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Really? Based on your educated opinion, what cities in Asia that are the same size as those listed have better rail systems? I'm not well traveled in such areas, but I believe that much of Asia is poor, so I find that believable.
I've been to Japan and China, but let's cut to the chase. Here are examples of commute mode splits in many world cities. Look at both charts and sort by transit mode share.
Really? Based on your educated opinion, what cities in Asia that are the same size as those listed have better rail systems? I'm not well traveled in such areas, but I believe that much of Asia is poor, so I find that believable.
Hanoi would be the second largest in the United States.
It has one metro rail line with less daily ridership than Buffalo Metro.
Typically when people invoke "Europe and Asia" to disparage transit in the U.S., they're referring to a handful of cities from the typical Joe Tourist rotation.
Then why do so many less-visited European and Asian metro areas have such great commute mode splits? And why are US cities generally so terrible in comparison? Even NY isn't very high up the global list.
The rail systems of the of the cities you mentioned are significantly worse than any similar sized city in Europe or Asia. America's rail infrastructure is embarrassingly insufficient compared to many other countries.
Really?
Can Tho, Vietnam.
Population 1.2 million.
All they have is freeways.
Cleveland has a larger and more complex system than Dublin, Ireland.
My point stands.
Last edited by Losfrisco; 01-08-2022 at 08:21 PM..
The rail systems of the of the cities you mentioned are significantly worse than any similar sized city in Europe or Asia. America's rail infrastructure is embarrassingly insufficient compared to many other countries.
I don't disagree... One factor that boosts transit networks in medium-to-large cities in Europe, Asia and even Oceania, is the host nation-states have nationalized railroad systems which, in most cases, led to electrified passenger train and freight networks -- leading, of course, to upgraded full high-speed rail. These networks around cities are adaptable into local, electrified commuter train networks which, in this country, only really exist in NYC and Philly.
Apparently, the USA came close to nationalizing its RRs in the late 1960s with the wild expansion of Eisenhower's Interstate Highway network and the concomitant decline, consolidation and bankruptcy of freight & passenger RRs. Instead, the Congress and the Feds opted to maintain corporate-run RRs while creating pseudo public-corp run operations like Conrail and Amtrak, the former, of course, no longer existing, its properties gobbled up by newly grown, restructured 'transportation' behemoths ... whereby anything passenger-related is the sworn enemy and zealously attacked and fought.
This was a major missed opportunity by this country. The bottom-line, for-profit/shareholder-driven approach of American RRs has led to a whole host of problems, including downsized and outdated freight-handling rail facilities, causing rail-bottlenecks, more over-the-road trucking and, of course, hampering almost any passenger expansion over freight-owned rail facilities. At least some entrepreneurs are now stepping in and funding outright purchases of smaller freight operations in populous states and upgrading them to high or higher-speed, intercity passenger rail routes a-la Brightline along with similar, even bolder initiatives in other states such as Texas. We're trying to catch up to the industrial world, but obviously, we've got a long way to go.
Vietnam is a very poor country. The fact that you're using cities from a country whose entire GDP is lower than the state of Kentucky to make US rail look good is telling. I feel like it was implied that I was talking about Asian countries that are similarly developed to the US like Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, etc. Of course I wouldn't expect countries that are much poorer to have the infrastructure of a very wealthy country.
Vietnam is a very poor country. The fact that you're using cities from a country whose entire GDP is lower than the state of Kentucky to make US rail look good is telling. I feel like it was implied that I was talking about Asian countries that are similarly developed to the US like Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, etc. Of course I wouldn't expect countries that are much poorer to have the infrastructure of a very wealthy country.
No more telling than the cherry picking of flagship cities across areas much more populated than the United States to disparage our mass transit
San Diego MTS Trolley is ten miles longer than the Athens Metro with higher top speeds.
When will one of Europe's largest metro areas get it's Metro to American standards?
I've been to Japan and China, but let's cut to the chase. Here are examples of commute mode splits in many world cities. Look at both charts and sort by transit mode share.
There are really bad transit cities too, but it's not the norm in first/second world countries outside the US.
Nice try at changing the parameters, but we're talking rail here, not "public transport". And that list is obviously not inclusive of all Asian metropolitan areas greater than 1 million people. Not even close. I think that rail in the US cities listed is clearly better than most asian cities of comparable size. Unless you have information to the contrary, maybe you should think before calling other posters "uneducated". FTR there are currently about 48 countries in Asia. That means that you haven't been to 46 out of 48 of them.
Then why do so many less-visited European and Asian metro areas have such great commute mode splits? And why are US cities generally so terrible in comparison? Even NY isn't very high up the global list.
That's a subject for a different thread. This thread is about rail, not "transit".
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