Profitability is only talked about for public transport, never for car infrastructure. Highways are incredibly expensive to build, yet politicians don't worry about making that profitable, so why is profitability even an issue when talking about public transport? Public transport pays for itself by increasing investment in areas near transport stops. Just build and fund it!
I would rather put my money on cars than rails. Unless railways system give me on-time, on-demand service, with impeccable personal privacy and security, and *outstanding* cleanliness per ride. AND cheaper than operating a car 365 days per year (ie. $1 train tickets to compensate for $30+ uber rides, including tips, to reach multiple specific daily destinations and train station parking fees). P.S. Rail system monopolized transportation sector for almost a century, before the inception of air and automobile transportation. Hell. Even big time tycoons played big money on rail corporations. Rail system had its chance to thrive. But it failed. US is not Europe. It is not in the mind of the modern American culture. And I lived in Europe before (Germany), for other keyboard warriors here dreaming of being a European, speak Deutsch (German) to me. :) And I'm not white if you want to pull the race card, for no reason.
Roads are profitable, the goods transported and the taxes those goods are subject to fund many times over the cost of construction and maintenance, plus federal subsidies
@Zenrei940 Your first two can easily be done, if the system of the early 20th century is implemented, however the first class-like privacy you ask for is only possible in longer distance modes of transport. As for outstanding cleanliness, it is also possible, lines like Amtrak and Brightline have clean rolling stock and stations.
@@Zenrei940i’ve been taking amtrak a lot lately in the northeast and it is usually on time and much more spacious than an airplane. On my most recent trip I expierenced my first delay ever. It was 1 hour, but Amtrak made up for it by getting me to my destination an hour early and the ticket was only $20
As a car guy, I would like us to have better public transport. Being stuck in traffic whenever I need to do something is not fun. I don't know what the solution is, but we need more reliable ways of moving people around and reducing the amount of cars we have. We need to incentivize people not to use their cars.
What you had suggested is actually inflationary, it's not going to happen and when it does, public transit won't be affordable. On a side note, I love my cars so I will keep them and add more if the timing's right.
@@SlowDriver2024 ??? there is nothing inflationary about more people using public transit. public transit, especially rail-based public transit, operates on economies of scale - the operators want as much people as possible to use it as operating costs are not significantly impacted by ridership. this is also why you see freight rail attach an insane amounts of cars to a single, beefy engine.
In Moscow for example the public transport is amazing, really 20-30 sec between trains in the subway, buses are also very good we don't need a car here at all, but, because of that our government is trying to force all of us to use the public transport system, they make everything people don't use cars, for example 10 years ago I could go to work by car, right now it costs a lot to park it so I will spend more than I make for a month if to go there every day usuing my car, so I was I can say forced to sell the car and use only the public transport. There are a lot of people, uncomfortable anyway when there are always crowds of people and I'm usually much more tired than I was when I used my car. So it looks the oposite here, you are forced to have cars because no public transport and here we are forced not to have cars.
People who say we shouldn't spend money on transit because it doesn't pay for itself have no idea that the roads they love so much don't come anywhere near paying for themselves in any way. It's more expensive to build and more expensive to maintain.
@@computernerdtechman We had this other kind of road way back in the day. They crisscrossed the entire US in huge, well-developed networks, facilitated massive growth and moved entire industries efficiently on its back, with entire towns and cities springing up along their routes. They called it a railroad. We weren't always dependent on highways and streets. We could go back to the way things used to be. It wouldn't even cost that much, a lot of it is still there just waiting to be refreshed and updated.
@@sirsurnamethefirstofhisnam7986 There are over 750,000 Semi trucks operating in the US. If you live here you would know the highways have a good percentage of it's traffic with trucks. Besides trains don't go everywhere. They certainly don't go to peoples houses. Roads are essential.
@@snaffu1 We have ALWAYS had roads, ever since the Romans built them. Trains don't go everywhere. Not every town has a train station. The population was much much much smaller back then and there were fewer towns. Having a train centric culture is just not feasible now.
The problem with transit isn't lack of money. It's too much. what subsidies did was pervert work effort and priorities. Instead of providing transportation they provided palaces ie white elephants. Once Transit in US became municipalized in 1960's, Government takeover resulted in switch of priorities. subsidies sent the wrong signals to management and labor. Management interpreted the message to mean: efficiency was no longer primary,”. Labor interpreted the message to mean: management now has a Sugar Daddy who can pay for improvements in wages and working conditions regardless of how much" Transit agencies are more interested in building infrastructure empires than in moving people; Politicians are more interested in building new infrastructure than maintaining the old; The industry has seen a 50-percent decline in worker productivity since it was municipalized; Transit planners refuse to accept that cities no longer have the same job and residential concentrations that they had a hundred years ago.
@@spikedpsycho2383 this is incorrect. even at it's most cash-strapped, japan spent more on public transport than the US has for a population and area a fraction of the size. the reason public transportation is non-existent in the US is because of the oil and car lobby. Even tesla's owner, elon, regularly spreads blatant falsehoods about public transport because it would cut into his bottom line. this isn't even controversial. there are literally thousands of studies on how to implement public transport effectively. asia and europe all have robust public transport options where the governments are stable.
@@spikedpsycho2383 I spent time in Germany, this is exactly how they are ruining their transport system. A lot of Pro-government funded transport people are under the delusion (foreigners) that their system is really good but from speaking with locals in Germany, they know its terrible and don't expect improvements based on how the government spends.
@@snowballeffect7812 Well thats a downright lie from someone who clearly hasn't spent enough time in experiencing these systems. If almost all countries have the same issue, pretty much stemming from the same causes then surely thats warranted a re-think. "Studies" are like imaginary wishlists of what could be but in practice doesn't work.
What really isn't discussed in this video is that while 40% of transit is funded by government subsidies and taxes, that figure for roads is likely near 100%.
once you build a road youll only have to occasionally reseal it, although I guess the continual widening and building bridges and tunnels adds up. Every day you run a bus or train you are spending money on it. You will get tons of postive effects if you improve the transit though.
@@nobody48803idk roads cost a lot to maintain, a freeway is not like a driveway. Plus we subsidise the use of cars in other ways. Fuel is heavily subsidized, parking is a cost shared by everyone through either city tax or higher prices at stores, heck you could argue the nearly trillion dollar annual us military budget through 90s and 2000s was a subsidy for cars 😬
@@nobody48803 if maintained, roads usually last around 20 years before needing to be _completely_ rebuilt. It is not cheap. In suburbs, there's often not enough revenue generated by existing developments to pay for rebuilding those roads. This has played a big role in some cities' bankruptcies (including Detroit) That is a real problem most American cities face, and pretty much all of them resort to building _more_ developments to afford renewing that 20 year lifecycle. In other words, more and more roads are being built just to maintain roads that already exist. You can picture how that goes in the long run.
@@nobody48803 roads require quite a lot of maintenance; which is why there are always roads under construction. Resurfacing, potholes, sealing, inspection, car accidents and the damage those cause, drainage, signals, mowing, improvements. When it isn't construction season, there is snow and ice removal. All with insufficient funding.
I remember watching a video where most tourists in Asia and Europe would rather take their money and be a tourist in Asia or Europe because it's more accessible to travel via mass transit than in the US where an Uber can cost around $20-40 one way.
What I liked best about NYC - as a tourist - we walked everywhere or took the subway. The latter was a little tough to navigate, at first, but the people on the subway were super nice and helpful.
Having visited cities in Asia like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bejing and Guangzhou, I can tell you it's pretty fun to take the transit around there to get around the city.
Interesting point. If a non American were to visit the USA, it’s easier to visit New York, South Beach Miami and a few other places. A popular bus tour among Europeans was at the Grand Canyon I notice …..But most don’t see a normal suburb life that average Americans live. Where I live there literally is no bus.
@@artboymoy As a tourist to those cities, I enjoyed the buses (except for Tokyo because I didn't try any there) more than the subways because the view was so interesting for sight seeing and people watching. There were so many modern EVs, scooters, e-bikes, etc. on the roads (in Chinese cities - especially Shenzhen) to check out through the bus windows. There are some portions of metro lines (in Shanghai, HK, and Chongqing) that go above ground which have some incredible views too. Subways / metros have the edge in smoothness, comfort, speed and convenience generally speaking.
This is probably the first time in a decade that I've watched a cable news segment and came away feeling not only like I didn't waste my time, but that it was time well-spent. Thank you for making the case for those of us who rely on transit every day to support our way of life. Our voices tend to get drowned out by the highway roar.
Better public transportation would be a win-win for everyone, less pollution, lower obesity rates, better accessibility for those who can’t or are unwilling to drive, meanwhile the roads will be emptier and safer for car enthusiasts and people who just like driving.
My car has been in the shop since April (it's almost out!). Since then, I've had to take buses to make ends meet. My body is SO much more capable of just doing things since I started bussing. A few days ago I was lugging a 5gal water jug from the bus to my house and realized that when I started doing this, I had to rest multiple times. The other day, it was a single straight shot, barely out of breath at all. I can't imagine the benefits our health care system would reap if a significant portion of Americans started using buses more. It woud be hard to measure, but I guarantee it would change things.
@@psriniv1 Yep, here in NYC there are chubby people but it's very rare to see the morbidly obese because the nature of the city requires walking. Even drivers often must park on the street and walk blocks to/from their destination.
This is actually one of the things that surprised & disappointed me on my first US trip as a tourist. Prior to this, the only 'developed' countries I've been to were Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and all of them had amazing public transport system. I was expecting the same in the US bec I was thinking it was a rich country & prob placed a lot of money on this aspect
Conservative Americans are very freedom minded and don't like being beholden to public transit timetable schedules or even traveling in enclosed spaces with strangers. Conservative states much prefer the flexibility, privacy and convenience of traveling on your own schedule in your own vehicle. Liberal Americans don't mind public transit, however liberal states are overrun by drug addicts and street thugs due to weak and often times pro-drug addict criminal justice policies in liberal states. Hence the conclusion is that Public transit will never work in most places in America. Not in liberal States due to the public transit being full of dirty or thieving drug addicts nor in conservative states due to the conservative mindset of liberty and freedom.
One thing this video is missing is the discussion about land-use. Transit and land-use policy are intrinsically linked and you cannot have good transit without good land-use. When the federal government (through the federal housing administration) decided that low density suburbs were the only form of housing they would invest in, they sealed the fate of most transit networks. You don't need insane levels of density to make transit work, but you do need better density than what most (US) suburbs have.
Bu-But think about poor Tracey and her 2 Acre home!!! Her kids can play football outside with the whole neighborhood!! (They haven't played outside since they were 4 and play Fortnite instead)
I think cities should be designed more like New York. The city itself is high density with a well-connected transit system which is, by nature, hostile to cars. Because the city is difficult for cars to navigate, people coming in from the suburbs in Jersey or Long Island often opt to take the train in to the city and connect via the subway to wherever they need to get to once they're in the city.
@@Klako-ls6yt While yes I agree, I wouldnt design it that much like NYC, they lack some things that makes that kind of density work well. That density is good tho for cities, especially mixed use properties, just as long as people arent forced into one type of living accomodation.
As an American who’s lived in Europe, if I were to tell anyone what I miss the most about being there on top of anything else, is how easy, safe and accessible public transportation is there. The places I lived, the nearest subway or tram line(s) were only a very short walk away, and then I could easily get around all over the city. You really get to see the community when you’re on the public transit system. You don’t really get to see the community when the vast majority of the population is driving in the box of a car. It’s been 5 years since I’ve returned to America, and there’s almost not a day that goes by where I’m reminded how much I loathe the car culture here. I really don’t like the lack of public transportation and how much American cities and suburbs are designed in a way to make you rely on a car to get almost anywhere. And being in Southern California, you’re really looked down upon for not driving a car. I’ve traveled a few times into Los Angeles using the metrolink (the Amtrak train network that connects the greater Los Angeles area). It takes two hours to get to Union Station in downtown. The regional trains in Europe would have gotten me to my destination much quicker than this. And when I take the Metro rail lines in Los Angeles, the services aren’t so great and there’s this feeling of not being safe while riding the transit lines. It’s also one of many reasons why America has an obesity crisis. If you use public transportation, you have some form of exercise through walking to where you need to go. Getting around through a car limits that exercise. And just a side note, there’s been a few times when I’ve been on a station platform waiting on a transit line to come and I see a foreign tourist using the transportation system. I can’t help but feel embarrassed because I know for a fact how much better the transportation system is for them back home.
As an American that’s lived in a major Asia city for the past 20 years, the one thing I miss about the US is my car. The one saving grace here is the motorcycle taxis, which are by far the fastest way around town for short-moderate length trips. I will give the metro here one nod - it isn’t full of thugs and hooligans like in the US.
I just can’t understand this. You can’t even bring home groceries and I’m certainly not going to be able to bring home any real supplies. It seems to be useful as a novelty to me for people who like to go out to eat constantly, museums, bars, etc but for actual day to day life I see zero practical use.
@@blueoval250ok, so use transit to get to work and to get a few groceries, and use a car to load up on a huge amount of supplies. it's not all or nothing. you see it as all or nothing because currently the only option is a car. if there were OPTIONS, it would be better for EVERYONE
@@user3wx9V-178 public transit isn’t going to take me to work. I don’t live in a city or near a town. I’d have to walk severalmiles to get to a main road.
@@blueoval250 that sounds like you live in a rural area. it's always country folks trying to tell those of us who live in cities how to do URBAN planning. this has nothing to do with you.
After living in Shanghai and Hong Kong for a number of years, I realize what I miss the most is being able to safely walk places and the access to good public transportation (including taxis, when needed).
What I really can’t imagine as a European is not the lack of transit, that’s somewhat straightforward, but the lack of walkability (or bike-ability). I just don’t get it. Are there really suburbs without sidewalks?
@@LeanderKu No. Just certain collector roads that interface with the highway. Some have sidewalks but they're narrow and others don't. These roads are where most of the big box stores, gas stations and fast food restaurants are among other businesses.
@@LeanderKu Yes, mine has sidewalks on some streets and all of the arterials, but not on many of the slower, quieter side streets. I consider it eminently walkable and bikeable. Googlemap Encinitas CA and zoom in on some of the satellite views.
Yes. A lot of small cities & suburbs have are lacking sidewalks. Areas around schools or other "important" places might have them but there will be more without. And what's funny is drivers tend not to notice the lack of sidewalks because several miles is nothing in a car. But walk just a mile in any direction where I live & the sidewalk disappears at least once.
