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View Poll Results: Describe your view/lifestle with regard to mass transit today in light of gas prices?
Mass transit is available to me, and I've been using it/plan on using it more. 52 57.14%
Mass transit is available to me, but I don't/won't use it. 13 14.29%
Mass transit isn't available to me, but I would use it if it were. 22 24.18%
Mass transit isn't available to me, and I wouldn't use if it were. 4 4.40%
Voters: 91. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 07-16-2008, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Boston Metrowest (via the Philly area)
7,261 posts, read 10,526,590 times
Reputation: 8807

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Yet another article detailing a significant demand in mass transit. I'm just curious if, and how much, others in the city-data community are contributing to this trend. I know living in Washington, DC I've noticed a big uptick in Metro/bus usage -- something I've contributed to, as well. What are others' experiences?

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- U.S. cities are racing to cope with ever-increasing demand on public transportation as gas prices remain at record levels.
High gas prices in recent months have had a considerable impact on commuters using public transportation, statistics show.

High gas prices in recent months have had a considerable impact on commuters using public transportation, statistics show.

Even regions that have traditionally resisted giving up cars and have limited access to mass transit are reporting a surge in public transportation use.

From trains and trolleys to subways and buses, the growth encompasses all modes of travel, according to the American Public Transportation Association, a Washington D.C.-based industry group.

Cities are using a variety of measures to meet that demand, according to an informal APTA survey of some transit systems.

For example, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which is currently operating at capacity during peak periods, is asking its commuters to travel during off-peak periods. The MBTA has also ordered more subway cars, buses and coaches for its commuter rail.

In North Carolina, the Charlotte Area Transit System has increased the frequency of light rail service on the weekends, ordered new buses and is taking a look at low-performing routes to cut down on costs.
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And the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which serves Philadelphia and has seen about 20,000 new daily customers since last July, has ordered 400 new hybrid buses and 120 new rail cars.

Other measures being used or considered by transit systems include changing schedules to increase frequency of buses and trains, creating bus-only lanes and taking out seats on trains to make more room for commuters.

'The paradox of public transportation'

While the rise in ridership has been a relatively easy adjustment for some systems, others are facing difficulties in meeting operating costs, which hampers their ability to ramp up service or maintain normal levels.

Cal Marsella, the head of Denver, Colorado's transit system, calls it the "paradox of public transportation."

Denver's system, like many U.S. cities, is partly funded by revenues from sales taxes. As consumers spend less because of high fuel costs and a sour economy, the city earns less revenue. Consequently, funding for the transit system is decreasing just when their operating costs are higher than ever before.

"Just when our demand is highest, our ability to provide is being undermined by the whole crunch," Marsella said. "The last thing we want to do is curtail service but there is not a lot you can do when revenues are down and fuel prices are up."

The Denver Regional Transit District, however, saw the high prices coming and was able to lock in the price of diesel fuel earlier this year at $3.20 a gallon -- a price far cheaper than what the market is right now. That contract expires at the end of this year. See a map of gas prices across the country »

Marsella is pessimistic prices will drop much by the end of the year. "I'm budgeting next year for $4.55 a gallon," he said. "Everybody is hurting, and I have real concerns about our ability to sustain services and maintain infrastructure."

A sharp rise in ridership

Americans used public transportation in record numbers the first three months of this year, according to the APTA. They took 2.6 billion trips on public transportation during that period, an increase of 85 million more trips compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the number behind the wheel dropped. Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles from April 2007 through April 2008, according to figures released by the Department of Transportation in June. The numbers represented the sixth consecutive monthly drop.

In some places, the growing embrace of public transportation has been an ongoing trend for the past few years, reflecting a steady and gradual change in commuter behavior. iReport: Show us your commute

For instance, ridership increased during a period of high fuel prices from 2005 through 2006 in Tulsa, but did not decline after fuel prices went back down, said Cynthia Stabb of Tulsa Transit.

"Once people get a chance to try public transit and they find it works for them, they stick with it," she said via e-mail. Asked about the current high levels, she responded, "We believe the demand is here to stay."

Turning point?

Some observers such as Dr. Robert Lang, an expert on urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech University, say the gas crunch could be a turning point in perceptions of public transportation and how cities plan development.

Consumers are beginning to believe the high prices are a result of structural changes in the global economy, not the result of a single event like Hurricane Katrina, which produced a period of high fuel prices earlier this decade, Lang said.

That change in perception is providing more momentum for some cities that were already moving away from six-lane highways and suburbs dozens of miles apart, to a series of urban centers connected by light rail and other mass transit systems.

