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Yeah, this kind of thing infuriates me. Not that I mind federal money being spent on the Silver Line, but we should be spending money like this on a number of other rail projects. Your Second Avenue Subway example is the most obvious, but so are many others. We are adding an LRT line in Boston that is projected to carry 52,000 passengers daily. That.s one line that will carry more passengers than most system totals in the US, and yet the state is having to foot almost the entire bill.
Not to veer too much off topic, but this is so true. I think cities like Boston and Philadelphia, in particular, have enormous potential for ridership increases, because both cities have a critical mass/population density and potential transit riders living in several underserved areas/corridors.
In many cases with mature transit systems, you could easily implement some key expansion projects that would provide a huge return on investment, especially compared to federal money largely used to fund transit "start-ups" in other cities that have to build ridership over a long period of time. It's a huge bias against older systems.
In the case of the Silver Line, DC's Metro gets preferential treatment for obvious reasons. You can guarantee that a subway line in any other city to an airport (25 miles away, no less) would have absolutely NO chance of receiving comparable funding from the Feds -- but that's NoVA for you.
Unfortunately, the federal funding situation will basically be the status quo for the foreseeable future. States will be forced to foot the bill for a much larger portion of capital improvement projects moving forward.
Chicago and DC are the only cities in the US that I think can actually make a legitimate claim for having the second best transit. My vote overall goes for Chicago.
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. DC
4. Boston
5. Philly
6. SF
the rest
Not to veer too much off topic, but this is so true. I think cities like Boston and Philadelphia, in particular, have enormous potential for ridership increases, because both cities have a critical mass/population density and potential transit riders living in several underserved areas/corridors.
In many cases with mature transit systems, you could easily implement some key expansion projects that would provide a huge return on investment, especially compared to federal money largely used to fund transit "start-ups" in other cities that have to build ridership over a long period of time. It's a huge bias against older systems.
In the case of the Silver Line, DC's Metro gets preferential treatment for obvious reasons. You can guarantee that a subway line in any other city to an airport (25 miles away, no less) would have absolutely NO chance of receiving comparable funding from the Feds -- but that's NoVA for you.
Unfortunately, the federal funding situation will basically be the status quo for the foreseeable future. States will be forced to foot the bill for a much larger portion of capital improvement projects moving forward.
I always thought the Red Line should have continued through Watertown into Waltham.
I used to think Chicago, after spending a good chunk of time in DC this summer, I'm going with DC, it's nicer and gets you to more of the spots you want to go and laid out better. Some of the old trains in Chicago are so bumpy and wobbly they make me nauseous after awhile.
Chicago and DC are the only cities in the US that I think can actually make a legitimate claim for having the second best transit. My vote overall goes for Chicago.
1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. DC
4. Boston
5. Philly
6. SF
the rest
I think LA and Atlanta deserve to be above "the rest". Maybe Seattle and Portland too. Of course none of those four are close to laying claim to "2nd best". I'm going to go with DC at number two, with Chicago close behind.
I think LA and Atlanta deserve to be above "the rest". Maybe Seattle and Portland too. Of course none of those four are close to laying claim to "2nd best". I'm going to go with DC at number two, with Chicago close behind.
I don't think Seattle or Portland have a HRT system though.
Chicago comes second...second biggest and that is a fact too. DC and Boston aren't terribly behind though...i like DC's metro a lot actually. Chicago has been getting a lot of rail cars, so basically a lot of people complaining about loudness should ride the new cars. They are pretty smooth. I still like DC's actual cars more (and some of the stops), but overall I enjoy the CTA a *tad* bit more, but not by a ton.
I think LA and Atlanta deserve to be above "the rest". Maybe Seattle and Portland too. Of course none of those four are close to laying claim to "2nd best". I'm going to go with DC at number two, with Chicago close behind.
I agree with putting Atlanta and LA above "the rest" on my list. Seattle and Portland don't even have heavy rail, so they have no place on the list.
Toronto has the third-largest mass transit system in North America after Mexico City and New York. Unfortunately, large subway expansions that were to occur in the 70's, 80's and 90's were squashed by various near-sighted provincial governments (Toronto's mass transit system has never had the stable government funding of many other cities). As a result, the city's subway system is currently playing a big game of catch-up. So the subway system spans quite a few kilometres (68km or 42 miles of track), has 69 stations, and close to 1,000,000 daily riders, but doesn't provide adequate coverage of many neighbourhoods.
To fill in the gaps, Toronto has the largest streetcar network in North America, and a large network of buses that connect the subway to nearby neighbourhoods. In addition, a large commuter rail system called GO Transit connects distant suburbs on every point of the compass to the inner city.
By 2020, new subway lines and light rail lines will give the city's transit system a much-needed expansion that will allow Toronto to not only claim it has the third-biggest, but also the third-best system in North America.
What was the point of this, just to show off your city?
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