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And from my home to my office is a straight shot, once I get to the major road connecting my 'burb to the city (a short walk). Yet there is not one bus route that runs the length of that road; I'd have to transfer at least twice -- three times if I didn't drive to the park and ride at the mall, but instead caught the bus a block away from my home.
I agree, it's not the speed of the different forms of mass transit, it's the distance I'd have to walk to access it and the number of buses I'd have to take to get anywhere.
For example, Sea World is a 15 minute drive from my house. To get there on the bus, I'd have to walk 1.5 miles, spend 3.5 hours either on the bus or waiting for other buses, then arrive at the employee entrance and walk another 3 miles to the regular entrance.
I never drive when it's possible to get somewhere by another method...but it's almost impossible to get anywhere in my city without a car.
And from my home to my office is a straight shot, once I get to the major road connecting my 'burb to the city (a short walk). Yet there is not one bus route that runs the length of that road; I'd have to transfer at least twice -- three times if I didn't drive to the park and ride at the mall, but instead caught the bus a block away from my home.
It isn't usually that bad, but one day a week everything seems to get completely screwed up.
Transfers, layovers, etc were all much, much better in Seattle when I lived there a few years ago. The bus system there is 100% better than here. I could get to my job 12 miles away in 20 minutes, zipping by stuck cars on the freeway in bus-only lanes. I could get my school in the far suburbs in about 50 minutes with one transfer at a covered, well-lit transfer station. I never recall being late for class.
We could have a bus system that good here, but it takes effort and thinking out of the box. Heck, we don't even have real-time bus tracking here yet. We are light years behind everyone else. Meanwhile, many of our buses are still running the same routes as the streetcars did - the same ones that were ripped up 50-60 years ago, even though people aren't commuting in the same patterns. The inertia here is so tiring. We're 7th in the country for pecentage of residents who commute by transit, so we should be better.
Here's irony: I'm going to be attending grad school in the fall for transportation planning. I'm getting a car so that I can reliably make it from work to school. Although, in my major, perhaps "the bus was late" would be an applicable excuse?
Here's irony: I'm going to be attending grad school in the fall for transportation planning. I'm getting a car so that I can reliably make it from work to school. Although, in my major, perhaps "the bus was late" would be an applicable excuse?
Rant over.
Good luck! Hopefully transportation planning has moved beyond "build a bigger highway with a more gradual curve!" Though mMaybe that is civil engineering i'm thinking of.
In middle TN, I'd be satisfied with any usable mass transit even if it were a bit slow. My town has buses, but they are extremely limited and don't operate on the weekends. To get to the nearest stop I'd have to walk over a mile, and actually I'm not even sure there's a stop there anymore. The stops here are just tiny little signs, and the one closest to my house got knocked over at some point and was never replaced. To get to work, I'd have to, after walking a mile, take that bus to the "terminal", then transfer to a second bus which would drop me off about another mile from where I work, in a part of town with the heaviest traffic and limited sidewalks. I'm not sure how long that would take in total, but I'm guessing close to an hour, counting the walking I'd have to do. Or I could just ride my bicycle four miles to work in about 20 minutes. I should also add that my work place is on one of the busiest streets in town, but the buses don't operate on that road. To be fair though, our town of 108,000 has only had a bus system since 2007, so it's still some progress even though most of the population couldn't use it even if they wanted to. Oh but they sure will complain when someone mentions it needs to be improved/expanded! There was recently an article in the paper about the construction of a small canopy/shelter at the waiting area of the terminal, and people were complaining about what a waste of money it is. I imagine in a few more years the bus system here will be killed off like most of the population seems to want, and the town will slide even further behind the rest of the country.
I know a lot of people hate mass transit like trains or subways because it is slow, it doesn't go exactly where you want, you have to sit with other people who you might not like etc.
But I was wondering if you would like taking trains and subways if they were faster? I'm not talking about intercity high speed rail, I am talking about FAST intracity rail and subway. Like you if you want to get to a point that goes northeast from where you are now, and there is a subway that goes in a grid system.
In this grid system, you destination is 5 miles east and 4 miles north, so theoretically you have 9 miles by a subway or train.
I once emailed this woman who works over at American Maglev, which is an American owned company that is researching maglev train technology. I asked her a question if a stop every 0.5 miles (which is the maximum a person is willing to walk between stations) how long would it take. She says with Maglev trains/subways it would take 60 seconds per every 0.5 miles, and 75 if you include 15 seconds boarding and unboarding time. So you could go 5 miles in theoretically so 75 seconds x 10 stops = 750 seconds = 12 minutes 30 seconds on the train to get to a destination 5 miles away. She told me if the train has a lot of curves, it would take 112 seconds per 0.5 miles. So 10 stops (5 miles) x 112 seconds = 1120 seconds = 18 minutes 40 seconds.
