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I guess that depends, is there just one person making these commutes from these two locations or is it a lot of people that can justify a route that runs between those two places? Not all bus and rail lines need to go downtown.
The thing is that people work and live in random places, moving into new jobs frequently and moving their residences as well.
Very mobile society. Even if you work for the same employer for 30 years, very rare today, you can be moved from work site to work site.
That's the challenge of transit route design and scheduling,say, a route from Monroeville PA to Cranberry PA might be popular in 2015 because of a new employment opportunities in Cranberry. In a few years, the employer may decide to move someplace else, employees might start moving closer to the job site, people could be getting fired or start quitting.
I am honestly surprised at how high the percentage of car commuters is, at 86%....wow! I thought it would be closer to 75% or something. But I guess even in metro areas like NYC, Boston and DC, many people choose to drive.
It doesn't surprise me. Most of this country has horrible mass transit. There are still plenty of people in the US that don't even have the option to take passenger rail service to work. That's why the number is so high.
I am honestly surprised at how high the percentage of car commuters is, at 86%....wow! I thought it would be closer to 75% or something. But I guess even in metro areas like NYC, Boston and DC, many people choose to drive.
It's also that metro areas like those (and similar) are a small portion of the country's population. Massachusetts is 80%.
Or in Portland, probably about four minutes. Any more than that and, as they say, you can just pop into a bar and have a pint instead of waiting
Kids need to be picked up from school? Have a pint.
Gotta be at work? Have a pint.
It's Pintland Time!
Haha, that is very true. Only once in a great while is the wait more than 5 minutes and it is usually my own fault for not looking at the clock before leaving the house. Of course if one misses the bus, there is always a bar near by and a bus in an hour.
The thing is that people work and live in random places, moving into new jobs frequently and moving their residences as well.
Very mobile society. Even if you work for the same employer for 30 years, very rare today, you can be moved from work site to work site.
That's the challenge of transit route design and scheduling,say, a route from Monroeville PA to Cranberry PA might be popular in 2015 because of a new employment opportunities in Cranberry. In a few years, the employer may decide to move someplace else, employees might start moving closer to the job site, people could be getting fired or start quitting.
That doesn't matter much what the individual does, if a large enough group is taking a similar path, then it works. That is why we have traffic, lots of people in cars taking a similar path.
That doesn't matter much what the individual does, if a large enough group is taking a similar path, then it works. That is why we have traffic, lots of people in cars taking a similar path.
While getting a transit route built just about requires an act of God, carpools seem to be easy. I think the peak year for them was 1980. Iran, an oil producing country, was holding US hostages, saving gasoline was considered a patriotic act.
Last edited by pvande55; 01-17-2015 at 06:04 PM..
Reason: Add note on 1980
Exactly. Some forget most of us don't live in a major metro area.
This isn't exactly true.
As I posted upthread 1/3 of us live in metros the size of Seattle or larger and 1/2 of us live in metros the size of Milwaukee or larger.
A metro doesn't need to have a population of 6 million to have a decent transit system.
In any case, I'm much less concerned about transit than I am about alternatives. It's great for getting across town but transit for transit's sake is as dumb as highways for highway's sake. In most cases where transit has a strong mode share it facilitates far more walking trips than actual transit trips anyway. 2/3 of americans live in big towns, cities, or the suburbs of those cities. We're not a nation of country dwellers who have to drive 10+ miles to the nearest supermarket. Most of the trips that we're making are less than 3 miles and a lot of them are, sadly, just a few hundred yards.
There's a lot we can and should be doing to convert those car trips that are <2 miles to bike trips and those <1 mile to bike or pedestrian trips. No one is saying we should try to force people to do those things but a lot of the reason people don't do it is because the ped environment is awful and beyond that it's just not part of the culture.
That doesn't matter much what the individual does, if a large enough group is taking a similar path, then it works. That is why we have traffic, lots of people in cars taking a similar path.
This is also why transit sucks. There is the problem that while everyone is taking a similar path, not everyone is starting at the same place or going to the same destination. Hence why buses have stops to allow people to get on and off. The stops add significant time.
Rapid transit suffers from tied to an time table(a bit) as well as stops. If traffic is tied up rail may work better, but traffic isn't tied up all day. Rail is also stuck on it's tracks and may not be anywhere near where you need to arrive or depart. Commuter rail is even more tied to an time table and again may not be where you need to arrive or depart again forcing you on to an slow bus or stranding you.
Public transit is really only an good idea for an small set of trips. Where I live the CTA can get you there, but unless it is downtown during rush hour or maybe to O'hare then driving will be faster.
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