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The United States has been traditionally known for having the best mass transit in the Americas. With that being said, Brazil seems to be improving and growing its public transportation a lot faster than the United States. Brazil is known for having world class bus-rapid-transit systems and has had a great influence on the United States as some cities have adopted bus-rapid-transit systems trying to model their bus networks after Brazil. Brazil is currently going through a transportation renaissance as more Brazilian cities are building subway systems. The United States hasn't built a new subway system since 1993. That's more than 20 years ago! Quite embarrassing for the 3rd largest country on the planet. Do you think Brazil will surpass the United States when it comes to having better mass transit(buses, trains, etc.) in the next 20-30 years?
The very progressive city of Curitiba, Brazil is known for its bus rapid transit, and its pay-on-platform-before-boarding system which greatly speeds-up the boarding process.
USA's Amtrak long-distance rail travel is truly an embarassment, with its very skimpy and minimal service (with the exception of the Northeast Atlantic corridor, and the Florida Auto-Train. And even on the heavily traveled Northeast corridor, speeds are quite slow and mediocre compared with trains in Europe and Japan).
I don't really know if the US truly has the best mass transit in this hemisphere. Obviously that whatever mass transit that does exist in the USA is of high quality and very efficient; but, truth be told, most places in the US are suburbs and these areas are notorious for almost non-existent mass transit or highly inadequate, even though whatever mass transit exists in the suburbs is in and of itself of high quality and efficient, just not extensive enough to make it viable for most people.
Brazil probably has much more extensive mass transit and it probably has higher ridership as well. It also appears to mostly be of high quality and efficient, so I say Brazil surpassed the USA a long time ago.
Of all the major cities in the USA, the only one where mass transit is widely used by the population is the one in NYC (including subway, bus lines, etc); everywhere else not so much.
I don't really know if the US truly has the best mass transit in this hemisphere. Obviously that whatever mass transit that does exist in the USA is of high quality and very efficient; but, truth be told, most places in the US are suburbs and these areas are notorious for almost non-existent mass transit or highly inadequate, even though whatever mass transit exists in the suburbs is in and of itself of high quality and efficient, just not extensive enough to make it viable for most people.
Brazil probably has much more extensive mass transit and it probably has higher ridership as well. It also appears to mostly be of high quality and efficient, so I say Brazil surpassed the USA a long time ago.
Of all the major cities in the USA, the only one where mass transit is widely used by the population is the one in NYC (including subway, bus lines, etc); everywhere else not so much.
While New York City has undoubtedly the best transit city in the country, cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington DC have pretty good mass transit as you don't really need a car live in those cities. Other than those few select cities, most US cities don't have good mass transit.
I don't really know if the US truly has the best mass transit in this hemisphere. (...)most places in the US are suburbs and these areas are notorious for almost non-existent mass transit or highly inadequate.
Brazil probably has much more extensive mass transit and it probably has higher ridership as well. It also appears to mostly be of high quality and efficient, so I say Brazil surpassed the USA a long time ago.
These sentences are totally thuth.
Both countries have basically bad quality mass transit, but in covering Brazil has surpassed USA by far.
There are some exceptions, like the São Paulo's subway having much less covering than NYC's, but higher quality. But talking about the country as a whole you can reach most of the places by bus a lot easier than in USA.
The United States has been traditionally known for having the best mass transit in the Americas. With that being said, Brazil seems to be improving and growing its public transportation a lot faster than the United States. Brazil is known for having world class bus-rapid-transit systems and has had a great influence on the United States as some cities have adopted bus-rapid-transit systems trying to model their bus networks after Brazil. Brazil is currently going through a transportation renaissance as more Brazilian cities are building subway systems. The United States hasn't built a new subway system since 1993. That's more than 20 years ago! Quite embarrassing for the 3rd largest country on the planet. Do you think Brazil will surpass the United States when it comes to having better mass transit(buses, trains, etc.) in the next 20-30 years?
EASILY!
The U.S. is incredibly backwards when it comes to public transportation, and there is a strong resistance towards it. Not only that, but being a car hub, they've built their cities around cars, with intensive zoning. It's almost completely impossible to fix or change. WHich makes it look even less efficient when they do try to build transportation. I.E., people have to DRIVE to get to public transportation, in much of the U.S. where it does exist.
The U.S. is incredibly backwards when it comes to public transportation, and there is a strong resistance towards it. Not only that, but being a car hub, they've built their cities around cars, with intensive zoning. It's almost completely impossible to fix or change. WHich makes it look even less efficient when they do try to build transportation. I.E., people have to DRIVE to get to public transportation, in much of the U.S. where it does exist.
So true. American's love their cars so much that they will drive them to the bus or train station.
It's not uncommon for commuter rail stations to have huge parking lots where people drive their cars to catch the train. The Northeast Corridor line is a great example of that where thousands of people park their cars and then catch the train to either New York City or Philadelphia.
Last edited by gwillyfromphilly; 10-10-2014 at 09:48 PM..
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