As much as I love my car, I have come to the conclusion that I would prefer an efficient public transit system. Seeing the systems in Asia really opened my eyes up as to what is possible; their subways and busses are clean, safe, and punctual. I hope the US can make this happen sooner than later
It's not easy to happen in US. You take money away from car industry, you take land away from private property, you take profit away from oil industry. Plus, public transit industry lose profits by itself. Since everyone lose money, it will not be properly funded.
That's a cultural difference. We have "good" public transit in New York. It's disgusting and unsafe. If you think transit elsewhere in the US would be better.. good luck.
@@smacpats6379 Losing profit is one point, culture is another point. Many Americans think owning a car is freedom. Even excellent public transit can't always do point A to B directly, but cars can. Only poor people will take cheap public transit.
@@liujun050612 My point is moreso that safe transit in the US is and will be an oxymoron for the foreseeable future, because our country is full of crazy bloodthirsty drug addicts.
@@liujun050612 In many cities outside of the US this simply isn't the case when there's traffic. Bus lanes and transitways bypassing traffic make the time required to transfer negligible.
My grandma and grandpa met on a train. I literally would not be here if not for public transport. I wish we had more of it in this country, it could help to bring people together again, all of us in our own little car on the highway is just another thing that keeps us all apart from each other.
As an American who lived in Europe for a time, one of the things I actually missed was the reliable public transportation system. And there were times when I told people how I got around, there were occasions where I got looks like I was speaking a foreign language because it’s not a common thing here in America
@@ThomasJr Are you South Americans so ashamed of your country that you rather be called by the continent you're on than by your country? French people don't care about being called European. Chinese people don't care about being called Asian. Why do you care about being called American. Sounds like you are the one with the problem.
You don’t even mention Boston, where the once-adequate transit system is _literally_ falling apart: concrete falling from station ceilings, doors falling off trains, trains catching fire in tunnels and on bridges, tracks so poorly maintained that the trains have to run 15mph or slower on large portions of the lines. And the federal safety agency found dispatcher offices were so understaffed that they forced the MBTA to increase time between trains from 5 minutes to 20 minutes or more. The backlog for urgent repair is so large and it just keeps getting worse, and I don't see how they're going to get out of this spiral because nobody wants to spend money on what seems to be a failing system.
No one bothers to mention that it's not enough to just build the mass transit stations but that they will also require constant funding to keep it online.
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated: Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._* So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_ It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_* Please, *examine the books* of Boston and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
I came to the USA from a thirld world country. Guess what, the public transportation here is much worse than in my country of Uzbekistan. What a shame.
Welcome to one of the richest countries in the world. We don't need public transit because we can afford cars. Cars bring freedom, the freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want.
I’m confused… people are fleeing g the bigger cities with good public transit. Why? I’m 70 miles from NYC and some of my taxes fund NYC people riding it for free. Explain?
CNBC forgot to mention the crime that plagues city transit systems. Those are the main reasons I try to stay away from MTA and CTA. had some sketchy experiences using them, especially at off-peak hours.
Makes sense... Considering CNBC is very liberal and refuses to denounce crime. I remember being in NYC last summer and a Deloitte executive was pushed into the rails at Time Square station and died. Dude didn't even get jail time. Hmmm I wonder if that makes transit a bad experience. Main reason I use a car in most cities is because of safety concerns.
As a Northern VA resident, I'm horrified that our public transit system is still apparently considered one of the better ones in the USA. I regularly wait 20+ minutes for a train. My commute can vary anywhere between 45 minutes and 3 hours on a whim, with no announcement. It is impossible for me to get to my friend's house (30 minutes by car) without a 7 hour bus ride. There is regularly trash in the trains. I've been on a derailed train at least twice. I can't remember the last time some part of the system wasn't shut down for maintenance. About 30% of the escalators don't work.
Yep. I saw the DC area metro being ranked high in this video, and I was like.... Ask anyone in the DC area about that Silver Line they took 20 years to build ;)
I live in LA for 4 decades. Despite 100 billion dollar investment, LA public transportation is still much worse than North VA. I visited DC couple times. I have friends living in North VA. One time, I even chose Pentagon City mall n Crystal City as tourist attractions. I came all the way to DC just to see shopping centers. People laughed at me. It is so difficult for non car drivers to get to shopping centers. As a non car driver, I came to DC to fulfill that dream. My aunt told me public transportation in DC suburb was terrible. She lived in Rockville. She compared that with New York n Boston. For me, I compared with LA, DC, DC suburb in Maryland n NVA are like paradise. Every time I came to DC, shopping centers were one of destinations. I hate shopping, but I came to DC to fulfill the missing dream, going to shopping centers. LA has spent so much money, going to many bigger name shopping centers for nearby towns is a daunting task for non car drivers. I know if I grow up in Rockville or NVA, I may hate that area, but I grew up in LA. Every time I visit DC, I hate LA more.
“American cities weren’t BUILT for the car. They were DESTROYED for the car.” Mass transit used to be the norm. Streets used to be mixed use and walkable. Undoing the damage of car centric infrastructure though might be very difficult.
with the way this future generation's trends are going, mass transit is going to have to return to the norm. cities are gentrifying, car ownership has plummeted, and there is a lot more consciousness on one's wallet (e.g they're poor) as compared to previous generations. a fight for mass transit is a fight for the future.
Whats wrong with continuing our car culture the way it is? EV's are becoming more popular every year, and eventually they'll be the only cars on the road. An with autonomous tech improving with every software update, accidents will start to decrease as well. We don't need public transport, we're America.
@@ghost_mall Well everyone wants to live in a nice large house and big land so you can't have everything. Here in Seattle area you have large Park N Ride parking garages and you can leave your car for free and use the transit network but you need to drive from your house to the location and for many that means back-tracking or going away from the destination so it takes longer to get to the transit connection and then also lose time with the light rail or bus having to repeat the path beyond where you live so overall the trip takes longer perhaps a lot longer but you save on fuel I guess so it depends on locations, flexibility of work hours and so on but it limits how many customers can be served. Some companies offer free transit use here by loading up some money on your Orca card, the transit card.
The United States has some of the worst public transportation in the developed world. Public transportation in the US is chronically underfunded. there is an investment backlog of $176 billion. This backlog includes repairs and upgrades to existing infrastructure, as well as new construction.
I would rather put my money on cars than rails. Unless railways system give me on-time, on-demand service, with impeccable personal privacy and security, and cleanliness per ride.
Many US cities have great transit come here to Seattle there are street cars and light rail and pretty large bus network with dedicated lanes and even bridges and very parking garages where people can park their car for free and use the transit system. However Americans are very very individualistic so no amount of public transit will change that.
I visited Madrid, Spain this summer and got to experience what it’s like to be in a huge city with reliable public transit. It was life changing!! I was so sad to come back to LA and sit in traffic every day
Finally, at the end the professor hits the nail in the head when he says that we have to design cities and suburbs around public transit and get rid of the zoning. Otherwise let’s be honest, even if the buses are frequent and reliable no one in the right mind will choose to take a bus over the car if their place of work is 30 miles away from their house.
Oh, but the folks who live far out - in my city, at least - have the option to take the regional heavy rail trains which are even more appealing. You usually have to park and ride from a suburb but they're great.
Another silly problem is there is a large group of people that say that public transit is somehow taking away their freedom. Just because there's public transit doesn't mean you can't drive!
@@ghost_mallbecause cleaaarly it’s more important that someone take up valuable road space with the most space-inefficient method of travel, just for their own benefit, than that road space being shared in the most equal way. duh. their freedom to be in a metal box is more important than anyone else’s freedom to move efficiently.
There's a lot to unpack in that comment but I'd say the people argue that are completely wrong. If anything a great, well-funded public transportation system would give them even more freedom and mobility. Emphasis on well-funded. I went to Japan recently and their public transportation is amazing. They are entirely different from the US keep in mind. Japan is tiny compared to the US so it's much easier to build the infrastructure for public transportation there. The US is so massive it'd still take decades for us to have a fully-functioning transportation system even close to their level. The geography of the US is just much more convenient for cars if you think about it. But it never hurts to have public transportation in huge metro states like Texas, California, or Florida.
The channel "not just bikes" made an excellent video why actually the opposite is the case. If people can use public transit and bikes to get around (or just can walk), less people will drive. This means for people, who still want or have to drive, less congestions and they can get around faster.
I’m not sure if certain history facts were edited out or just omitted but I found this piece flawed in general. There is plenty of evidence that the auto industry deliberately and meticulously bought up trolley car companies to actively persuade (perhaps push) car ownership. Additionally the marketing of cars as synonymous with freedom. Lastly the video spoke about the economics of mass transit and the high costs. But spoke little about how much we subsidize the building of roads and gas/oil companies. All of these issues have greatly impacted the perception and thus the success of mass transit in the US. If you own a car and you drive as much as the average American it still sits unused more than 21 hrs a day. Yet, it’s costing you at a bare minimum $200-300 per month with $500-800 being closer to reality.
A major part of the problem is that a lot of housing (particularly in suburbs) has been designed with driving in mind, rather than around mass transit lines, making it a lot more difficult to cover a lot of people on a few transit lines. It's much more cost-effective to service apartments and townhouses than sprawling suburbs.
That's a huge problem. However how do you convince people that giving up their giant houses with pools, space for the kids and dogs, and all is worth it and living in a cramped concrete jungle with cheap walls and a bunch of strangers and less significantly less room. It would take a huge cultural shift for people to give up single family homes in mass like that. Just drive around in the suburbs. Be it those terrifying cookie cutter home neighborhoods, older brick homes, or just normal houses standing by themselves. I don't think many people are willing to give up the way they live in a single family home for a apartment.
@@baronvonjo1929 Part of the problem is the builders: Houses are just too big nowadays, and there aren't as many per land area as there once were. There are plenty of alternatives that allow people to live closer together (row houses and duplexes, for instance) AND have less yard to mow.
@@baronvonjo1929 I'm one of those people who doesn't want to give up his home in the suburbs. I worked hard to have four walls of my own and a yard. I don't want to live in an apartment or townhouse where my neighbors' business is also my business. I want space. I want land to do what I want. Some people want to live in cities and that's fine. Many people don't. I don't care that a townhouse or apartment may be cheaper, I'll spend my money how I please. I'd rather be happy than value efficiency over everything else.
People don't have to give up their homes. Look at countries like Switzerland, who have famously quick, constant coverage even to small, mountain villages comprised of houses that are all far apart! If the problem is that people can't or are too lazy to walk, that's where intermediaries come in, like small buses. My Greater LA city has a tiny city bus that constantly putters around the neighborhood and stops at the Metro bus stops along with regular city locales. It's mostly little old ladies that ride it so they don't have to wander down a busy street to their stop.
In the US, cars are synonymous with money, and public transit is synonymous with being low income. It’s sad to see the state of disrepair that a lot of cities’ transit stations are in. We definitely need to rethink our relationship with transit and understand that increased mobility benefits everyone. Plus, it’s monumentally healthier for our planet, which is badly needed during this time of ever-expanding climate crises.
when Cars were invented and developed they used the same infrastructure as Horses and buggies. That put them at a HUGE advantage over rail which required it's own dedicated infrastructure. Even in 1941; 91% of passenger miles were by car at the Height of economic depression. Even before cars became popular cities were emptying out. From 1880s to 1920, the economic forces that led to the construction of dense downtowns have been largely replaced by decentralizing forces. The appalling living conditions faced by some of these families were documented in an 1890 photo book, How the Other Half Lives. This book generated a movement by urban planners to try and improving housing and living conditions, if possible by moving those people to the suburbs and providing them with cheap transit service to the cities. When under axle bus was invented, it out moded streetcar as a means of transportation. Car Lobby didn't make society car centric; urban planners did because they desired to eliminate working class rif raff.
The Point is Low-income and working class people have Three strikes against them: 1: often their homes aren’t located near the best jobs and where they Shop and eat may differ than where transit is routed. 2: They may have More than One job significant distance that diverts significant travel times as well as destinations like where they can afford to shop or send kids to school. 3: the jobs they have or qualify for are most likely to have strict hours rather than flextime or remote working. Since those strict hours often require them to go to or from work during rush hours, congestion and aggressive urban policies are detrimental to working class people. Anti-car political policies Do More to harm low-income people more than it harms higher-income people. Biking is acceptable for children and urban yuppies and what I call Laptop class whose job is sitting behind computer typing up gobbledygook. And transit is fine for people whose work may be a downtown office. But people who Work physically even higher income, trekking Several miles in humidity or uphill is physically exhausting especially reserving stamina for the work they have to do 9 to 5 and transit may still take time. That's why biking, transit and walking is fundamentally inferior form transportation. That's why scooters and gas mopeds are superior for people modest budgets. And cheap cars ORDERS magnitude more convenient especially for families, children and inclement weather.
Before the Automobile, Active/Social life barely a thing & existed to consolidate work/kids. Women rural/City America spent 6-9 months virtually alone. Outdoor recreation was enclave of elite. When Cars were invented wages grew; even poor Americans could have "Social Life"
follow the money. public sector unions siphon off money to their pension funds, which people can retire and start tapping at 55. why is NY MTA allow you to retire with full benefits and pension at 55?
The wealthy and their purchased politicians don't want to benefit everyone, they want to benefit themselves. That is exactly the problem with nearly everything in this country, combined with the fact that millions of us keep on helping them with that agenda with our votes. Self destructive, money worshipping choices. It's stupid and we could do so much better.
I rode public transit for 3 years after I was out of work and lost my car. Its what kept my head above water. Literally 90% of the people I was riding with, outside of the homeless, were going to and from work too. Car prices these days are really ridiculous. When you think about it, how crazy is it that 90% of the population walks around with a cellphone that isnt paid off, a car that isnt paid off and select few have homes that put them in debt too. The ones that dont have a home, usually want the home along with thr obligations that go along with it too. Idk where this world is going but this simply isnt sustainable.
I’ve always appreciated living near public transportation, my cars have had problems at time and having access to public transportation is a life saver. Living near public transportation gives me something I will never take for granted “options” and also in the event my car becomes non-operational public transportation give me more time to save up for repairs and the ability to get to work.
What's funny is for me I need a car to get to the nearest public transit station, unless I want to bike on a main road for 30+ minutes or whatever it takes. And that's sad. Good on you for getting places however.
@@TheStickCollector that’s why it’s important for the federal government to put more of a emphasis on public transportation people who live out in Boyle communities are pretty much living in the 1930s. Know one should have to live with out access to water, food or transportation it’s 3rd world conditions.
Exactly! When I was like 20 I got my license suspended and it was a complete nightmare to get to college and work! The bus would pass every hour and it would end at 9:00. I’m 39 now and I only live in cities with good public transportation like San Francisco or NYC.
