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When I was a kid, we lived in Greenwich, CT and I remember walking or riding a bicycle everywhere- If i needed to go a bigger city like Stamford- we would take the train. That Metro North corridor between NYC and New Haven is awesome! You can live in most of the towns along the Red Line without a car.
My parents ended up moving to suburban New Jersey and it was very similar to CT. We could walk and ride bikes anywhere. NYC was a short ride away by either bus or train.
Last edited by Repubocrat; 10-03-2012 at 11:17 AM..
And the car based society created every point you're making. Prior to cars, most people got around just fine because they lived around transportation hubs, and shopping was done along main street which lined every small town in America and was within walking distance or a short trolley ride prior to our car culture.
I guess you never really ran or rode for a hobby. I'm 47, 6'3" 200 lbs, smoke a pack a day, and I have no problems averaging a mile every three minutes in the hilly Appalachian valleys of Pennsylvania. When I arrive at my destination, which is sometimes 40 miles away, I am not worn out. Even when it's 100 degrees and humid, I can still maintain a respectable pace, and I never feel worn out. I am fully recovered within ten minutes, which would be about as much time as it takes to wash up. People that commute on a bicycle obviously take a shower at their destination and or change their clothing once they've recovered. People that are in good cardiovascular health recover from exertion exponentially faster than those that aren't in good health. I also ride when I'm very sick, and it doesn't seem to affect my pace much.
When I live in the small cities of Pennsylvania, I frequently use my bicycle to run errands because it's faster than cars stuck in traffic. Furthermore, I don't have to circle endlessly looking for a parking space, and I'm poor now, so it's a lot cheaper than using my car.
Most of the issues you've brought up are valid to a point, but it's the car that caused all the problems you've listed. Snow is about the only honest point brought up. Just two inches of the stuff makes cycling much harder. Six inches of snow, and I'm down to a crawl, yet I'm exerting myself just as hard. Without cars, we'd simply go back to trains and trolleys. People out in the boonies and hot areas are only there due to cheap energy and the automobile. Cheap energy is the key to why people live a lot of places that were considered inhospitable 100 years ago due to lack of water, excessive heat, and the like. I live in one of the oldest parts of the country, and I have evidence of former transportation all around me. The Union Canal runs within half a mile of my home, an abandoned rail line that replaced the canal parallels the canal. The Canal operated from 1828 until it was replaced by the train in 1870. There are even older stage coach trails that are abandoned in my area, and with the railroad and trolley lines, it was a reliable speedy form of transportation for the longer trips you're speaking of.
So employers should install showers so their bike-riding employees won't stink up the workplace?
I live in the small towns of Arkansas. Most of my errands involve driving to other cities. On narrow roads that have no shoulders. I really don't have the time nor do I have the inclination to put my life at risk riding a bike to and from work 4 hours on top of the 9-hour work day.
ROFL..they can't even get light rail working within cities.
In Austin there's the train to nowhere that no one rides
Seemingly no one really rides trains...... This summer i was invited to a first showing of a flick to promote a book down in Mass. I rode down there with my wife on the MC, and found the theater in day light. The roads were all ripped up, and manhole covers were sticking up like a mine field, so i opted to take the train later that night, from where we were staying to the theaters which was set up well, since we stayed with in sight of the other train station.
That was my wife's first time ever to ride a train. It was mostly empty maybe due to the hours we used it at. And it was pretty grubby, leaving me pleased i was still wearing riding gear which is ok to get grubby stuff on and protects me some in a low life environment.
Yup i saw other people i didn't wan anywhere near me in both train stations.
But what about connecting towns and cities in US which are closer to each other and densely populated. I will give you an example. In Texas, if you look at two metropolitan area Austin-Round Rock-san marcos and San Antonio-New Braunfels have 4 million people living in 80-90 miles stretch. every day thousands of people commute each way and the highway I-35 is choc-a-bloc with traffic. Can you tell me what logic prevents a commuter train between two metropolitan areas????People start giving example of wyoming and alaska but metropolitan areas where millions of people live, not having commuter rail/ light rail is retarded thought.
