DC metro beats Chicago (how much, neighborhoods, to buy)

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by MachineKnownAsLosAngeles

yesss, chicago takes another loss

DC wins

Loss on what? DC has lead for years. It's not like this is some newsflash. Their system serves the city an suburban areas far out, working the inner city and burbs.

Chicago has the El and a seperate system for the burbs (Metra).

Everyone is set up differently.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

I wonder if this news has anything to do with the fact that it's much easier to get around Chicago in a car than it is in DC.

A lot of people ride public transit because the HAVE to, not because it's fun or neat.

Well Chicago still still has a higher ridership by over 20% compared to DC. It's just that in DC you have a huge train ridership and a fairly small bus ridership, while in Chicago you have a decent rail ridership, but over 1,000,000 bus boardings per day. Far more than ride the train...

There are dozens of express buses that run routes up and down the city near my condo. They come every 2 minutes and go from 5 miles north of the downtown area directly into downtown on Lakeshore Drive. This for me is much faster than taking the train. Only takes about 10 minutes to get downtown. The city operates over 2,000 buses, wish 12,000 bus stops and 155 bus routes, a couple dozen of which run 24 hours a day.

[At1WithNature]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Loss on what? DC has lead for years. It's not like this is some newsflash. Their system serves the city an suburban areas far out, working the inner city and burbs.

Chicago has the El and a seperate system for the burbs (Metra).

Everyone is set up differently.

Metra also serves the city.

[At1WithNature]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Well Chicago still still has a higher ridership by over 20% compared to DC. It's just that in DC you have a huge train ridership and a fairly small bus ridership, while in Chicago you have a decent rail ridership, but over 1,000,000 bus boardings per day. Far more than ride the train...

There are dozens of express buses that run routes up and down the city near my condo. They come every 2 minutes and go from 5 miles north of the downtown area directly into downtown on Lakeshore Drive. This for me is much faster than taking the train. Only takes about 10 minutes to get downtown. The city operates over 2,000 buses, wish 12,000 bus stops and 155 bus routes, a couple dozen of which run 24 hours a day.

not to mention the free trolley service during the warm months...

City of Chicago - Free Trolleys

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by MachineKnownAsLosAngeles

yesss, chicago takes another loss

DC wins

Youre an interesting individual, you know that?

[DC's Finest]

The success of DC's Metro can be attributed to it's lack of highways in the DC area compared to other cities. DC's rush hour starts at 5 am and ends at 10. Then there is a noon rush hour from 12-2pm. After that there is the evening rush hour which last from 2:30 -7:30 easily. The system is very unique because it connects workers to a lot of urban areas that are not in the city. We also have MARC and VRE commuter trains that go as far West Virginia but they are infants compared to Metro North, Metra and the LIRR.

[SouthCali4LifeSD]

Originally Posted by FloridaandOhio

I think every major city in the U.S. needs a decent mass transit system on par with NYC, Boston, and Chicago. One of the things that impressed me most about Germany when I was station there was they had an excellent mass transit infrastructure in all their major cities and towns.

easier said then done. europe is much more established then the states. most american cities really took off post world war II when the primary source of transportation was the automobile. streets widened and rail was less desireable. the most established cities in america during the pre-automobile era are the densist cities that primarily used public transportation; Boston, d.c., Philly, NYC, SF, etc. Take a look at the city zoning.

There is no way in hell for it to be economically efficient to build mass public transit in post wwII boom cities, especially the ones that lack the density to make it worth it. Now that the dollar is worth **** and the cost of everything to build such modern engineering is not viable.

[scarletneon]

Originally Posted by hsw

Upside of mass transit...takes a lot of people who can't drive competently off the freeways/roads, making commutes safer/faster for those who prefer to drive

And for "diversity" seekers, mass transit increases one's odds of being mugged/assaulted by various economically "diverse" people who frequent mass transit....

yeah i get mugged by businessmen all the time on the train.
they really fool you with those ties and laptops and blackberries.
sucks pretty bad.

i drive pretty competently. thankfully I don't have to have a car and compete with the incompetent drivers still left on the roads.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by eastguy

in train ridership......DC is second to NYC...and with more expansion coming in...no other metro rail would come close

Yeah, being the seat of the national government is awful helpful in getting government transportation dollars. (See London, Paris, Berlin, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, etc).

[beeneverywheretwice]

Originally Posted by eastguy

in train ridership......DC is second to NYC...and with more expansion coming in...no other metro rail would come close

You think that's some great feat. Chicagos' CTA still is second only to NYC, regarding total ridership(bus/rail) and always will be. I don't know why you think this is important. Public transit is about convenience. I like the fact that I can step outside my door(or any door) and walk to any corner and catch a bus, in addition to the rail option. You people in DC have to get to the train station first(and don't tell about your lousy bus system).

Busy people, like me, understand that a comprehensive transit system is what's important. How many bus routes, how many train routes, and how often to the trains and buses run. In that reguard, DC can't compete with Chicago and that's what a transit system should be about. And that's what should be important to you. NOT RIDERSHIP!!! And if you don't get that, you need to get a clue and grow up!!!

Your time would be better spent demanding a comprehensive transit system in DC(that's right, which you don't have), than bragging about anecdotal statistics.