City with Best Mass transit?

[OREGONRAIN]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Thank you. The freeloading sounds kind of nuts to me. I don't think you could get away with that on the RTD (Denver's system). In fact, I know you can't, b/c my DD used to ride it a lot home from school and had to show her pass every time she boarded.

How far in miles does Portland's go? I would estimate Denver's to be about 60 miles from N to S, maybe 30 from E to W.

The freeloading is extremely tiresome, but Portland is Portland, Im told the strange things one sees here are related to its liberalism, I don't know on that one. All I know is the northeastern USA is liberal and most of what I have seen here would never fly there. The entire light rail system in Portland must be about 60 miles total and is being extended another 15 miles or so at present. The longest line The Blue Line from Gresham to Hillsboro is 33 miles long, The yellow line around 10 miles from downtown to North Portland , The Red line Beaverton to the airport is around 20 miles. Im pretty sure Denver studied the Portland system as many cities have since Portland is a poster child for light rail. I do hope though these cities do not copy our lackidasical manner in not collecting fares in a proper manner, and are better at security matters.

[OREGONRAIN]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

I've found places like Phoenix, Miami, Tampa, Houston and other places were poor on the frequency and coverage of service. Especially the lack of decent train coverage.

At least Chicago has 26 different rail options ratiating out from downtown, some as far as 50+ miles into the suburbs. There are also 394 bus routes across the merto area. All of these combined carry around 2,000,000 passengers per day. It might be older and very overcrowded in the city, but at least you have very good coverage and 24 hour service on multiple rail and bus lines.

Tampa is about as bad as it gets for lack of transit and interest in having any. Every time I visit the area, which I like, I have to bite my tongue when locals whine about how bad traffic is and getting worse. With two populated areas adjacent to each other Tampa and St Pete you would think a light would go in their brain concerning their traffic problems and build some kind of transit system, even a damn bus system that is efficient.

[pshinspections]

Originally Posted by jonjj

Mass transit isn't a priority in our country and that is really sad.

$8 gasoline will change that in a hurry. Look at how people have already cut their driving by just passing the $4 mark. Gas has gone up by 400% since 9/11... another 100% is not that far-fetched.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by pshinspections

$8 gasoline will change that in a hurry. Look at how people have already cut their driving by just passing the $4 mark. Gas has gone up by 400% since 9/11... another 100% is not that far-fetched.

GM halting production of gas-guzzlers and stating that, "the era of big SUVs is over," is notable. It means that the winds of change are definitely here. The sub-text in GM's statement for me reads, "bye, bye cheap oil, and welcome to the future."

[BB_206]

I also live here and agree with you about the lack of mass transit in Seattle. I have lived in cities previously with great transit (Boston, Portland, Chicago) and am pretty familiar with BART, MUNI, NY and a couple others that are more extensive than Seattle's. It's too bad - Seattle has a lot of really smart people and lots of $$$ to make things work - where is the disconnect?

Originally Posted by pshinspections

>>I would have to say that Portland,SF and Seattle have good transportation options as well.>>

I have lived in Seattle for ten years and would heartily disagree with such an assessment of Seattle's mass-transit system. This area is much like LA of twenty years ago in that if you don't have your own vehicle, you cannot get there. The light rail proposed for 2010 only extends 30 miles S of downtown, with no service to the N or E, and there are very few feeder routes. Amtrak provides some service at a premium, but only a few during peak drive times, and nothing during the day or in the evening. Commuting downtown by bus from 40 miles out is a two-hour ride. The King County (Seattle) politicians cannot agree on how to tie shoelaces, let alone bring the masses to town for work, etc.

Simply, the city is sadly lacking in mass transit behind every American city of it's size. I have no choice but to drive, since I can commute in one hour what it takes two hours by bus... with three transfers and waiting time. I am considering Denver and NYC at this time, as I am not willing to spend half of my workday getting to and from work, just to be able to see trees from my bedroom window.

On the plus side, as long as four hours per day is an acceptable commute for you, the climate here is quite friendly to waiting at the outside bus stops in the rain.

[BB_206]

Originally Posted by irwin

NYC goes without saying.

Portland is nice, especially for a "newer" city and it is good to see a city really focused on building a public transit system. Boston is good. DC is great and clean although it is really a better system for bringing people into the city from the burbs rather than moving people around the city itself. Philly is good and the entire state of New Jersey has really good rail service.

I also agree with the previous poster that said that Seattle is a big disappointment. For a city as progressive and as compact as Seattle, the lack of public transport is terrible. I mean, even Dallas and Houston have a rail system but not Seattle.

Yes, this is true...
"I also agree with the previous poster that said that Seattle is a big disappointment. For a city as progressive and as compact as Seattle, the lack of public transport is terrible. I mean, even Dallas and Houston have a rail system but not Seattle."

[AK123]

Originally Posted by BB_206

Yes, this is true...
"I also agree with the previous poster that said that Seattle is a big disappointment. For a city as progressive and as compact as Seattle, the lack of public transport is terrible. I mean, even Dallas and Houston have a rail system but not Seattle."

So this, and some notable architecture and attractions you mention previously... Then why do you imply Houston has zero redeeming qualities? Makes no sense...