When you have population centers that are in close proximity to each other, if they are not too large, then a commuter train may make sense. That, however, is going to be exceedingly rare west of the Mississippi River. A commuter train from Santa Monica through Westwood, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Chinatown, and downtown Los Angeles may be a good idea, but a commuter train from Anchorage, through Wasilla, Willow, Houston, Talkeetna, Cantwell, and Fairbanks would not work.
I live 8 miles from the Wasilla railroad depot, and the railroad depot in Anchorage is 2 miles from where I work. It would cost me $108 to make a round trip by rail and take a total of three hours. By vehicle it costs me about $16 in fuel, wear-n-tear, insurance, etc. to make a round trip and only take a total of two hours. In addition, I would have the convenience of having a vehicle while in Anchorage.
Alaska only has one railroad, and we would not even have that if it was not State funded. We also have very few roads. New Hampshire has 33,002 miles of roads, Alaska has 31,108 miles of roads, Vermont has 29,641 miles of roads. Texas has more than 21 times the number of road miles (654,923 miles) than Alaska, even though it is less than half its size.
I would like to see a railroad connecting Alaska with Canada, and possibly stretching west to Nome, but not for commuters. The freight a connecting railroad could bring would lower our extremely high cost of living, and open up the State to more development.
Alaska only has one railroad, and we would not even have that if it was not State funded. We also have very few roads. New Hampshire has 33,002 miles of roads, Alaska has 31,108 miles of roads, Vermont has 29,641 miles of roads. Texas has more than 21 times the number of road miles (654,923 miles) than Alaska, even though it is less than half its size.
I would like to see a railroad connecting Alaska with Canada, and possibly stretching west to Nome, but not for commuters. The freight a connecting railroad could bring would lower our extremely high cost of living, and open up the State to more development.
Couple of minor points.
The Alaska Railroad is 100% owned by the Federal Government, It hauls passengers, but only as a tourist attraction during the short summer season. It's one of the few places where a "displaced railroader" might find a seasonal job, but the market for true passenger service just isn't there. Along with Amtrak and the commuter-hauling "authorities", it never records a legitimate profit, and likely never will.
The British Columbia Railway (formerly Pacific Great Eastern) started expanding its system back around 1955, and has since doubled (or more) in size. An extension to Fairbanks got underway around 1970, but was "mothballed" a few years later.
Some of the really-big-dreamers have proposed a rail tunnel under the Bering Strait to Siberia; it is technically feasible, Japan already has a tunnel from Hokkaido to the "big island". And if everything were in place, it might actually be suitable for cpntainerized freight.
But that would also involve things like starndardizing all rail gauges, not to mention the problems of true global stability.
To borrow from comedienne Judy Tenuta, "It could happen!"; -- but not within the life expectancy of anyone here.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 10-03-2012 at 01:22 PM..
When I was a kid, we lived in Greenwich, CT and I remember walking or riding a bicycle everywhere- If i needed to go a bigger city like Stamford- we would take the train. That Metro North corridor between NYC and New Haven is awesome! You can live in most of the towns along the Red Line without a car.
My parents ended up moving to suburban New Jersey and it was very similar to CT. We could walk and ride bikes anywhere. NYC was a short ride away by either bus or train.
Those would be the Urbanized Suburbs dense yet relaxed...most of the Northeastern population lives in this type of Suburb...the Auto Suburbs only account for 15% of the population and that's down from 25% in 2000... There are currently plans to add sidewalks on every road and road diet roads so there safer from bikers and pedestrians...
You bike folks never cease to entertain. Keep the laughs coming.
I don't find most of what has been said here entertaining. As a matter of fact, it is very sad that most people think they are "free"- yet fail to realize that they are enslaved by the oil companies and the lack of alternative means of transportation. Actually, it is very sad!
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