Do you think spending 12 minutes 30 seconds to go 5 miles away in a high density metropolis is too long for you? Not to mention in a high density area, there would be a lot of employment density so there is a high chance your work will be even less than 5 miles away. Having to transfer from the 5 mile route to the 4 miles route wouldn't take that long either. So you might spend maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour total for your commute to go 5 miles east then 4 miles north on a subway.
If we really invested in mass transit like subways, you could also have experess trains that stop every 1 mile or more and be built underneath the other subway that stops every 0.5 miles, like a multilayered subway like in San Francisco.
Many people who commute by car to get to work in let's say Atlanta would have to take 2 hours going there by car, 2 hours going back and I know this because I had a friend who does. I think my family in Los Angeles also has 1 hour 30 minute to 2 hour commutes to to get work since it is so sprawled there.
One thing I also mention is that I also want commuter trains to go their maximum speed. The federal government says that 150 mph is the maximum speed a train can go on tracks that cross at grade with roads, otherwise it needs it own grade if it goes faster like 220 mph or 300 mph. If all commuter trains that cross at grade in America went 150 mph then it would be much more attractive.
How fast would mass transit need to be in order for it to be attractive to you versus taking a car to work?
Transit works in the Suburban NYC region , due to parking in Urban Areas. People also take it from the Burbs due to the amount of Buses and Trains and price of them. The Speed is the same as the driving , the lesser cost and stress drives millions in the Suburbs to use them daily. The Bus Drivers also turn off the lights at night and ban cell phones also at night making the 40-2hr commute Pleasent. As for Commuter Trains there built for a Max of 100mph , 110mph is the max a train can go over a crossing. Its the highest in the world and can only be found in Rural areas of North America on Amtrak or VIA Trains. HSR starts at 130mph ,so you won't see any Commuter Rail go faster then 120mph. This is on a Global Scale , also each Regional Rail or Commuter System is different there capacity and power issues on some preventing them from reaching 80mph+. There seems to be a general confusion between Light Rail , High Speed Rail , Regional Rail. There all different from each other....speeds , trains and station design.
Speed and convenience are both important, but you don’t have to be faster than driving 24/7.
In Chicago the el is slower than driving most of the day except rush hour. This makes it very attractive during that time. Buses here are stuck in traffic and rather slow. They are never faster than driving, but can be cheaper than parking downtown or a life saver when your car won’t work, is stuck in snow or for people who can’t drive (young, elderly, handicapped) or families with only one car plus they are usually nearby enough during daytime that you usually won’t be walking more than about 4 blocks (at worse) to catch one. At night is another story as fewer routes run all night leading to a longer walk at a time when you are a bit more worried about safety.
I think dedicated bus lanes that can control traffic (i.e. give the Bus a green light) could help but the roads here are kind of narrow. Commuter rail is competitive travel time wise to driving but not schedule wise (i.e. you can leave at anytime for your car).
Suburban Chicago, I don’t think I would use public transit in much of it. The city has enough bus routes and bus frequency that the system is useable if slower than driving. The suburban bus system does not have many routes(for the area it covers) and the hours of some of the routes leave much to be desired (i.e. last bus at 6:50pm???)…..What if you normally get off at 5pm but have to stay at work till 7? You are in a bind. Suburban busses are prompt and clean but miss a Pace bus and the next bus could be thirty minutes to an hour later. CTA miss a bus next bus could be 5, 10 or 20 min later only late night does it go to 30 mins. While not all CTA busses run 24 hours or many run as late as 2 a.m. You might have to walk a bit to a lot longer but you will not be totally stranded in Chicago at any time. Plus some of the burbs lack sidewalk making the walk to or from the bus downright dangerous.
In middle TN, I'd be satisfied with any usable mass transit even if it were a bit slow. My town has buses, but they are extremely limited and don't operate on the weekends. To get to the nearest stop I'd have to walk over a mile, and actually I'm not even sure there's a stop there anymore. The stops here are just tiny little signs, and the one closest to my house got knocked over at some point and was never replaced. To get to work, I'd have to, after walking a mile, take that bus to the "terminal", then transfer to a second bus which would drop me off about another mile from where I work, in a part of town with the heaviest traffic and limited sidewalks. I'm not sure how long that would take in total, but I'm guessing close to an hour, counting the walking I'd have to do. Or I could just ride my bicycle four miles to work in about 20 minutes. I should also add that my work place is on one of the busiest streets in town, but the buses don't operate on that road. To be fair though, our town of 108,000 has only had a bus system since 2007, so it's still some progress even though most of the population couldn't use it even if they wanted to. Oh but they sure will complain when someone mentions it needs to be improved/expanded! There was recently an article in the paper about the construction of a small canopy/shelter at the waiting area of the terminal, and people were complaining about what a waste of money it is. I imagine in a few more years the bus system here will be killed off like most of the population seems to want, and the town will slide even further behind the rest of the country.
Which town in TN if u dont mind me asking???? Their attitude may change with time give it time the ppl will adjust to the bus system.
I would take it if it went from where I am to where I need/want to go.
[but it usually does not]
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