The Netherlands is PROOF that better public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure IMPROVES driving by car. WAZE did a study a few years ago and put the Netherlands at number one for being the best country for car drivers in the world. While it also is the best country for biking and one of the best for walking. Public transport is OK, but certainly not the best in the world, however that is probably due to the options to cycle everywhere. Being one of the strongest competition for (local) public transport options like busses and trams.
@@jgg204 Not only is it flat and small, but the average high temperature in August is only 72 degrees and the average low in January is 34 degrees, with very little snow in the winter. Yeah, no wonder cycling is popular there. There are very few places in the USA with that weather.
went on a vacation to London this summer.... I was amazed at how efficient their public transportation system is. everything is easy to use, pay w phone, multiple options to get most places, always on time & Google app will tell you how crowded it is and even if it's stuffy inside. I can't imagine the US ever getting to that point.
@@Yuvan-qv2xd Us Americans would gladly take the UKs "dismal" public transit, because ours is still a lot worse. You can still get to most places other than the very smallest towns by train. In the US a lot of larger towns and smaller cities especially in red states don't even have bus service. You usually need to go to a mid sized city to even see a decent bus system and maybe a tram that goes a few places. Major cities in the western half of the country will probably have a light rail system (tram that operates like a commuter train) and maybe some half baked 3rd rate commuter railroad. You have to go to the major cities of the Northeast corridor to see huge transit systems in the US. The Northeast Corridor is the only place in the US that is well connected with everything from Metros, to commuter trains to inter-city trains that are faster than flying on certain routes, but it's all very aging infrastructure that is being pushed to its limits because most of those systems were built 100+ years ago, that is why America's only high speed train is only about 15min faster than the standard train on that route (Acela is only 25mph faster than a regular NEC train and there's only about 50mi of track in the corridor where Acela can even hit its 150mph top speed vs the 125mph top speed of the normal train).
@@wolf6462Depends on where you go. I am from London originally but recently moved up to Leeds. The transport system in Leeds is ok for what it is. It’s cheaper than London and the trains are pretty connected to nearby towns and cities. The buses can get pretty busy in the town centre and there are frequent buses here. But as soon as you leave the city, dependant on where you are going of course, the transport isn’t that great. However, most cities and urban towns in the UK still have a decent public transport system.
If the US had not focused so much on the “future of the car” then public transportation would still be a viable option. Just look at Europe, they’re not car dependent and at least you have the option to choose to drive or take public transportation. In the US it’s pretty much required to have a car if you want to go anywhere, which is really sad
Europe, because the cities are much older and more much more densely populated than the USA, the demands on public transit are quite high. That's why the UK's experience with passenger rail when British Rail was created in 1948 prove disastrous because they never did a decent unified _national_ plan for commuter and long-distance rail service (and it's still kind of variable in quality even in 2023).
I agree. Look I am Canadian and American from my Dad .Problem is America is literally way to bi Polar and immature and operated by big corp. Any Rhetoric has to come down
Before cars, public transportation was still viable in the US. Just look at the old Los Angeles streetcar system. It went all the way to San Bernardino.
Coming from Australia where public transport is reliable and for everyone, I was quite surprised to see in a lot of big US cities that public transport was primarily for poor people. Says a lot about a country that you've allowed this to happen.
Yes same for me. Grew up in a town of 4000 people in switzerland. And never felt the need to learn how to drive. Now i'm starting to take lessons at age 30, because i'm not living close enough to friends and family anymore to easily get someone to drive me those 3-4 times a year where i actually need it.
@@franciscodanconia4324every developed country generates enough income that nearly everyone can, in theory, own a car. It’s not that people in Switzerland can’t afford a car, Switzerland is very, very rich. Pervasive car ownership is not something unusual since the 1960s
When I worked at a design company in Boston, MA, we had a good transit system, but no one in the company except me used it. Parking at the time (mid-1990s) was $25/day, and they all complained about sitting in traffic for an hour just to get out of the center of the city, but it was a status symbol that you drove to work, paid for parking, and didn't ride with the masses on the MBTA. This attitude was prevalent with employees at other companies as well. One woman I knew had a bus stop half a block from her apartment, but to ride it would lower her in the eyes of her colleagues, so she drove and paid the exorbitant parking fees she really couldn't afford.
You are the only person I have ever heard describe the MBTA as "good." It is a total disaster. I've lived my entire life in Massachusetts, and it has always been that way. Back in the 1970's and 80's the Red Line was affectionately known as the Vomit Comet. Luckily, I live far enough outside the city that I never have to risk my life by getting on one of those death traps they call trains. Now the mayor wants the rest of the state to bail out 50 years of neglect by her predecessors.
@@briangpz What you say is true, but my bus and the red line got me home faster than anybody driving in rush-hour traffic at the end of the day and who lived closer to work than I did.
@@anilprasanna It’s the same with the commuter rail. It runs once hourly since the COVID lockdown, even now that the lockdown is over. Where I live, people would still rather drive their cars because of the lack of service.
One thing that is not mentioned here is the loneliness of the typical American city. People barely interact because there are no places to meet, so you have no social interaction (not to be confused with social relation) with people unless they are in your immediate circle. In Brazil you can be in contact with other people just by riding the subway or a bus. In a city like Miami, Orlando or Jacksonville, you can feel so desolate and bored. Usually the only people who don't get bored in a city like Jacksonville are the locals. It can be very isolating.
The cities are typically only meant for the locals, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Locals usually vote for how they want their city to be. They aren't for outsiders. Outsiders don't get a say.
Yeah, why can't we all live like New Yorkers who get crammed like sardines into a subway during rush hour so everyone can't help but rub shoulders with each other and...stare into their phones or in some safe direction where they won't lock eyes with some unhinged guy who wants to pick a fight? Why can't _all_ American cities experience that cure for loneliness?!
@@CornyBum Ok, tell me if the typical american city has any place where people can mingle. No, it doesn't. NY has it, Toronto has it. Some cities have no walk abouts where people can see people, bc everybody is in their cars.
@@ThomasJr How does a city meet your standard for having a "place where people can mingle"? Also, what makes you think that the typical American city suffers from loneliness?
@@ThomasJr We don't WANT to see each other. If people in a community DO want to interact with other people, there are sports activities and events that they can participate in/be a spectator of. After interacting with bosses, co-workers, and/or customers all day long, who wants to be around other people besides family (and sometimes including family)?
I live in the US and recently traveled to Madrid. I was shocked with how much public transportation there was. you could walk, drive, or a take a tram car anywhere. Even in there suburbs.
I love how much people are talking about car dependency these days. Just in the past couple years, videos like this are everywhere. I hope this is the start of a real paradigm shift in the US toward sustainable urbanism.
I've been noticing this too and I've been hoping it finally leads to some change here in the U.S. As of right now, I don't really want to live out my life in the U.S. and have been thinking about moving to Japan when I get the chance but it'd still be nice to have something good come up here.
@@jgg204 Nah dude but taking the subway in NYC was the best thing in the world coming from a San Diegan that's hiked all the biggest mountains in the country.
Most of us Americans generally (and perhaps correctly) assume that our country's wealthy and powerful oil interests basically dismantled our public transit systems in favor of gas guzzling highways. Like most other towns in the Midwest, all the roads in my city center have electric trolley rails still underneath the asphalt. There was no need to build the infrastructure, it was already there. They just paved over it.
@@SSHitMan Roads have mazes of power lines and telephone poles already, not to mention all the stuff underground. Big difference is, with trolley lines you aren't walking on or across the tracks lol, so it's no issue.
@@snaffu1 Go look at old pictures of cities that have trolleys. It's an absolute unsightly mess of overhead wires. And I don't know what cities you're thinking of but most bury their electrical lines with overhead confined to alleys.
@@SSHitManInstead I can look at pictures from today of trolleys from San Francisco, or in other first world developed nations, and none of them have this "unsightly mess of wires" problem. A century of technological advancement tends to solve any of that. Hook that train Kool aid to my veins.
I liked her last point. I think too many Americans are stuck in their own bubbles and using more public transport could integrate us better as a society.
Some of us don't want to be integrated. Others, want to ride public transportation but get tired of being harassed, panhandled, or assaulted so they don't ride.
They just stare at their phones or record other passengers as they get attacked by criminals and or crazy people, sharing the latest plague in a confined space is also fun....
I would rather have the privacy of my own truck in the morning and evening. Sharing a ride in a filthy bus or train with some crackhead strung out on fentanyl is not how I want to start and end my days.
I actually love that last point Prof. Fan made at the end. That transit is a public space where people of all backgrounds come together. That personally is my favorite reason for riding transit. I can see people of all backgrounds riding together.
@@EricaGamet If you ride the subway late on a Saturday night and get to be the middle of a human sandwich comprised of you and two or more quarter ton sistahs wearing clothes a size too small on purpose, you will learn all about mass. Hope you like your ladies Lizzo size.
@@tuckerbugeater You're a good example of how damaging the loss of community is in the US. Americans feel like everyone else is a "smelly bum", because they never interact with their community
I realized last year that as someone who can't drive due to my reaction time and coordination being really bad, I'd have to leave the USA to have decent mobility. As it stands, I just feel trapped and isolated. It's really sad because I like my job a lot. It's the one thing keeping me from becoming an expat.
.. With respect why cant you move to 1 mile from workplace and walk. Spend money to live close.. Avoid wasting 1 hour a day so 1/16th of waking life so 8% on commute. Live close you idiots most are idiots and then whine for govt help...
@@Kizarat ...everyone in 1950s so disliked transit they all bought cars. The people voted with their money. My grandma decided and wasn't tricked, it wasn't a conspiracy you morons.... Cars easily won despite transit having decades head start..... Especially cold half of year people want cars. Transit sucks compared to cars.. it's weird to argue otherwise against historical proof and your own experience and your entire family experience.... I walk, I'm a weirdo, I sweat.. transit and relying on govt to be on time and NEVER GO ON STRIKE is a dumb dumb dumb idea.... Transit lovers arr dumb liars..
I'm not sure why everyone thinks public transportation needs to be profitable. Police, fire departments, city lights, public bathrooms, roads, public schools, parks, our law making politicians etc are not profitable.
It’s because people have the right to determine what is done with their tax dollars, and if they say they don’t want to fund mobility for people they don’t like, that’s it. Cities are black. Whites don’t like blacks because of the degeneracy associated with them; they fled to the suburbs to avoid them. They don’t want to find black mobility, therefore cities do not get the funding for mass transit because it is for blacks. Question answered.
Another problem in US is that public transit and walking is looked downed by some people. I still remember when I first came to the States for work a girl weirdly looking at me when I said I like to walk if it’s within 15mins distance😅
The automobile industry fights hard against public transit in America.They want you to be in debt with a car payment, insurance,gas, repairs with no other alternative.
Years ago I relied on public transportation (city buses) and these are the two biggest issues I encountered: 1. Long wait times and service cutoff late in the day . I felt stressed about missing my bus knowing I’d have to wait 20 min to 1 hour depending on the route, which was not fun in the winter when temperatures dropped below zero. I frequently had to RUN in order to catch the bus. Seeing it drive off was the worst feeling. Missing the last bus of the day meant calling a taxi (Uber/Lyft were not available yet), bothering someone else, or walking. 2. People. Unfortunately, the routes I took picked up a few homeless and drunk individuals who were mentally unstable, dirty, and smelled very very bad.
It's because the transit is designed by an American, who have zero idea about how it works. Just hire someone from Germany/Japan. They'll design it 100 times better
@@pranaym3859I think that's ridiculous. Even if you get a designer from a different country they would face the exact same opposition to getting their designs actually implemented. American designers are not idiots
@@pranaym3859 Wait, what? City bureaucrats run train operations in every scenario I’m aware of. Most of the train manufacturers I’m aware of reside outside of the United States.
I dealt with it too for years!! Bus being late so it means it’s packed up to the point that not everyone can get on or they would straight up skip stops. It felt degrading!
Car infrastructure is also heavily subsidized for driving. Look at our housing, zoning laws, and gas subsidies. We can’t add more lanes on a finite land but we can give citizens freedom to choose their method of transportation like bus, bikes, and even walking. We can’t sell our cities just for car manufacturers.
...gas subsidies? Can you literally name one gas subsidy? From where I'm sitting, it seems as though gas is taxed to hell and back to pay for our roads. Which is how it should be. Just like how fares should pay for public transit.
I work as a train operator in Los Ángeles, and even I want our public transit service to improve. If only we didn’t elect these so-called “puppets from Washington” and have mindful people who wants every transit system in the nation to improve…& only then would we finally invest more in our public transit infrastructure.
I hate people that trash trains. Better security is vital. Not fair to you guys. But that’s where it gets better. Make it nice, safe and clean. People will use it. Maybe making it a closed system would help. Once people start using it more people will make it better and so on and so forth.
I used to love riding the Blue Line from downtown Long Beach to downtown LA. Downtown LA has a lot going for it aside from Skid Row of course. Nowadays that same Blue Line is not safe whatsoever. Druggies, psycho homeless etc. Haven't ridden it for awhile and no plans of ever going on it again. My life is more important then a French dipped sandwich.
@@jaydibernardo4320 - You have no idea what has been happening on the Blue Line (now as the A Line) as there has been a lot of things as to what’s been happening since it’s inception in July 1990. It’s that you’re now seeing things as to what operators in the past has been seeing.
One of the main reasons I decided to leave the USA for good last year. I am so much more active and do a lot more walking throughout the day using public transportation. My body feels better and I sleep better as a result. I lived in Los Angeles for 5 years and I remember getting back pains from sitting in traffic so much in my car. Humans were not meant to live like that.
@eddycarpenter you are so right. Looking at the LA situation from the perspective of a Brit, it's just scary. Those huge 5 lane freeways, completely full of barely moving traffic, it looks like a nightmare. Is that what freedom looks like? Why do people put up with that? Do they really have that little choice over their lives, in terms of where they live, work, and how they travel? I can understand why you would want to move, but surely, not all of the US is like that? There must be places where the balance between car usage and availability (and usage) of public transport is better? One thing that really struck me was finding out how much land was given over to the 'automobile' in the greater LA area, in terms of highways, feeder roads, junctions, car parks, fuel stations etc. I can't remember the exact figure, but it was crazy high, over 50% I think.
@@Wave02ZBecause the demand is so high there to begin with. Mass transit is not the cause, it's the relief valve for the amount of traffic it has to handle.
I used to take bus for my internship when I studied in the Columbus, Ohio. One time, I forgot that my bus ticket is expired already when I got on a bus. The bus driver was kindly enough to let me on the bus. I never forgot his kindness to foreign student like me. It is sad thing to see the US under invested in public transport.
