

<<Ridership on light rail has tripled since the first route opened in 1986. Sixty thousand people ride the train on a daily basis now. That's 37,500 fewer cars a day pouring into downtown, snarling rush-hour traffic and choking the air with unhealthy filth. >>


Commuter rail is coming to austin, so we shall see