An article over at Motherboard covers the growing inequities in the US resulting from the cultivation of individualized transport options.
Carsharing, ridesharing, ride-hailing, public transit, and cycling—"all of those things are needed to replace personal cars," said [Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar].
It's a nice idea, but to actually kill car ownership, we're first going to need to have some very uncomfortable conversations about class and equity in the United States. Public transit used to be the great equalizer, but affordable private rides have become the new favorite of the middle class. When richer people give their money to private ride-hailing or carsharing companies, public transit loses money—and that's not good for cities, societies, or the environment.
[...] This dependence on ride-hailing is having the adverse effect of increasing traffic congestion, which in turn makes bus service slower and more frustrating. Besides, until cities change dramatically—i.e. more parks, fewer parking lots, less sprawl, better accommodations for active and public transit—decreased rates of car ownership likely won't benefit the environment if we're still travelling the same distances in cars.
Those living in countries that still have good or remnants of good mass transit will have different insights. It is unlikely that without good, reliable, vast public transit networks, there will be social and economic equity, assuming that is a goal. While public transit can suck, especially in the US, it is sometimes necessary to take one for the team and vote with your wallet. Unfortunately the situation is often framed as a false dilemma, that there can only be private cars or only mass transit, but not both coexisting and used for different ends at different times by the same people.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14 2018, @03:52AM
As the AC first responding to you noted, you're clearly trolling.
Berlin's beautiful, amazing Metro has already been mentioned in the (meta)thread.
Build it, build it nice, and keep it nice and they will come.
Japan, China, France, and Germany have figured out mass transit and make USA look like something out of the dark ages.
Much of USA is stuck on stupid, in build-no-public-infrastructure mode.
Trying to be Indonesia, I'm guessing. (The final state of Capitalism.) [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [dissidentvoice.org]
Los Angeles County has a light rail system.
Taking it to the airport, we were zooming by all the stalled bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 105 freeway that runs parallel to The Green Line.
...and at the airport end, there are gratis shuttle buses.
Again, when people use mass transit, things get better real fast.
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I blockquoted this the other week and here it is, apt again.
[1] Currently, a day pass for bus service in the OC (not including express routes) is $5; $1.50 for seniors.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]