@@jgg204I think he isnt comolaining about this ride exactly. He is saying that even in those conditions he had a good experience and that its sad that the US doesn't invest more in thos mode of transport
It really is sad how car reliant america is. Kids and old people cant get around as easily as people in Europe and Asia, people are overweight due to lack of walking. The car culture allows people to build sprawling bland suburbs.
Public transportation is nothing without the cities being walkable as well. That's what people don't realize. Public transportation alone isn't enough. When I was in Germany, there was barely any car traffic. There were trains all over the city though. My class went to 10 cities and all over the place by train. It was very cheap and very reliable too. In Georgia, public transit is non existent besides a few unreliable busses in like Macon or Savannah. No trains throughout the state though. You have to pay for a slow unreliable bus or have a car.
I walked the entirety of San Francisco within a couple of days and felt safe. Just be vigilant when crossing the street. What is your point about cities not being walkable?
fun fact: many of the big cities in Europe are actually on their way to reducing even more car traffic, there are several government funded projects all over Europe to built more car-free zones, ban polluting and damaging vehicles, make city spaces more biker- and walker-friendly. PLUS, they're making public transport even more affordable through government funding and most countries are at least investing somehow into the public transport infrastructure and railroads, like many buses have become electrical.
Boston is one of the most walkable cities to live in the US car free. They even Tore down their highways. They also have a subway and commuter rail. They are also densely populated. Can’t say the same for cities like Houston or Detroit which are spread out and have a sprawl and lack public transportation. Only thing they have is trolley and buses
Well Boston is largely built before cars. As for Detroit and Houston, one run by auto industry, another by oil industry, you can guess how they want their respective cities designed
I moved to Seattle 6 years ago and the transit was one of the reasons. Certainly not up to NYC/Chicago/Boston levels, but for a west coast city... it was better than other places I've lived. I won't go back to someplace that I have to have a car... if I ever have one again, it'll be because I want one... not be dependent on it.
Just so y’all know, I live in Europe and I have 4-5 different ways of getting to my destination using public transportation so it goes to show how bad the public transport really is in the US
I loved living in central Europe, and experience the transportation system. I asked "WHY?" when I came back to the US. Our cities are expensive to maintain because of the car favor.
I took a train from portland to pasco I think it was $35. It saved me a 4 hour drive. However, the walk from the max line to Union station was really sketchy. There were tons of tents set up on the sidewalk and I saw a guy walking around with his pants down to his ankles. The train only went once per day and the trip there arrived late at night. And the one back was super early in the morning. Yeah I saved a little bit of money but the time cost was so much more.
Its a big issue in the states. They are starting to realize you need transit hubs/stops near long commuter train lines and airports... buses meeting up with light rail stops. Additionally they are starting to also build multi-family residences around stations. Things other countries have been doing for decades...
@@Clyde-2055 New York has public transportation all over Manhattan... which all sorts of people use every day. Other cities are building pretty nice apartments around stations. Public transportation isn't just for the poor.
I think of it as having options. Don't want to be forced to drive? You can take a train, a bus, or bicycle safely to wherever you're going. You want to drive? By all means, there'll be fewer cars on the road with you. Choice is freedom.
As an American with epilepsy, I moved to Canada to have access to public transit. I moved back to places with good public transit. And I choose my jobs based on public transit.
I understand you mate. I suffer from tics, and where I live(not the US, but in this meaning it's quite similar to the US) and yes, the bad public transport makes my life horrible here on my spare time.
Love this! Wish this video could've touched on the perceived lack of safety associated with riding public transport as well - recent criminal activity in the subways is also a huge deterrent to civilians wanting to take public transport and may be more difficult to address than high fares and punctuality.
NYC subways are still dramatically safer than they were back in the 70s and 80s. Crime in NYC even with the recent uptick is still an order of magnitude lower than it was 40-50 years ago.
not only better public transit you guys need, more walkable and bikeable cities, more mixed use housing in your cities to support smaller local producers and shop owners - making the life more healthy due to more daily walking and better ways of eating. i live in a medium sized city in germany and having everything in close connection on food or by bus is litterally the best. you get arround everywhere regularely and there is no need to actually own and support a car, no need to search parking space or else - and that comes from a car lover. i really do love cars but i also love to get arround without having to think about driving or gasprices
I remember when I just move to the US, the first stop was Jacksonville, FL. I had no car and I hoped to move around on the bus or train. It was so disappointing to find out there is literally almost none busses exist in the area. Those that exist are infrequent 1-1.5 hours gap between each bus. That just blew my mind how people are forced into owning a personal transportation. Now I’m in DC Metropolitan area and public transport here is much better than in most other parts of the country. But still is nothing close to Asian and European countries. Amtrak is a complete failure and it always was, I still don’t get it how Americans are allowing and enabling all of this to happen throughout decades
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated. Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._* So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_ It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_* Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority (or *anywhere* else) and *prove me wrong!*
Because public transportation delegates your freedom of transport to the government where as a car you choose where to go. In Denver there is a system called the “RTD light rail,” it took 15 years to build and cost billions, when it was finished it could service about a million people and connect nearly all of Denver and it’s suburbs to DIA and in between, next to bus stops and rentable scooters and bikes, you’d except people would be eager to use it, except less than 15-25k use it daily. So when given the option of good, efficient, and reasonable public transportation, Americans don’t and won’t use it. It got so bad CDOT offered FREE tickets so people would just use it, it only improved it by .5 percent. So what a waste of time and infrastructure to just be a massive busts you’ll drive by these light rails on the highway and there’ll be NO ONE in there.
@@jalend9974 According to a commenter above, @MontgomeryMall, Denver commuters don't want to use public transit because of safety concerns. If the transit system is littered with homeless people and drug addicts, if the trains and buses are dirty and smelly, then who would want to ride in them. I live in NYC and ride the MTA. I do have to deal with the unpleasantries mentioned above, but I have no choice because this is the only means I have to get around. It is a matter of lifestyle that I must tolerate and get used to. I am quite fortunate that the few routes I typically ride on are reasonably reliable, and the stations I use are patrolled by many police officers ... so I am counting my blessings. And yes, having a car does represent, to us Americans, independence and freedom, albeit with some drawbacks. I guess in the end, everything in life has a trade-off, it depends on what you are willing to give up.
I rely on public transit to get me most places in the metropolitan city I live in. But it’s exhausting to ride now. Times are unreliable and people are just…gross.
@@tuckerbugeater because if they want to keep their position, they have to ensure that they don't underfund the service the taxpayer uses. why do you think politicians are obsessed with road expansions? even Biden is still catering to the car when he subsidizes EV purchases or funds more bridges and highways for cars. biden literally flew out to Philly just to get a photo op of the burned-out I-95. it is political suicide to yank out goods and services from under the taxpayer's feet.
Times are unreliable because they're underfunded, as explained. People are gross on them because they're broke and/or homeless and get on transportation just to be somewhere inside. Funding helps develop routes to better get people to care/opportunities. And for those who just don't care to be helped, faster and more reliable transportation often pushes them out as they have more chances to get somewhere, and are less likely the wander in well-trekked, staffed, and bright places. Also, the transit systems could afford more sanitation workers. It's not the immediate solution for, but every piece helps ultimately finish the puzzle.
It blows my mind how other smaller countries such as Japan have better transit systems than we do. Now that I lost my vehicle due to an accident i have to rely on our public transit to move around. I havent seen relatives who live across my city in a couple years. It would be nice to be able move about the city with relative ease if the current state of transit was for us instead of against us.
People need to stop being hung up on wanting profitable public transit. It doesn't need to be. It serves the greater good. We do need that investment by the government to make it more appealing to people though, or it can't work.
Countless studies have shown that access to reliable public transportation is the singular most important factor to lift people out of poverty. The US as an innovative and enterprising society can easily provide smart solutions if only the government would make the necessary seed investments.
Completely missed one *key* problem: How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated. Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._* So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_ It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_* Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
@@davidgoodnow269 I would love to hear your solutions to efficient mass transit alternatives across the US. I love to an urgent plan to build at least 10k miles of high speed rail across the US in the next decade. China successfully built that length in the last decade. I am confident that the US can do much better. Whoever is thinking about such plans should please sign me up for free support.
Personal experience: I and my family currently live in a tier-2 city in China. My parents have 2 cars that have been parked in our basement with only infrequent use because the public transit system here is so convenient that driving feels unnecessary, we can just walk for 5mins and there will be either a subway station, a bike rent or a bus stop (for us, we have all 3). My parents loved driving, and they drive almost everyday 10 years ago when we didn't have this much public transit resources. It definitely depends on the location tho, but comparing to my experience living in the US, I would say what we have here now is beyond comparison.
The main reason is that the public transport in the US is corporatized. In China for example, the railway agencies are national, everything, from the track gauges to the electrification are standardized. When you have a corporatized system, the companies will nake desicions based on profit rather than the economic growth of the nation.
China builds trains to nowhere using cheap labor and massive government loans that are meant to jump start their failing economy. Now the infrastructure is crumbling because nobody uses it and the government is out of handouts
It's amazing what you learn about the US when you move out of the US.... it's also very sad because you realize just how badly its broken at every level.
I lived in England for 6 months in college... I was blown away that I was able to do my grocery shopping by bus and the busses were setup to handle that sort of thing. I didn't set foot in a car once the whole time I was there and I never felt limited in any way. It was an eye opening experience
@@scottfrazer4669 What's ironic is UK itself is probably the most car dependent country in alot of its places in Europe even though it was great transit
You don't have to leave. I learn about other countries from RUclips based on other travelers experiences. It's why I'm an advocate against the government's ideas. We are nothing, but a third world country with fancy gadgets.
@@b4rs629 I didnt draw a comparison to the US, I did it with UK to Europe, its unwalkable compared to the rest of the Continent, theres much more things the US does better than UK anyways, however North America overall just needs to work on transit since its been bulldozed for cars
Your job may be on the line if you rely on American public transportation to get to work due to inconsistency and disorganization. For example, there's a bus line with two types of service: one was the "Rapid" which had fewer bus stops, and the regular which stopped at all stops. I had to use the regular since the location of my work lay right in between rapid stops but there'll be two rapid buses that were usually empty vs one regular one that was always full...it'd make more sense to do the opposite. It was very frustrating to see a Rapid and then wait to see another Rapid even emptier with passengers! I'd sometimes kick the bus shelter and curse the system....thank god I no longer need to rely on public transit for job security.
Omg, this is the very situation that I was in. I spent 10 months struggling with the horrible bus service of Jacksonville, where I had to deal with all types of non-sense (sometimes I felt like vandalizing their electronic totems, because they were misleading). Sometimes I missed the bus changes, because of their stupid disorganization. Until I finally got a nice car. Will cost me more but everything is thought out for cars in this city.
I live in Atlanta use public transit whenever I can because it’s cheap and bypasses a lot of the traffic you sit in on the free if you were to drive or Uber. If you learn the routes, get to know the drivers and use the app to track when the buses will arrive it’s pretty good. I have noticed there is a shortage of buses on the weekend. Which makes it harder to get around
One of the biggest problems with public transit in the United States, that no one ever talks about is the fact that it does not feel safe. I was just using San Diego’s public transit the other day, which is actually pretty good for the US. On a trip to downtown the trains and buses have, multiple people screaming and mumbling to themselves I’m guessing from mental problems. On the bus ride home, we stopped at a park in a whole bunch of minors got on every single one of them was blasted, drunk and high, doing them openly on the bus as well. The average person using public transit just wants to go to work or wherever they’re going and come home. No one wants to put up with the hassle of dealing with the typical clientele of public transit.
Best way to deal with this - in my opinion - is by getting to the root of the problem. Better programs to support the addicted and the mentally ill, drug reduction programs, programs to house homeless people that may feel it necessary to get on public transit to escape the elements, etc. Reduce the amount of addicts and homeless on the street and you'll reduce the amount of them on public transit by extension.
I once rode on a public transit bus in a major city. A homeless guy was on the bus. He stunk up the whole bus. It was awful. My eyes were watering the smell was that bad. I was so glad when he got off the bus. The city has homeless shelters, social support programs, etc. Lots of them. It did no good.
All my fellow Americans should travel to other countries - Germany, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and others, and see how this "problem" is easily solved with proper mass transit!
Completely missed one *key* problem: How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated. Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._* So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_ It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_* Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
Thailand public transit is still pretty bad compared to those other three countries. Lots of delays, high prices for locals, poor and undeveloped routes, and closes too early.
Here in Los Angeles public transit has a reputation of being dirty and dangerous, which has pushed more riders into becoming drivers. Transients evade fares and just ride back and forth all day on the subways and light rails. Just yesterday Metro announced they're going to spend millions more on security and cleaning up trains and busses. Only time will tell if it's too little, too late.
For the HK MTR Anything more than a 3 minute wait is super annoying lol and any delay more than 60 seconds is already rare - super fortunate to have super a great system as a teenager, which allows me to get anywhere I want
That´s a great video and the pros and cons are very clear to me.As a tourist, everytime I go to NYC, I use the public trasnsportation very often.In my point of view, I would invest more to have a better public transportation.We must reduce pollution, time, and being stuck in traffic is awful.Thanks for letting me take part of it.
As someone who can't drive due to disability, I'm angry about this every day. There are people like me all over and plenty of them aren't homeless or drug addicts or whathaveyou. Carcentrism is really ableist
Amtrak has been pretty good for me lately. Cheaper than bus tickets, super comfortable, usually on time and even when it isn’t, it somehow gets to my destination early. If its this decent with minimal funding, then it could be amazing if Amtrak got the funding it needed.
@@SCHMALLZZZ that sucks for you on the west coast. Here in the northeast public transportation is actually good. It definitely needs more funding to become great though. Edit: Tickets on Friday August 11th from SD to LA are literally $36 one way lol. Idk the tolls in Cali, if you drive from DC to NYC, which is about a 4 hour drive depending on the traffic, then you’re gonna have to pay at least $40 in tolls anyway. I recently got my ticket for $20, but usually I’m willing to pay up to $80 since I can do work while I’m on the train so my time isn’t wasted.
@@MajorPickleSwag amtrak needs to charge twice as much and operate like a business instead of running on government welfare. but then the # of passengers would drop like what happened to private rail in the 70s.
Amtrak in the NE should be way faster than what it is. They need to demolition parts of Baltimore and Philly to straighten out the track, or just build a brand new HSR line that hits the outskirts of the cities.