He cited cities like Denver and Phoenix, Arizona, where residents, motivated by traffic frustrations and the promise of economic development, approved massive transportation projects during the past few years despite the costs to their pocketbooks.

Marsella said Denver's suburban and exurban commuters were as enthusiastic as its urban residents in approving the multibillion dollar project in 2004. "People want to drive their cars a mile or two to a park-and-ride, and then take the rail in on the most congested part of the trip," he said.

Other cities, like Atlanta, Georgia, for instance, are struggling make the pivot.

Often cited in discussions about urban sprawl, Atlanta has been bedeviled for years by a lack of consensus among city and regional leaders on the need to expand its transit system.

"Some of it is just the fear of change," Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said. "People acted as if transit was a dirty word and the only thing that would be successful in Atlanta would be to build more roads, but we can see from the congestion that you need an integrated transport system." Video Watch Mayor Franklin talk about Atlanta's transit system »

"Unfortunately, there's no quick answer for the problems that we have."
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Roads, and the cars on them, will not likely disappear anytime soon, Lang said. "We're a settler nation. And people had to get moving to do that," he said. "There's something deep within the American psyche about the freedom of movement."

But the current environment may lead to a future where hybrid cars coexist with denser transit systems. "2007, for all we know, might be the peak use of gas in the United States," he said.

U.S. cities scrambling to meet rising mass transit demands - CNN.com
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Old 07-16-2008, 11:13 AM
 
1,989 posts, read 6,585,184 times
Reputation: 842
Although we don't really have a real rail system quite yet here in Seattle, the bus system is one of the best in the country, and I use it every day to commute to and from work. I have been using the bus system since I was 15 years old, and I can definitely feel the difference of more people using it now that may not have considered it before gas got so expensive.
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Old 07-16-2008, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Ca2Mo2Ga2Va!
2,735 posts, read 6,718,633 times
Reputation: 1813
No, I don't use it. First, it's not available where I live, and second, I really don't need it as a stay at home mom.
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Old 07-16-2008, 12:37 PM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,801,160 times
Reputation: 3672
In Houston - I was using the light rail to get to work when I was in the Medical Center. I still had to drive about 10 miles to get to the inner-city park-and-ride. If I ever work in the Med Center again, I'll probably use one of the suburban park-and-rides and take the bus the entire way.
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Old 07-16-2008, 12:40 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
343 posts, read 930,573 times
Reputation: 198
Using mass transit, when available, is very important. Automobiles are not sustainable.

I also appreciate the feeling of MT, knowing that all of us are in it together.
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Old 07-16-2008, 02:52 PM
 
Location: Town of Herndon/DC Metro
2,825 posts, read 6,868,769 times
Reputation: 1762
Quote:
Originally Posted by breeze823 View Post
No, I don't use it. ... second, I really don't need it as a stay at home mom.
I use it once a week to take my toddler on adventures into DC. He loves riding the train and its less of a hassle than trying to drive. I don't use it for errands such as the supermarket.
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Old 07-16-2008, 03:15 PM
 
Location: Wicker Park, Chicago
187 posts, read 522,958 times
Reputation: 116
I use it everyday here in Chicago. I'd be a fool not to take advantage of public transportation. It's too convenient, and cheap, not to use.
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Old 07-16-2008, 03:27 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,199,967 times
Reputation: 10370
Its readily available here in Chicagoland, but where I work, etc, doesnt really give me the option to use it. Ive taken the Metra into Chicago several times, but its not frequent.
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Old 07-16-2008, 03:33 PM
j33
 
4,626 posts, read 14,056,054 times
Reputation: 1719
I haven't owned a car for most of my adult life (I'm in mid-thirties), so I guess one could say I'm a 'heavy' transit user.
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Old 07-16-2008, 04:00 PM
 
Location: Mission Viejo, CA
2,498 posts, read 11,413,196 times
Reputation: 1619
You need a car for everday errands and chores in Orange County. You need it pretty much to go anywhere as public transportation is like 10 times worse here than our neighbor to the north LA. LA at least has tons of bus routes and a few rail lines. In my city of 100,000 we only have five bus routes and a regional rail station to connect us to downtown LA or north San Diego county.

My kids actually use public transport all the time though. When they want to go surfing or go to the beach they ride the bus down to the train station and take Metrolink down to San Clemente beaches. Its pretty convenient for them and gives them some more freedom. I've done it with them also and it always makes me wish we had more extensive service.

Last edited by missionhome; 07-16-2008 at 04:59 PM..
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