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And for the 4th time in the past 25 years Phoenix has again voted to continue light rail expansion, the referendum to block light rail expansion was voted down by over 60% of voters.
I totally forgot this referendum happened! That's great to hear! While Phoenix may have been built for the car for the past few decades, it's great to see the city so invested in expanding transit coverage. I mean it's hard for a Sun Belt city to really become a Northeast/Midwest style transit city, but this is great news for the future of Phoenix and allowing itself to compete with other large Sun Belt metros in the transit category.
So you see many of the same issues and tensions on display here as in Phoenix.
In a lot of places (Kansas City may be one of them), you won't see changes until people hands are forced. Traffic has to get to a point where it's clear that transit is the only way to offset it/provide a viable alternative to sitting in traffic. Economics play a role. If parking, operating costs, and time spent in a slow/non-moving vehicle get uncomfortable for enough of the population, you'll see changes.
It's happened here in Boston. We're lucky enough to have a legacy system that was built long before cars became widespread. But for decades, there was very little appetite for investment in upkeep or expansion/improvement of the system. While people complained about traffic and parking costs in Boston, it wasn't enough of an issue to hit the tipping point where people were willing to make significant investment in public transit. The combination of deferred maintenance catching up to us (trains breaking down constantly), parking being astronomical, and traffic being the worst its ever been has pushed us past it. People want to invest because we've hit a point where the benefits of an improved transit system, even for non-riders, are obvious. The status quo is untenable. KC, Nashville, and other cities will also hit those points if they haven't already.
In a lot of places (Kansas City may be one of them), you won't see changes until people hands are forced. Traffic has to get to a point where it's clear that transit is the only way to offset it/provide a viable alternative to sitting in traffic. Economics play a role. If parking, operating costs, and time spent in a slow/non-moving vehicle get uncomfortable for enough of the population, you'll see changes.
It's happened here in Boston. We're lucky enough to have a legacy system that was built long before cars became widespread. But for decades, there was very little appetite for investment in upkeep or expansion/improvement of the system. While people complained about traffic and parking costs in Boston, it wasn't enough of an issue to hit the tipping point where people were willing to make significant investment in public transit. The combination of deferred maintenance catching up to us (trains breaking down constantly), parking being astronomical, and traffic being the worst its ever been has pushed us past it. People want to invest because we've hit a point where the benefits of an improved transit system, even for non-riders, are obvious. The status quo is untenable. KC, Nashville, and other cities will also hit those points if they haven't already.
Kansas City - which has the lowest level of traffic congestion of any of the 50 largest US metros and is the 12th-least-congested metro in the world according to the 2019 TomTom Traffic Index - will take quite some time before it reaches that point. That may help explain why citywide or regional rail transit proposals fare poorly there.
Phoenix has horrible mass transit, but it isn't clear to me how Phoenix has notable worse mass transit than Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and a host of other cities. The only real disadvantage is that Phoenix is dangerously hot much of the year, with crazy UV readings, so it really isn't safe to be baking on a sidewalk, waiting for a bus that never comes.
I totally forgot this referendum happened! That's great to hear! While Phoenix may have been built for the car for the past few decades, it's great to see the city so invested in expanding transit coverage. I mean it's hard for a Sun Belt city to really become a Northeast/Midwest style transit city, but this is great news for the future of Phoenix and allowing itself to compete with other large Sun Belt metros in the transit category.
Aside from Chicago, which Midwest cities have good transit systems? The West Coast generally does significantly better than the Midwest. You've got LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, San Diego. Those cities probably have better transit than any Midwest city not named Chicago.
Aside from Chicago, which Midwest cities have good transit systems? The West Coast generally does significantly better than the Midwest. You've got LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, San Diego. Those cities probably have better transit than any Midwest city not named Chicago.
Cleveland, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Madison, Ann Arbor all have decent transit. You can also throw in Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Rochester, which are basically Great Lakes cities and culturally more Midwest.
I don't think any West Coast metros have great transit. Bay Area has the best transit, but probably no better than 6th best in the country (behind NYC, DC, Boston, Philly and Chicago). San Diego has pretty horrible transit, Portland, Seattle and LA are OK.
Aside from Chicago, which Midwest cities have good transit systems? The West Coast generally does significantly better than the Midwest. You've got LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, San Diego. Those cities probably have better transit than any Midwest city not named Chicago.
This is pretty accurate. The major west coast cities are all in full force transit expansion mode. In the Midwest, only Chicago is top tier. Below that, the Twin Cities run a pretty efficient system, and then there's a noticeable drop to the next tier of Saint Louis and Cleveland.
Detroit, KC, Milwaukee and Cincinnati just now added rail to their transit profiles. Indianapolis is set to open their Red Line Bus Rapid transit. I believe only Kansas City has solid plans ready to take off for expansion, and Phoenix's plan is significantly more expansive than anything taking place in this region.
The major west coast cities are all in full force transit expansion mode.
Yes, but this has nothing to do with transit quality. LA has massively expanded transit, and transit ridership dropped. LA had higher transit share in the 80's, when there was nothing but buses.
99% of the time, what's happening is that buses are being replaced by light rail, and ridership doesn't change, or drops, so there's no improvement.
Cleveland, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Madison, Ann Arbor all have decent transit. You can also throw in Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Rochester, which are basically Great Lakes cities and culturally more Midwest.
I don't think any West Coast metros have great transit. Bay Area has the best transit, but probably no better than 6th best in the country (behind NYC, DC, Boston, Philly and Chicago). San Diego has pretty horrible transit, Portland, Seattle and LA are OK.
In addition to having one of the largest light rail systems in the country, San Diego is serviced by Metrolink, Sprinter, and Coaster commuter rail. We also have two Amtrak stations in city limits and four major Amtrak stations in the county that depart 12 times everyday northbound.
In addition to this we obviously have bus and BRT, with real time tracking apps like One Bus Away. We were also one of the first cities to get scooters, and Uber and Lyft offer more ride options here than in many other metros.
Would you be able to explain how Ann Arbor and Rochester have a superior transit network?
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