There is a way for transit authorities to operate without federal "investment" dollars and it's called value capture (VC). In Asia there are multiple private rail companies that operate profitability by monetizing the land around stations, Ie shopping malls, office complexes, apartment buildings etc. Hong Kong's MTR in particular has done a masterful job providing excellent service and remaining profitable at the same time, from what I've read. Apparently they own like 13 malls and other buildings directly next to stations.
This is very popular in Japan where i lived for a decade too. But those companies acquired the land more than 100 years ago. YOu don't have enough money for any of that now.
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated. Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._* So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_ It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_* Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
Lived in Hong Kong for a bit years ago. Their trains came every minute during rush hour…no delays, cheap, everyone used it, trains are spotless, and the agency turns a profit every year. It’s possible.
I'm an American who currently lives in Europe (for work) and has lived in Europe for over 10 years. I've also lived in Kansas City and the Wash DC area. It is absolutley a cultural thing that prevents us from embracing public transit. Of course there are lots of cars in Europe, but Europeans value living in walkable cities over everything else. Suburbs (like in the U.S.) are not here because of the culture. Europeans don't care about the house with the white picket fence. I saw a map of public transportation rail in Europe and in the U.S. and it is laughable how little the U.S. has when compared to Europe. Americans love their cars, and we're taught that the American dream means a house with a yard, a couple kids and one or two cars. There's nothing wrong with that if you don't mind driving a lot. There is literally nothing but flat plains between Kansas City and Denver, and yet if you look at a map of Amtrak there is no rail connecting the two cities. So your choices are flying or driving 9 hours. Flying has ceased to be a pleasurable way to travel, and if you can't drive too much you're stuck.
I had to use public transit in Portland OR. Every day in the morning, you’d have some passed out drunk bothering people. On the way home I was always wary of hoodlums around me. I really tried to keep to myself and be ready to defend myself. I saw lots of people get punched for no apparent reason. After a Trailblazer game that I took my young daughter to, a dude firehose vomitted straight into one of the windows of the train. I’m so glad I don’t live there anymore.
@@chrisaycock5965In every city transit makes sense. Even those with only 100,000 population. It just needs to be funded and used before it can become better than driving.
@@dylanc9174well, the transit needs to be combined with greater density. a bus in a single-family neighborhood is a lot less efficient than in even a medium-density neighborhood. so it’s important that in addition to letting people reach other destinations, people should also have *more* potential destinations to reach in the same general area.
Trains don't stop on my doorstep, nor does it stop at the doorstep of my job or my friends' houses. Trains don't run at all hours. Trains don't let me control the temperature, or choose a radio station or podcast to listen to without headphones. Trains don't have a large trunk where I can dump sports equipment, or even all my belongings before moving cross country. Trains don't let friends and I travel together and have private conversations about potentially sensitive topics. Trains don't let me take an alternate scenic route if I want. Trains make me wait outside in the heat, cold, or rain for them to show up. Trains struggle to run when there are leaves on the track, when there is a power outage (for electric metro and commuter trains).
@@dylanc9174 No, it doesn't. It doesn't even always make sense in dense cities. I, and many other americans, dont want to sit on a packed bus / train that takes double the time to get where I want to, and then have to walk additional distance to get there. Plus you can't transport anything other than what you can carry. Not to mention that I now have to pay more taxes to fund something that I wont even use. I dont get this obsession with transit. It just doesn't make sense in most of the U.S. It is great in DENSE cities, such as New York, but falls apart as soon as you get to anything remotely suburban.
I visited America years ago, and while walking from one shopping centre across to some other nearby shops only a few hundred metres away, I actually had some dude in a truck yell "Get a car!" at me......
It is absolutely insane that our society assumes that everyone can be a pilot, and that not making it home from work or an errand is just the cost of doing business. That's not even touching on emissions and petrochemicals and their effects on our health and environment.
The main issue is that our government officials look at public transit as a business and worried so much about ROI which it shouldn’t be it’s a public service if it was good we would ride it more. I’m in Miami we’re so happy to have the BrightLine here to take a train from Miami to Orlando and back without having to drive.
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated. Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._* So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_ It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_* Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority (or *anywhere* else) and *prove me wrong!*
This is because the US is designed to keep the poor poor and make the rich richer. Access to transportation allows for social mobility. In most cities, the cost of housing is too high to own a car, and owning a car in the city is also more expensive than owning one in the suburbs, due to parking and insurance costs. So the peasants are forced to work locally to pay their landlords and have no means to escape or find work outside a certain radius of their homes. This is American dream - to maintain the status quo.
I'm 53 and never got my driver's license. I was always an urban guy. I don't like driving and actually get sick in cars. I enjoy walking, biking, running, and taking public transportation. Fun fact: Albert Einstein never learned how to drive. He thought it was too complicated and preferred riding his bicycle. 😊
We need some walkable cities. I miss walking in Europe when I visited. I lived in the bay area for 4-5 years without a car. Coming back to the Central Coast/SoCal I went from going mostly everywhere I wanted by public transit to relying on Uber/Lyft, friends and family. I had to purchase a car which has put me behind 20k, I love cars, like driving my dad's old manual honda accord but I would at least like the choice to do either. We need some real change in our policies.
Being raised in the UK and after living the last forty years in Florida, I can say that the US is light years behind Europe and other places. If the US had focused on building out public transit decades ago, we likely wouldn’t have as many cars on the road. It’s likely too expensive to do it now.
What makes me optimistic is that there's a lot more momentum behind better transit these days. When I was in college there was very little, other than a few go-nowhere projects like the Wisconsin high speed rail line. People just didn't see the benefit. A combination of an aging general population, a younger population less interested in car culture, and a rapidly growing immigrant population from countries with reliable transit... at the very least we will be forced to talk about it more. I'm mostly interested in commuter rail, or even suburban mass transit like BART. It's rush hour commutes that we all hate, and it's by far the most glaring issue with using cars for our commutes. Instead of a commute that could be anywhere from 40 minutes to 2 hours, I'd take 5 minutes to drive to the station and get there in 40 minutes every time. Don't have to worry about dozing off or paying attention to the road. I could do some prep work while I commute. The benefits of commuter rail to driving are pretty clear to me.
Also, national rail like amtrak and even private rail companies. Our country needs better commuter, national/regional and suburban railing transportation connectors.
Park and rides are considered bad by urbanists. So driving to a station will soon be impossible as all parking is getting replaced by tiny apartments. Good luck finding a place to park so you can train 😂
@@cmdrls212 It's true, it seems like urbanism is just people who hate cars - which is just another form of this new age zillennial degeneracy. But I don't think supporting public transit projects means I'm an "urbanist".
I worked in Portland, OR. for 21 years. Public transportation is everywhere, and it is used during peak work and home times, but is pretty much ignored by the majority of the public. The reasons are quite real and varied. Downtown they have or had a "fareless square". No fares were required. Homeless, drug users, and alcoholics just jump on with the workers trying to get to work or go home. Urine smells, and physical assault on people happen a lot there. Then, the stops every 500 ft for bus and light rail is a real slow down both to the riders and to vehicle traffic. This goes for the local government's favorite train system, called the Street Cars as well. It is an absolute abomination as far as I am concerned. (Don't live there, or work there anymore. Haven't for 4 years.)
It was explained to me once that the 500 foot distance was an artifact of a time when sparse development meant that each stop would only be used infrequently. Once development expanded out to those areas, bus stops weren't removed and now multiple stops have passengers getting on or off, slowing buses to a crawl. Time is money and doubling commute times this way makes everyone leave who can find a way. New York has express trains. My own area has started express buses but it is long overdue. My area's subways could be computer controlled and allow express trains to pass local trains at stations the express train is not scheduled to stop, but automating the union jobs is a non-starter in urban political environments. We're about to have self-driving cars. Automatic trains would be so much easier to perfect; but there's no demand.
@@williamjacobs In Portland, it is codified by the actual physical build. There is no way to route an express around the light rail or street car. Buses though do have that ability and there are express buses from outlying suburbs. But once you get to their downtown stop, you are back to the every other block stop. This design parameter was set by Earl Blumenauer during his reign as a City Council member and head of the Portland Office of Transportation. Then he went on to be a Congressional Representative, and makes it a requirement in his position there.
@@ednorton47 I retired from the City back in 2011. After that I rarely went to Portland for anything, especially downtown (CBD). We lived in Vancouver, WA a very conservative county (Clark). Unfortunately, that cancer spread into the City of Vancouver, and into Clark County. When my wife retired 4 years years ago, we moved to Texas.
Some Americans don’t seem to care about increasing the number public spaces because they hold contempt for their fellow Americans. Hyperindividualism has many people thinking everyone exists in their own separate worlds
I am much older and have seen so much transition in my life. USA is worsening year by year. So little money has gone into maintaining and or upgrading the infrastructure. EVERY BODY wants a car! We are so manipulated daily on what we should want. I am semi retired but once I fully retire I plan on spending my retirement years going over seas. I know that the grass is not always greener on the other side but things are still better for what is offered for people overseas. I want to enjoy my retirement! I have been working since I was 14 yrs old, I purchased my USED vehicle in the 70’s for $9,000. and within 1 month gasoline went from .39 gal to OVER 1 dollar! I am 71 so have contributed A LOT in my taxes. So government you’ll be loosing your supporters in the near future due to your ignorance and greed.
As someone who has lived in two transport deserts I see that the problem is getting worse and worse. The transport deserts are growing, when they should be shrinking.
@@Jenna1394 I use one of my others. My husband and I own 3 vehicles. If I don't have the option to use one of my own, my daughter lives 1 mile from me with her boyfriend and they have 3 vehicles. So, I'm covered. Before you ask, we're not rich. My husband and I earn $55,000-60,000 annually. My daughter is a college student, but lives off of a small inheritance from a deceased great-aunt. She gets around $1200 a month from an IRA held in Trust. She works when not attending classes. Her boyfriend works at a home improvement store. And yet, we have our own places to live and our own cars. We live in a low-cost of living State.
@@laurie7689they are transit deserts. There’s no transportation available besides private methods of transportation. There should be public transportation everywhere
@@Supr_KILLA Only if people want to pay for it, which we don't since we put our money into our own private vehicles. We tend to vote down public transportation. I don't have enough money to pay for BOTH private and public transportation. I'd rather pay for my private transportation. Other people who can't pay for transportation aren't my problem.
I'm glad that guy hit on housing and zoning towards the end. The fact of the matter is the biggest reason why transit is so hard here is that our cities are just not as dense as other countries due to zoning and people even within cities wanting yards. It just makes it too hard to effectively serve areas. Mass transit requires mass density to make it work.
Each dollar that goes into the public transportation system generates five in return. But all of them are bleeding money like crazy. Something does not add up.
It can be money saved. If you invest in public transport, you have less polution in City which leads to a greater productivity. Goverment policies does not have to be directly profitable, because increase in economic activity leads to more taxes, or better health leads to less expenditure on healthcare.
Profitability is only talked about for public transport, never for car infrastructure. Highways are incredibly expensive to build, yet politicians don't worry about making that profitable, so why is profitability even an issue when talking about public transport? Public transport pays for itself by increasing investment in areas near transport stops. Just build and fund it!
Not to mention maintenance, maintaining a road is expensive af.
I would rather put my money on cars than rails. Unless railways system give me on-time, on-demand service, with impeccable personal privacy and security, and *outstanding* cleanliness per ride. AND cheaper than operating a car 365 days per year (ie. $1 train tickets to compensate for $30+ uber rides, including tips, to reach multiple specific daily destinations and train station parking fees).
P.S.
Rail system monopolized transportation sector for almost a century, before the inception of air and automobile transportation. Hell. Even big time tycoons played big money on rail corporations. Rail system had its chance to thrive. But it failed. US is not Europe. It is not in the mind of the modern American culture. And I lived in Europe before (Germany), for other keyboard warriors here dreaming of being a European, speak Deutsch (German) to me. :) And I'm not white if you want to pull the race card, for no reason.
Roads are profitable, the goods transported and the taxes those goods are subject to fund many times over the cost of construction and maintenance, plus federal subsidies
@Zenrei940 Your first two can easily be done, if the system of the early 20th century is implemented, however the first class-like privacy you ask for is only possible in longer distance modes of transport. As for outstanding cleanliness, it is also possible, lines like Amtrak and Brightline have clean rolling stock and stations.
@@Zenrei940i’ve been taking amtrak a lot lately in the northeast and it is usually on time and much more spacious than an airplane. On my most recent trip I expierenced my first delay ever. It was 1 hour, but Amtrak made up for it by getting me to my destination an hour early and the ticket was only $20
As a car guy, I would like us to have better public transport. Being stuck in traffic whenever I need to do something is not fun. I don't know what the solution is, but we need more reliable ways of moving people around and reducing the amount of cars we have. We need to incentivize people not to use their cars.
Other countries move people, the US moves cars.
What you had suggested is actually inflationary, it's not going to happen and when it does, public transit won't be affordable. On a side note, I love my cars so I will keep them and add more if the timing's right.
@@SlowDriver2024 ???
there is nothing inflationary about more people using public transit.
public transit, especially rail-based public transit, operates on economies of scale - the operators want as much people as possible to use it as operating costs are not significantly impacted by ridership. this is also why you see freight rail attach an insane amounts of cars to a single, beefy engine.
In Moscow for example the public transport is amazing, really 20-30 sec between trains in the subway, buses are also very good we don't need a car here at all, but, because of that our government is trying to force all of us to use the public transport system, they make everything people don't use cars, for example 10 years ago I could go to work by car, right now it costs a lot to park it so I will spend more than I make for a month if to go there every day usuing my car, so I was I can say forced to sell the car and use only the public transport. There are a lot of people, uncomfortable anyway when there are always crowds of people and I'm usually much more tired than I was when I used my car. So it looks the oposite here, you are forced to have cars because no public transport and here we are forced not to have cars.
@@SlowDriver2024public transit won't be affordable? Do you enjoy talking out of your ass, or do you get paid to lie?
The automobile industry lobbied hard for car infrastructure back in the early 20th century. That is why we are so car dependent now.
it doesn't have to be this way
You read my mind. They did that exactly.
@@LiamMartensYou are right but money sway politicians actions.
That's what I was going to comment. Corporations have ruined everything.
Lol!!!! It's not just the automobile industry! It's the government that permitted all those stupid zoning! All the bad urban planning.....
People who say we shouldn't spend money on transit because it doesn't pay for itself have no idea that the roads they love so much don't come anywhere near paying for themselves in any way. It's more expensive to build and more expensive to maintain.
If it wasn't for roads, nobody would get anywhere. The country would come to a screeching halt without roads to transport goods to each other.
@@computernerdtechman We had this other kind of road way back in the day. They crisscrossed the entire US in huge, well-developed networks, facilitated massive growth and moved entire industries efficiently on its back, with entire towns and cities springing up along their routes. They called it a railroad.
