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That's why I want better roads rather than light rail, so bicyclists can have their own lane.
Better roads that are safer for bicyclists means fewer people driving as well...
Bicycling is not European enough. That's more like an Asian thing, and we are trying to be more like Europe. Don't you understand how important it is to be like Europe?!?!?!
Honestly People should use bikes more, but the issue in many places is safety. When I lived in Hawaii I used my bike for commuting, but I had sidewalks most of the way. In Japan I would bike sometimes, but again there were areas for bikes.
In the fattest country we should focus on getting people to live closer to work, and get their tubs on bikes to slim down.
That's why I want better roads rather than light rail, so bicyclists can have their own lane.
Better roads that are safer for bicyclists means fewer people driving as well...
While I like the idea of being able to take a train somewhere, I think improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure would be a better use of funds. Of course it would be nice to have both. I had a good job in Nashville some years ago, but I quit when the opportunity for work closer to home materialized. The commute by car was simply awful, and if there had been light rail from my town to Nashville I would definitely have used it. But Nashville would probably need a better bus system then, too, in order to get people from the train station to their jobs. More complication and money. And riding a bike or walking the same route would be out of the question for most people. The city simply isn't ready for more light rail until it has improved those other aspects, IMO. But it worked out for me, because when I got a job in my own town I was able to start commuting by bicycle. And I would imagine that's "greener" than rail, bus, or car.
You can't know anything about train ridership and say what you did.
THE PUBLIC WANTS trains that are clean, go where they need to go and are reasonably prompt. America used to have that but lost it to cars,cars,cars.
I suggest that you do more homework before you comment like this again.
No they don't. The public wants no trains. They want private cars. Thats why you can't even find a train anywhere other than where the trapped robots live, the Boston, NY, DC corridor. They rest of us hate trains, never want to get on one and hope we don't have to pay for some silly toy "bullet train" that politicians can name after themselves. The only time we will ever get on a train is when we are visiting Seattle or Portland and are on the visitors' tour. I know more about this than you'll ever know.
I want trains. The Amtrak from Ventura to San Diego is such a great route. Unfortunately, the tickets cost too much and the service is too unreliable. If it were like a German, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, French, English, Slovakian, Hungarian, Swiss, Indian, Basque, Dutch, Greek, or Austrian (but not Spanish or Italian--they suck) train I'd love it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by randy8876
Bicycling is not European enough. That's more like an Asian thing, and we are trying to be more like Europe. Don't you understand how important it is to be like Europe?!?!?!
Uh... You've never been to the Netherlands, have you?
And lower-middle-class-and-up people in Asia ride mopeds (electric ones in China) nowadays. Only the poorest in China, or young people in 1st world nations like Taiwan and Japan, ride bikes anymore since it's becoming trendy amongst the yuppies.
Quote:
Honestly People should use bikes more, but the issue in many places is safety. When I lived in Hawaii I used my bike for commuting, but I had sidewalks most of the way. In Japan I would bike sometimes, but again there were areas for bikes.
In the fattest country we should focus on getting people to live closer to work, and get their tubs on bikes to slim down.
Agreed. But weather is a major issue for a large portion of the country. I ride in the snow, but that's because I know how, and I probably won't continue to do it after I turn 50.
Do you ever talk with people outside of your little bubble? Most people have no interest in it. They like cars, or they like someone else to take a train so they can use their car.
At 5 miles it isn't convenient. YOU might think it is, but most people don't. I won't park my car at a rail station so it can be broken into, and I won't walk 5 miles to get to the station. So, I would never use it.
In my opinion your opinion is poppycock since this topic is about rail ...... not me.
No they don't. The public wants no trains. They want private cars. Thats why you can't even find a train anywhere other than where the trapped robots live, the Boston, NY, DC corridor. They rest of us hate trains, never want to get on one and hope we don't have to pay for some silly toy "bullet train" that politicians can name after themselves. The only time we will ever get on a train is when we are visiting Seattle or Portland and are on the visitors' tour. I know more about this than you'll ever know.
Whoa, not so fast. I imagine you could find people in every corner of the country who would like to have trains in their area. The question would be, do enough people in each area want trains to justify actually doing it? Obviously not, in some places. Here in the south we've made it just about as difficult as possible to get around without a car, and many if not most people, apparently, want it that way. They enjoy commuting slowly through gridlock 30+ miles to work everyday in their own vehicle instead of riding a train. That's fine, if that's the way they want it. I'd like good public transportation but I'm in the minority here, and I'm doing everything I can to leave this place anyway. So if they want to continue with this lifestyle (at least as long as it will last) then I say more power to them. Hopefully I won't be here much longer so I don't really care what they do with the place.
The first light rail I ever rode was in Seattle, and it was excellent. It was so much easier than having to deal with a rental car at the airport, figure out how to go the ten miles or so to my hotel in a city I was unfamiliar with, then find parking and pay for it. Instead I got off the plane, walked through the airport to the train station, got my ticket (I think it was $2.50), boarded the train and then just relaxed for about 30 minutes. It was great, and it would have been worth it if the ticket had been $10. Plus I would think the motorists of Seattle were better off not having one more stranger trying to find his way around an unfamiliar city in an unfamiliar car. But to be honest, I doubt my home region would be ready for something like that. And if they ever are, I imagine they'll make it happen, if that's what they want.
I kind of like trains. You get to see the country more than you do if you fly, and you don't have to drive (I hate driving, I hate dealing with traffic and other drivers...).
The problem is we gutted our rail infrastructure decades ago thinking airplanes and automobiles had changed things. Well, with oil supply issues facing us now, it seems to me we'd better invest in our railroad infrastructure. One earlier post jokingly mentioned steam; I don't think that's such a joke. Woodburning steam engines could transport goods and people long distances rather than use petroleum...
America cannot afford these hyper expensive green fantasy projects that will only impact a few.
Why am I not current? Because I don't read the green gloom and doom web sites?
Because I run bicyclists off the road?
Why?
Quote:
Originally Posted by randy8876
That's mean.
And illegal. This poster will get his when he kills or injures a cyclist.
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