We weren't always dependent on highways and streets. We could go back to the way things used to be. It wouldn't even cost that much, a lot of it is still there just waiting to be refreshed and updated.
@@computernerdtechmanmost goods transported by land in the USA are carried by freight rail which is orders of magnitude more efficient than trucking
@@sirsurnamethefirstofhisnam7986 There are over 750,000 Semi trucks operating in the US. If you live here you would know the highways have a good percentage of it's traffic with trucks.
Besides trains don't go everywhere. They certainly don't go to peoples houses.
Roads are essential.
@@snaffu1 We have ALWAYS had roads, ever since the Romans built them. Trains don't go everywhere. Not every town has a train station. The population was much much much smaller back then and there were fewer towns. Having a train centric culture is just not feasible now.
I’m a moderate and I’m tired of lackluster transit options. It’s pathetic to be a country that decides to do so little with so much.
The problem with transit isn't lack of money. It's too much. what subsidies did was pervert work effort and priorities. Instead of providing transportation they provided palaces ie white elephants. Once Transit in US became municipalized in 1960's, Government takeover resulted in switch of priorities. subsidies sent the wrong signals to management and labor. Management interpreted the message to mean: efficiency was no longer primary,”. Labor interpreted the message to mean: management now has a Sugar Daddy who can pay for improvements in wages and working conditions regardless of how much"
Transit agencies are more interested in building infrastructure empires than in moving people;
Politicians are more interested in building new infrastructure than maintaining the old;
The industry has seen a 50-percent decline in worker productivity since it was municipalized;
Transit planners refuse to accept that cities no longer have the same job and residential concentrations that they had a hundred years ago.
@@spikedpsycho2383 this is incorrect. even at it's most cash-strapped, japan spent more on public transport than the US has for a population and area a fraction of the size. the reason public transportation is non-existent in the US is because of the oil and car lobby. Even tesla's owner, elon, regularly spreads blatant falsehoods about public transport because it would cut into his bottom line.
this isn't even controversial. there are literally thousands of studies on how to implement public transport effectively. asia and europe all have robust public transport options where the governments are stable.
stop voting for politicians who are beholden to fossil fuel industry.
@@spikedpsycho2383 I spent time in Germany, this is exactly how they are ruining their transport system. A lot of Pro-government funded transport people are under the delusion (foreigners) that their system is really good but from speaking with locals in Germany, they know its terrible and don't expect improvements based on how the government spends.
@@snowballeffect7812 Well thats a downright lie from someone who clearly hasn't spent enough time in experiencing these systems. If almost all countries have the same issue, pretty much stemming from the same causes then surely thats warranted a re-think. "Studies" are like imaginary wishlists of what could be but in practice doesn't work.
What really isn't discussed in this video is that while 40% of transit is funded by government subsidies and taxes, that figure for roads is likely near 100%.
once you build a road youll only have to occasionally reseal it, although I guess the continual widening and building bridges and tunnels adds up. Every day you run a bus or train you are spending money on it. You will get tons of postive effects if you improve the transit though.
@@nobody48803idk roads cost a lot to maintain, a freeway is not like a driveway. Plus we subsidise the use of cars in other ways. Fuel is heavily subsidized, parking is a cost shared by everyone through either city tax or higher prices at stores, heck you could argue the nearly trillion dollar annual us military budget through 90s and 2000s was a subsidy for cars 😬
@@nobody48803 It might be worth looking into this more because road maintenance is INSANELY expensive over time
@@nobody48803 if maintained, roads usually last around 20 years before needing to be _completely_ rebuilt. It is not cheap. In suburbs, there's often not enough revenue generated by existing developments to pay for rebuilding those roads. This has played a big role in some cities' bankruptcies (including Detroit)
That is a real problem most American cities face, and pretty much all of them resort to building _more_ developments to afford renewing that 20 year lifecycle. In other words, more and more roads are being built just to maintain roads that already exist. You can picture how that goes in the long run.
@@nobody48803 roads require quite a lot of maintenance; which is why there are always roads under construction. Resurfacing, potholes, sealing, inspection, car accidents and the damage those cause, drainage, signals, mowing, improvements. When it isn't construction season, there is snow and ice removal. All with insufficient funding.
I remember watching a video where most tourists in Asia and Europe would rather take their money and be a tourist in Asia or Europe because it's more accessible to travel via mass transit than in the US where an Uber can cost around $20-40 one way.
What I liked best about NYC - as a tourist - we walked everywhere or took the subway. The latter was a little tough to navigate, at first, but the people on the subway were super nice and helpful.
So, you were one of the lucky ones who didn't have a homeless, addicted, mentally unbalanced person "entertaining" the rest of the passengers.
Having visited cities in Asia like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bejing and Guangzhou, I can tell you it's pretty fun to take the transit around there to get around the city.
Interesting point. If a non American were to visit the USA, it’s easier to visit New York, South Beach Miami and a few other places. A popular bus tour among Europeans was at the Grand Canyon I notice …..But most don’t see a normal suburb life that average Americans live. Where I live there literally is no bus.
@@artboymoy As a tourist to those cities, I enjoyed the buses (except for Tokyo because I didn't try any there) more than the subways because the view was so interesting for sight seeing and people watching. There were so many modern EVs, scooters, e-bikes, etc. on the roads (in Chinese cities - especially Shenzhen) to check out through the bus windows. There are some portions of metro lines (in Shanghai, HK, and Chongqing) that go above ground which have some incredible views too. Subways / metros have the edge in smoothness, comfort, speed and convenience generally speaking.
This is probably the first time in a decade that I've watched a cable news segment and came away feeling not only like I didn't waste my time, but that it was time well-spent. Thank you for making the case for those of us who rely on transit every day to support our way of life. Our voices tend to get drowned out by the highway roar.
Better public transportation would be a win-win for everyone, less pollution, lower obesity rates, better accessibility for those who can’t or are unwilling to drive, meanwhile the roads will be emptier and safer for car enthusiasts and people who just like driving.
My car has been in the shop since April (it's almost out!). Since then, I've had to take buses to make ends meet. My body is SO much more capable of just doing things since I started bussing. A few days ago I was lugging a 5gal water jug from the bus to my house and realized that when I started doing this, I had to rest multiple times. The other day, it was a single straight shot, barely out of breath at all. I can't imagine the benefits our health care system would reap if a significant portion of Americans started using buses more. It woud be hard to measure, but I guarantee it would change things.
Ironically, empty roads are more dangerous because people drive faster.
@@theanticrust42that’s true but it also depends how they’re designed, if designed right empty roads will naturally force people to drive slower.
@@psriniv1 Yep, here in NYC there are chubby people but it's very rare to see the morbidly obese because the nature of the city requires walking. Even drivers often must park on the street and walk blocks to/from their destination.
@@HELO2473 Yes, increasing people's chance of dying in an accident will cause them to drive slower.
This is actually one of the things that surprised & disappointed me on my first US trip as a tourist. Prior to this, the only 'developed' countries I've been to were Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and all of them had amazing public transport system. I was expecting the same in the US bec I was thinking it was a rich country & prob placed a lot of money on this aspect
we are beholden to corporate profits. if the car and oil lobby doesn't like something, they will make sure their pocket politicians know it.
The other commenters are correct, however, those places you named are small in comparison to the expansive nature of the United States.
Conservative Americans are very freedom minded and don't like being beholden to public transit timetable schedules or even traveling in enclosed spaces with strangers. Conservative states much prefer the flexibility, privacy and convenience of traveling on your own schedule in your own vehicle.
Liberal Americans don't mind public transit, however liberal states are overrun by drug addicts and street thugs due to weak and often times pro-drug addict criminal justice policies in liberal states.
Hence the conclusion is that Public transit will never work in most places in America. Not in liberal States due to the public transit being full of dirty or thieving drug addicts nor in conservative states due to the conservative mindset of liberty and freedom.
@@jc-tc8oy THIS!
@@farzana6676 "Conservative Americans are very open minded" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
One thing this video is missing is the discussion about land-use. Transit and land-use policy are intrinsically linked and you cannot have good transit without good land-use.
When the federal government (through the federal housing administration) decided that low density suburbs were the only form of housing they would invest in, they sealed the fate of most transit networks. You don't need insane levels of density to make transit work, but you do need better density than what most (US) suburbs have.
Bu-But think about poor Tracey and her 2 Acre home!!! Her kids can play football outside with the whole neighborhood!! (They haven't played outside since they were 4 and play Fortnite instead)
I think cities should be designed more like New York. The city itself is high density with a well-connected transit system which is, by nature, hostile to cars. Because the city is difficult for cars to navigate, people coming in from the suburbs in Jersey or Long Island often opt to take the train in to the city and connect via the subway to wherever they need to get to once they're in the city.
@@Klako-ls6yt While yes I agree, I wouldnt design it that much like NYC, they lack some things that makes that kind of density work well. That density is good tho for cities, especially mixed use properties, just as long as people arent forced into one type of living accomodation.
Canada shows even a sparsely populated country can have a usable public transportation.
It got a quick mention at 11:39
As an American who’s lived in Europe, if I were to tell anyone what I miss the most about being there on top of anything else, is how easy, safe and accessible public transportation is there. The places I lived, the nearest subway or tram line(s) were only a very short walk away, and then I could easily get around all over the city. You really get to see the community when you’re on the public transit system. You don’t really get to see the community when the vast majority of the population is driving in the box of a car. It’s been 5 years since I’ve returned to America, and there’s almost not a day that goes by where I’m reminded how much I loathe the car culture here. I really don’t like the lack of public transportation and how much American cities and suburbs are designed in a way to make you rely on a car to get almost anywhere. And being in Southern California, you’re really looked down upon for not driving a car. I’ve traveled a few times into Los Angeles using the metrolink (the Amtrak train network that connects the greater Los Angeles area). It takes two hours to get to Union Station in downtown. The regional trains in Europe would have gotten me to my destination much quicker than this. And when I take the Metro rail lines in Los Angeles, the services aren’t so great and there’s this feeling of not being safe while riding the transit lines.
It’s also one of many reasons why America has an obesity crisis. If you use public transportation, you have some form of exercise through walking to where you need to go. Getting around through a car limits that exercise.
And just a side note, there’s been a few times when I’ve been on a station platform waiting on a transit line to come and I see a foreign tourist using the transportation system. I can’t help but feel embarrassed because I know for a fact how much better the transportation system is for them back home.
As an American that’s lived in a major Asia city for the past 20 years, the one thing I miss about the US is my car.
The one saving grace here is the motorcycle taxis, which are by far the fastest way around town for short-moderate length trips.
I will give the metro here one nod - it isn’t full of thugs and hooligans like in the US.
I just can’t understand this. You can’t even bring home groceries and I’m certainly not going to be able to bring home any real supplies.
It seems to be useful as a novelty to me for people who like to go out to eat constantly, museums, bars, etc but for actual day to day life I see zero practical use.
@@blueoval250ok, so use transit to get to work and to get a few groceries, and use a car to load up on a huge amount of supplies. it's not all or nothing. you see it as all or nothing because currently the only option is a car. if there were OPTIONS, it would be better for EVERYONE
@@user3wx9V-178 public transit isn’t going to take me to work. I don’t live in a city or near a town. I’d have to walk severalmiles to get to a main road.
@@blueoval250 that sounds like you live in a rural area. it's always country folks trying to tell those of us who live in cities how to do URBAN planning. this has nothing to do with you.
After living in Shanghai and Hong Kong for a number of years, I realize what I miss the most is being able to safely walk places and the access to good public transportation (including taxis, when needed).
What I really can’t imagine as a European is not the lack of transit, that’s somewhat straightforward, but the lack of walkability (or bike-ability). I just don’t get it. Are there really suburbs without sidewalks?
@@LeanderKu No. Just certain collector roads that interface with the highway. Some have sidewalks but they're narrow and others don't. These roads are where most of the big box stores, gas stations and fast food restaurants are among other businesses.
@@LeanderKu Yes, mine has sidewalks on some streets and all of the arterials, but not on many of the slower, quieter side streets. I consider it eminently walkable and bikeable. Googlemap Encinitas CA and zoom in on some of the satellite views.
Yes. A lot of small cities & suburbs have are lacking sidewalks. Areas around schools or other "important" places might have them but there will be more without. And what's funny is drivers tend not to notice the lack of sidewalks because several miles is nothing in a car. But walk just a mile in any direction where I live & the sidewalk disappears at least once.
@@LeanderKu Yes, there are suburbs without sidewalks.
As much as I love my car, I have come to the conclusion that I would prefer an efficient public transit system. Seeing the systems in Asia really opened my eyes up as to what is possible; their subways and busses are clean, safe, and punctual. I hope the US can make this happen sooner than later
It's not easy to happen in US. You take money away from car industry, you take land away from private property, you take profit away from oil industry. Plus, public transit industry lose profits by itself. Since everyone lose money, it will not be properly funded.
That's a cultural difference. We have "good" public transit in New York. It's disgusting and unsafe. If you think transit elsewhere in the US would be better.. good luck.
@@smacpats6379 Losing profit is one point, culture is another point. Many Americans think owning a car is freedom. Even excellent public transit can't always do point A to B directly, but cars can. Only poor people will take cheap public transit.
@@liujun050612 My point is moreso that safe transit in the US is and will be an oxymoron for the foreseeable future, because our country is full of crazy bloodthirsty drug addicts.
@@liujun050612 In many cities outside of the US this simply isn't the case when there's traffic. Bus lanes and transitways bypassing traffic make the time required to transfer negligible.
My grandma and grandpa met on a train. I literally would not be here if not for public transport. I wish we had more of it in this country, it could help to bring people together again, all of us in our own little car on the highway is just another thing that keeps us all apart from each other.
This would be great ad for public transport.. Give ppl a chance to fall in ❤..
😊🎉
Not to mention, road rage kills.
Too bad lmfaooo
A lot more people have been made in cars than trains
Were your grandparents’s names Jesse and Celine?
As an American who lived in Europe for a time, one of the things I actually missed was the reliable public transportation system. And there were times when I told people how I got around, there were occasions where I got looks like I was speaking a foreign language because it’s not a common thing here in America
America? You mean, in Chile or in Argentina or Brazil? Or do you mean the USA?
Americans are super brainwashed i agree
@@ThomasJr I'm sure he meant Canada
@@ThomasJrI believe he was talking about Paraguay!!! 🥶
@@ThomasJr Are you South Americans so ashamed of your country that you rather be called by the continent you're on than by your country? French people don't care about being called European. Chinese people don't care about being called Asian. Why do you care about being called American. Sounds like you are the one with the problem.
You don’t even mention Boston, where the once-adequate transit system is _literally_ falling apart: concrete falling from station ceilings, doors falling off trains, trains catching fire in tunnels and on bridges, tracks so poorly maintained that the trains have to run 15mph or slower on large portions of the lines. And the federal safety agency found dispatcher offices were so understaffed that they forced the MBTA to increase time between trains from 5 minutes to 20 minutes or more. The backlog for urgent repair is so large and it just keeps getting worse, and I don't see how they're going to get out of this spiral because nobody wants to spend money on what seems to be a failing system.
Boston could have taken the smart decision to invest the surplus of last year into the MBTA and Commuter Rail, rather than givin back some money
No one bothers to mention that it's not enough to just build the mass transit stations but that they will also require constant funding to keep it online.
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated:
Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._*
So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_
It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_*
Please, *examine the books* of Boston and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
They should shut the whole thing down and redirect the train maintenance money to upgrading the roads for cars.
@@davidgoodnow269That makes total sense. It should be the other way around. Only receive funding as long as you're updating the system.
I came to the USA from a thirld world country. Guess what, the public transportation here is much worse than in my country of Uzbekistan. What a shame.
@@tuckerbugeater what a comment. Great solution. big clap
@@hafizwildones 10/10. Why didn't I think of that.
@@tuckerbugeaterClapped by Uzbekistan. American exceptionalism, everybody.
@@Maelstromme That's not exceptionalism... If he can afford to move, he can afford a used Toyota that would cover all his transportation needs.
Welcome to one of the richest countries in the world. We don't need public transit because we can afford cars. Cars bring freedom, the freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want.
Love that CNBC is reporting on these issues! We need more big news outlets talking about the public transportation crisis in the US!
yeah, if step 1 is zoning reform, step 0 is spreading the message and helping people to see that we desperately need this change.
The local judges are handling criminals with great leniency. Criminals and judges are on first name basis. No joke.
I’m confused… people are fleeing g the bigger cities with good public transit. Why? I’m 70 miles from NYC and some of my taxes fund NYC people riding it for free. Explain?
CNBC forgot to mention the crime that plagues city transit systems. Those are the main reasons I try to stay away from MTA and CTA. had some sketchy experiences using them, especially at off-peak hours.
Makes sense... Considering CNBC is very liberal and refuses to denounce crime. I remember being in NYC last summer and a Deloitte executive was pushed into the rails at Time Square station and died. Dude didn't even get jail time.
Hmmm I wonder if that makes transit a bad experience. Main reason I use a car in most cities is because of safety concerns.
As a Northern VA resident, I'm horrified that our public transit system is still apparently considered one of the better ones in the USA. I regularly wait 20+ minutes for a train. My commute can vary anywhere between 45 minutes and 3 hours on a whim, with no announcement. It is impossible for me to get to my friend's house (30 minutes by car) without a 7 hour bus ride. There is regularly trash in the trains. I've been on a derailed train at least twice. I can't remember the last time some part of the system wasn't shut down for maintenance. About 30% of the escalators don't work.
Yep. I saw the DC area metro being ranked high in this video, and I was like.... Ask anyone in the DC area about that Silver Line they took 20 years to build ;)
@@Fightcommentaryextrashow long is the wait there
I live in LA for 4 decades. Despite 100 billion dollar investment, LA public transportation is still much worse than North VA. I visited DC couple times. I have friends living in North VA. One time, I even chose Pentagon City mall n Crystal City as tourist attractions. I came all the way to DC just to see shopping centers. People laughed at me. It is so difficult for non car drivers to get to shopping centers. As a non car driver, I came to DC to fulfill that dream.
My aunt told me public transportation in DC suburb was terrible. She lived in Rockville. She compared that with New York n Boston. For me, I compared with LA, DC, DC suburb in Maryland n NVA are like paradise. Every time I came to DC, shopping centers were one of destinations. I hate shopping, but I came to DC to fulfill the missing dream, going to shopping centers. LA has spent so much money, going to many bigger name shopping centers for nearby towns is a daunting task for non car drivers.
I know if I grow up in Rockville or NVA, I may hate that area, but I grew up in LA. Every time I visit DC, I hate LA more.
“American cities weren’t BUILT for the car. They were DESTROYED for the car.”
Mass transit used to be the norm. Streets used to be mixed use and walkable.
Undoing the damage of car centric infrastructure though might be very difficult.
Undoing the damage may be difficult, both t it MUST and WILL be done for the future of the country. We have to fight for it.
America is irreparable, it is part of the culture now
with the way this future generation's trends are going, mass transit is going to have to return to the norm. cities are gentrifying, car ownership has plummeted, and there is a lot more consciousness on one's wallet (e.g they're poor) as compared to previous generations. a fight for mass transit is a fight for the future.
Whats wrong with continuing our car culture the way it is? EV's are becoming more popular every year, and eventually they'll be the only cars on the road. An with autonomous tech improving with every software update, accidents will start to decrease as well. We don't need public transport, we're America.
@@ghost_mall Well everyone wants to live in a nice large house and big land so you can't have everything. Here in Seattle area you have large Park N Ride parking garages and you can leave your car for free and use the transit network but you need to drive from your house to the location and for many that means back-tracking or going away from the destination so it takes longer to get to the transit connection and then also lose time with the light rail or bus having to repeat the path beyond where you live so overall the trip takes longer perhaps a lot longer but you save on fuel I guess so it depends on locations, flexibility of work hours and so on but it limits how many customers can be served. Some companies offer free transit use here by loading up some money on your Orca card, the transit card.
The United States has some of the worst public transportation in the developed world. Public transportation in the US is chronically underfunded. there is an investment backlog of $176 billion. This backlog includes repairs and upgrades to existing infrastructure, as well as new construction.
Brightline is the only hope for US transit.
I would rather put my money on cars than rails. Unless railways system give me on-time, on-demand service, with impeccable personal privacy and security, and cleanliness per ride.
@@Zenrei940 It depends on where you live, but there aren't many US cities with good public transportation. There is no choice for most people.
Bus stops at 6 pm alot of people get off 10 pm. Walk home sucka
Many US cities have great transit come here to Seattle there are street cars and light rail and pretty large bus network with dedicated lanes and even bridges and very parking garages where people can park their car for free and use the transit system. However Americans are very very individualistic so no amount of public transit will change that.
I visited Madrid, Spain this summer and got to experience what it’s like to be in a huge city with reliable public transit. It was life changing!! I was so sad to come back to LA and sit in traffic every day
That was me coming back to NYC from Barcelona. 😊
You can always apply for a job in the EU and move!
@@joelimbergamo639 Rather than going somewhere else to live they can try to make their own country closer to that reality.
@@SwiftySanders yes, thats always the better option. But considering where you want to live, mostly if youre young is something you also need to do
And they still do barbaric things like bullfighting 🙄
Finally, at the end the professor hits the nail in the head when he says that we have to design cities and suburbs around public transit and get rid of the zoning. Otherwise let’s be honest, even if the buses are frequent and reliable no one in the right mind will choose to take a bus over the car if their place of work is 30 miles away from their house.
I prefer my work to be at a distance from my home. I don't want my home near where I work in case I want to play hooky from work.
Oh, but the folks who live far out - in my city, at least - have the option to take the regional heavy rail trains which are even more appealing. You usually have to park and ride from a suburb but they're great.
yeah, you would take a train instead of a bus for that distance
Another silly problem is there is a large group of people that say that public transit is somehow taking away their freedom. Just because there's public transit doesn't mean you can't drive!
@@ghost_mallbecause cleaaarly it’s more important that someone take up valuable road space with the most space-inefficient method of travel, just for their own benefit, than that road space being shared in the most equal way. duh. their freedom to be in a metal box is more important than anyone else’s freedom to move efficiently.
There's a lot to unpack in that comment but I'd say the people argue that are completely wrong. If anything a great, well-funded public transportation system would give them even more freedom and mobility. Emphasis on well-funded.
I went to Japan recently and their public transportation is amazing. They are entirely different from the US keep in mind. Japan is tiny compared to the US so it's much easier to build the infrastructure for public transportation there. The US is so massive it'd still take decades for us to have a fully-functioning transportation system even close to their level.
The geography of the US is just much more convenient for cars if you think about it. But it never hurts to have public transportation in huge metro states like Texas, California, or Florida.
By definition it’s communist. Of course it reduces freedom stupid.
The channel "not just bikes" made an excellent video why actually the opposite is the case. If people can use public transit and bikes to get around (or just can walk), less people will drive. This means for people, who still want or have to drive, less congestions and they can get around faster.
I’m not sure if certain history facts were edited out or just omitted but I found this piece flawed in general. There is plenty of evidence that the auto industry deliberately and meticulously bought up trolley car companies to actively persuade (perhaps push) car ownership. Additionally the marketing of cars as synonymous with freedom.
Lastly the video spoke about the economics of mass transit and the high costs. But spoke little about how much we subsidize the building of roads and gas/oil companies. All of these issues have greatly impacted the perception and thus the success of mass transit in the US. If you own a car and you drive as much as the average American it still sits unused more than 21 hrs a day. Yet, it’s costing you at a bare minimum $200-300 per month with $500-800 being closer to reality.
A major part of the problem is that a lot of housing (particularly in suburbs) has been designed with driving in mind, rather than around mass transit lines, making it a lot more difficult to cover a lot of people on a few transit lines. It's much more cost-effective to service apartments and townhouses than sprawling suburbs.
That's a huge problem. However how do you convince people that giving up their giant houses with pools, space for the kids and dogs, and all is worth it and living in a cramped concrete jungle with cheap walls and a bunch of strangers and less significantly less room. It would take a huge cultural shift for people to give up single family homes in mass like that. Just drive around in the suburbs. Be it those terrifying cookie cutter home neighborhoods, older brick homes, or just normal houses standing by themselves. I don't think many people are willing to give up the way they live in a single family home for a apartment.
@@baronvonjo1929 Part of the problem is the builders: Houses are just too big nowadays, and there aren't as many per land area as there once were. There are plenty of alternatives that allow people to live closer together (row houses and duplexes, for instance) AND have less yard to mow.
@@micahbush5397 You have to convince people's that duplexes and row houses are actually desirable. Most people want a stand alone home.
@@baronvonjo1929 I'm one of those people who doesn't want to give up his home in the suburbs. I worked hard to have four walls of my own and a yard. I don't want to live in an apartment or townhouse where my neighbors' business is also my business. I want space. I want land to do what I want. Some people want to live in cities and that's fine. Many people don't. I don't care that a townhouse or apartment may be cheaper, I'll spend my money how I please. I'd rather be happy than value efficiency over everything else.
People don't have to give up their homes. Look at countries like Switzerland, who have famously quick, constant coverage even to small, mountain villages comprised of houses that are all far apart!
If the problem is that people can't or are too lazy to walk, that's where intermediaries come in, like small buses. My Greater LA city has a tiny city bus that constantly putters around the neighborhood and stops at the Metro bus stops along with regular city locales. It's mostly little old ladies that ride it so they don't have to wander down a busy street to their stop.
In the US, cars are synonymous with money, and public transit is synonymous with being low income. It’s sad to see the state of disrepair that a lot of cities’ transit stations are in. We definitely need to rethink our relationship with transit and understand that increased mobility benefits everyone. Plus, it’s monumentally healthier for our planet, which is badly needed during this time of ever-expanding climate crises.
when Cars were invented and developed they used the same infrastructure as Horses and buggies. That put them at a HUGE advantage over rail which required it's own dedicated infrastructure. Even in 1941; 91% of passenger miles were by car at the Height of economic depression. Even before cars became popular cities were emptying out. From 1880s to 1920, the economic forces that led to the construction of dense downtowns have been largely replaced by decentralizing forces. The appalling living conditions faced by some of these families were documented in an 1890 photo book, How the Other Half Lives. This book generated a movement by urban planners to try and improving housing and living conditions, if possible by moving those people to the suburbs and providing them with cheap transit service to the cities. When under axle bus was invented, it out moded streetcar as a means of transportation. Car Lobby didn't make society car centric; urban planners did because they desired to eliminate working class rif raff.
The Point is Low-income and working class people have Three strikes against them:
1: often their homes aren’t located near the best jobs and where they Shop and eat may differ than where transit is routed.
2: They may have More than One job significant distance that diverts significant travel times as well as destinations like where they can afford to shop or send kids to school.
3: the jobs they have or qualify for are most likely to have strict hours rather than flextime or remote working. Since those strict hours often require them to go to or from work during rush hours, congestion and aggressive urban policies are detrimental to working class people.
Anti-car political policies Do More to harm low-income people more than it harms higher-income people. Biking is acceptable for children and urban yuppies and what I call Laptop class whose job is sitting behind computer typing up gobbledygook. And transit is fine for people whose work may be a downtown office. But people who Work physically even higher income, trekking Several miles in humidity or uphill is physically exhausting especially reserving stamina for the work they have to do 9 to 5 and transit may still take time. That's why biking, transit and walking is fundamentally inferior form transportation. That's why scooters and gas mopeds are superior for people modest budgets. And cheap cars ORDERS magnitude more convenient especially for families, children and inclement weather.
Before the Automobile, Active/Social life barely a thing & existed to consolidate work/kids. Women rural/City America spent 6-9 months virtually alone. Outdoor recreation was enclave of elite. When Cars were invented wages grew; even poor Americans could have "Social Life"
follow the money. public sector unions siphon off money to their pension funds, which people can retire and start tapping at 55. why is NY MTA allow you to retire with full benefits and pension at 55?
The wealthy and their purchased politicians don't want to benefit everyone, they want to benefit themselves. That is exactly the problem with nearly everything in this country, combined with the fact that millions of us keep on helping them with that agenda with our votes. Self destructive, money worshipping choices. It's stupid and we could do so much better.
I rode public transit for 3 years after I was out of work and lost my car. Its what kept my head above water. Literally 90% of the people I was riding with, outside of the homeless, were going to and from work too. Car prices these days are really ridiculous. When you think about it, how crazy is it that 90% of the population walks around with a cellphone that isnt paid off, a car that isnt paid off and select few have homes that put them in debt too. The ones that dont have a home, usually want the home along with thr obligations that go along with it too. Idk where this world is going but this simply isnt sustainable.
I’ve always appreciated living near public transportation, my cars have had problems at time and having access to public transportation is a life saver. Living near public transportation gives me something I will never take for granted “options” and also in the event my car becomes non-operational public transportation give me more time to save up for repairs and the ability to get to work.
What's funny is for me I need a car to get to the nearest public transit station, unless I want to bike on a main road for 30+ minutes or whatever it takes.
And that's sad.
Good on you for getting places however.
@@TheStickCollector that’s why it’s important for the federal government to put more of a emphasis on public transportation people who live out in Boyle communities are pretty much living in the 1930s. Know one should have to live with out access to water, food or transportation it’s 3rd world conditions.
Exactly! When I was like 20 I got my license suspended and it was a complete nightmare to get to college and work! The bus would pass every hour and it would end at 9:00. I’m 39 now and I only live in cities with good public transportation like San Francisco or NYC.
The Netherlands is PROOF that better public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure IMPROVES driving by car. WAZE did a study a few years ago and put the Netherlands at number one for being the best country for car drivers in the world.
While it also is the best country for biking and one of the best for walking. Public transport is OK, but certainly not the best in the world, however that is probably due to the options to cycle everywhere. Being one of the strongest competition for (local) public transport options like busses and trams.
HAHA. Cycling? Netherlands is flat and small, similar size as a SE slice of Pennsylvania. The entire country of Germany is the same size as Texas.
@@jgg204cycling within a city, why not?
@@jgg204Yes. And it works. Dismiss it out of hand all you want, those cities are thriving with bike friendly infrastructure weaved in.
@@jgg204 Not only is it flat and small, but the average high temperature in August is only 72 degrees and the average low in January is 34 degrees, with very little snow in the winter. Yeah, no wonder cycling is popular there. There are very few places in the USA with that weather.
Go to western Europe and Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, southeast Asian countries) to learn how terrible the US public transportation is!
No blacks there. Bad comparison.
I have been screaming that for years. North American cities I feel are years behind Asia.
@@starventure none in France?
We în Europe we have more density cities. Not big houses with yards
@@starventurenone in Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, and France. Have you ever been outside of the USA
went on a vacation to London this summer.... I was amazed at how efficient their public transportation system is. everything is easy to use, pay w phone, multiple options to get most places, always on time & Google app will tell you how crowded it is and even if it's stuffy inside. I can't imagine the US ever getting to that point.
@@Yuvan-qv2xd Us Americans would gladly take the UKs "dismal" public transit, because ours is still a lot worse. You can still get to most places other than the very smallest towns by train. In the US a lot of larger towns and smaller cities especially in red states don't even have bus service. You usually need to go to a mid sized city to even see a decent bus system and maybe a tram that goes a few places. Major cities in the western half of the country will probably have a light rail system (tram that operates like a commuter train) and maybe some half baked 3rd rate commuter railroad. You have to go to the major cities of the Northeast corridor to see huge transit systems in the US. The Northeast Corridor is the only place in the US that is well connected with everything from Metros, to commuter trains to inter-city trains that are faster than flying on certain routes, but it's all very aging infrastructure that is being pushed to its limits because most of those systems were built 100+ years ago, that is why America's only high speed train is only about 15min faster than the standard train on that route (Acela is only 25mph faster than a regular NEC train and there's only about 50mi of track in the corridor where Acela can even hit its 150mph top speed vs the 125mph top speed of the normal train).
How about the rest of the uk?
@@wolf6462Depends on where you go. I am from London originally but recently moved up to Leeds. The transport system in Leeds is ok for what it is. It’s cheaper than London and the trains are pretty connected to nearby towns and cities. The buses can get pretty busy in the town centre and there are frequent buses here. But as soon as you leave the city, dependant on where you are going of course, the transport isn’t that great. However, most cities and urban towns in the UK still have a decent public transport system.
If the US had not focused so much on the “future of the car” then public transportation would still be a viable option. Just look at Europe, they’re not car dependent and at least you have the option to choose to drive or take public transportation. In the US it’s pretty much required to have a car if you want to go anywhere, which is really sad
Europe, because the cities are much older and more much more densely populated than the USA, the demands on public transit are quite high. That's why the UK's experience with passenger rail when British Rail was created in 1948 prove disastrous because they never did a decent unified _national_ plan for commuter and long-distance rail service (and it's still kind of variable in quality even in 2023).
@@Sacto1654most US cities are just as dense as european cities. The infrastructure just isn’t there.
I agree. Look I am Canadian and American from my Dad .Problem is America is literally way to bi Polar and immature and operated by big corp. Any Rhetoric has to come down
America is culturally scared of its own Shadow. This is setting it behind Europe at the expense of itself
Before cars, public transportation was still viable in the US. Just look at the old Los Angeles streetcar system. It went all the way to San Bernardino.
Coming from Australia where public transport is reliable and for everyone, I was quite surprised to see in a lot of big US cities that public transport was primarily for poor people.
Says a lot about a country that you've allowed this to happen.
Yes same for me. Grew up in a town of 4000 people in switzerland. And never felt the need to learn how to drive. Now i'm starting to take lessons at age 30, because i'm not living close enough to friends and family anymore to easily get someone to drive me those 3-4 times a year where i actually need it.
Indeed, you are 100 percent right.
@@franciscodanconia4324every developed country generates enough income that nearly everyone can, in theory, own a car. It’s not that people in Switzerland can’t afford a car, Switzerland is very, very rich.
Pervasive car ownership is not something unusual since the 1960s
@@LeanderKuSwitzerland is like 2 minutes wide. I prefer my car over public transportation
@@franciscodanconia4324hahhahaha living in fool’s paradise😂😂
When I worked at a design company in Boston, MA, we had a good transit system, but no one in the company except me used it. Parking at the time (mid-1990s) was $25/day, and they all complained about sitting in traffic for an hour just to get out of the center of the city, but it was a status symbol that you drove to work, paid for parking, and didn't ride with the masses on the MBTA. This attitude was prevalent with employees at other companies as well. One woman I knew had a bus stop half a block from her apartment, but to ride it would lower her in the eyes of her colleagues, so she drove and paid the exorbitant parking fees she really couldn't afford.
You are the only person I have ever heard describe the MBTA as "good." It is a total disaster. I've lived my entire life in Massachusetts, and it has always been that way. Back in the 1970's and 80's the Red Line was affectionately known as the Vomit Comet. Luckily, I live far enough outside the city that I never have to risk my life by getting on one of those death traps they call trains. Now the mayor wants the rest of the state to bail out 50 years of neglect by her predecessors.
@@briangpz What you say is true, but my bus and the red line got me home faster than anybody driving in rush-hour traffic at the end of the day and who lived closer to work than I did.
They finally got new train cars on the red line but they need to fix the tracks. Red line commute time has doubled over the last year.
@@anilprasanna It’s the same with the commuter rail. It runs once hourly since the COVID lockdown, even now that the lockdown is over. Where I live, people would still rather drive their cars because of the lack of service.
That’s how it was when I lived in Cali! It was frowned upon! It was embarrassing
One thing that is not mentioned here is the loneliness of the typical American city. People barely interact because there are no places to meet, so you have no social interaction (not to be confused with social relation) with people unless they are in your immediate circle. In Brazil you can be in contact with other people just by riding the subway or a bus. In a city like Miami, Orlando or Jacksonville, you can feel so desolate and bored. Usually the only people who don't get bored in a city like Jacksonville are the locals. It can be very isolating.
The cities are typically only meant for the locals, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Locals usually vote for how they want their city to be. They aren't for outsiders. Outsiders don't get a say.
Yeah, why can't we all live like New Yorkers who get crammed like sardines into a subway during rush hour so everyone can't help but rub shoulders with each other and...stare into their phones or in some safe direction where they won't lock eyes with some unhinged guy who wants to pick a fight? Why can't _all_ American cities experience that cure for loneliness?!
@@CornyBum Ok, tell me if the typical american city has any place where people can mingle. No, it doesn't. NY has it, Toronto has it. Some cities have no walk abouts where people can see people, bc everybody is in their cars.
@@ThomasJr How does a city meet your standard for having a "place where people can mingle"? Also, what makes you think that the typical American city suffers from loneliness?
@@ThomasJr We don't WANT to see each other. If people in a community DO want to interact with other people, there are sports activities and events that they can participate in/be a spectator of. After interacting with bosses, co-workers, and/or customers all day long, who wants to be around other people besides family (and sometimes including family)?
I live in the US and recently traveled to Madrid. I was shocked with how much public transportation there was. you could walk, drive, or a take a tram car anywhere. Even in there suburbs.
I love how much people are talking about car dependency these days. Just in the past couple years, videos like this are everywhere. I hope this is the start of a real paradigm shift in the US toward sustainable urbanism.
no thanks. you can live in whatever urban hellhole you want. we will stay far outside of it
@@jgg204 "Public Transport Bad"?
I've been noticing this too and I've been hoping it finally leads to some change here in the U.S. As of right now, I don't really want to live out my life in the U.S. and have been thinking about moving to Japan when I get the chance but it'd still be nice to have something good come up here.
@@vgrepairs if you think it's enjoyable to live in a city like Philly so you can ride your little bikes around, then all the power to you
@@jgg204 Nah dude but taking the subway in NYC was the best thing in the world coming from a San Diegan that's hiked all the biggest mountains in the country.
Most of us Americans generally (and perhaps correctly) assume that our country's wealthy and powerful oil interests basically dismantled our public transit systems in favor of gas guzzling highways.
Like most other towns in the Midwest, all the roads in my city center have electric trolley rails still underneath the asphalt. There was no need to build the infrastructure, it was already there. They just paved over it.
Electric trolleys come with a maze of overhead power lines.
@@SSHitMan wireless trolleys are commercially possible
@@SSHitMan Roads have mazes of power lines and telephone poles already, not to mention all the stuff underground. Big difference is, with trolley lines you aren't walking on or across the tracks lol, so it's no issue.
@@snaffu1 Go look at old pictures of cities that have trolleys. It's an absolute unsightly mess of overhead wires. And I don't know what cities you're thinking of but most bury their electrical lines with overhead confined to alleys.
@@SSHitManInstead I can look at pictures from today of trolleys from San Francisco, or in other first world developed nations, and none of them have this "unsightly mess of wires" problem. A century of technological advancement tends to solve any of that. Hook that train Kool aid to my veins.
I liked her last point. I think too many Americans are stuck in their own bubbles and using more public transport could integrate us better as a society.
Some of us don't want to be integrated. Others, want to ride public transportation but get tired of being harassed, panhandled, or assaulted so they don't ride.
@@Thomas116-m2n Great you can keep driving your car. I would just like the option to take public transportation for many reasons.
@@Thomas116-m2nSame.
They just stare at their phones or record other passengers as they get attacked by criminals and or crazy people, sharing the latest plague in a confined space is also fun....
I would rather have the privacy of my own truck in the morning and evening. Sharing a ride in a filthy bus or train with some crackhead strung out on fentanyl is not how I want to start and end my days.
I actually love that last point Prof. Fan made at the end. That transit is a public space where people of all backgrounds come together. That personally is my favorite reason for riding transit. I can see people of all backgrounds riding together.
That is the reason why Americans don’t like it.
@@starventure I can't wait to hang out with smelly bums inside a tube I can't escape.
I also liked the point about needing the "mass" in mass transit. I hope to see that someday.
@@EricaGamet If you ride the subway late on a Saturday night and get to be the middle of a human sandwich comprised of you and two or more quarter ton sistahs wearing clothes a size too small on purpose, you will learn all about mass. Hope you like your ladies Lizzo size.
@@tuckerbugeater You're a good example of how damaging the loss of community is in the US. Americans feel like everyone else is a "smelly bum", because they never interact with their community
I realized last year that as someone who can't drive due to my reaction time and coordination being really bad, I'd have to leave the USA to have decent mobility. As it stands, I just feel trapped and isolated. It's really sad because I like my job a lot. It's the one thing keeping me from becoming an expat.
.. With respect why cant you move to 1 mile from workplace and walk. Spend money to live close.. Avoid wasting 1 hour a day so 1/16th of waking life so 8% on commute. Live close you idiots most are idiots and then whine for govt help...
The point is to corner people into buying and using cars.
@@Kizarat ...everyone in 1950s so disliked transit they all bought cars. The people voted with their money. My grandma decided and wasn't tricked, it wasn't a conspiracy you morons.... Cars easily won despite transit having decades head start..... Especially cold half of year people want cars. Transit sucks compared to cars.. it's weird to argue otherwise against historical proof and your own experience and your entire family experience.... I walk, I'm a weirdo, I sweat.. transit and relying on govt to be on time and NEVER GO ON STRIKE is a dumb dumb dumb idea.... Transit lovers arr dumb liars..
I'm not sure why everyone thinks public transportation needs to be profitable. Police, fire departments, city lights, public bathrooms, roads, public schools, parks, our law making politicians etc are not profitable.
everything you mentioned is profitable besides the politicians part :)
It’s because people have the right to determine what is done with their tax dollars, and if they say they don’t want to fund mobility for people they don’t like, that’s it. Cities are black. Whites don’t like blacks because of the degeneracy associated with them; they fled to the suburbs to avoid them. They don’t want to find black mobility, therefore cities do not get the funding for mass transit because it is for blacks. Question answered.
@@faustinpippin9208 If police departments are profitable, why do we need to give them tax money?
@@faustinpippin9208 please explain. I will agree with you on police department somewhat. Tickets etc. I don't think they make a profit though.
Have you ever been outside of the USA?
Another problem in US is that public transit and walking is looked downed by some people. I still remember when I first came to the States for work a girl weirdly looking at me when I said I like to walk if it’s within 15mins distance😅
The automobile industry fights hard against public transit in America.They want you to be in debt with a car payment, insurance,gas, repairs with no other alternative.
And nowadays, a lot more Americans are living in their cars. Canada too.
Years ago I relied on public transportation (city buses) and these are the two biggest issues I encountered: 1. Long wait times and service cutoff late in the day . I felt stressed about missing my bus knowing I’d have to wait 20 min to 1 hour depending on the route, which was not fun in the winter when temperatures dropped below zero. I frequently had to RUN in order to catch the bus. Seeing it drive off was the worst feeling. Missing the last bus of the day meant calling a taxi (Uber/Lyft were not available yet), bothering someone else, or walking. 2. People. Unfortunately, the routes I took picked up a few homeless and drunk individuals who were mentally unstable, dirty, and smelled very very bad.
It's because the transit is designed by an American, who have zero idea about how it works.
Just hire someone from Germany/Japan. They'll design it 100 times better
@@pranaym3859I think that's ridiculous. Even if you get a designer from a different country they would face the exact same opposition to getting their designs actually implemented. American designers are not idiots
@@pranaym3859 Wait, what? City bureaucrats run train operations in every scenario I’m aware of. Most of the train manufacturers I’m aware of reside outside of the United States.
Lies again? AMWF CAR Ezlink Card
I dealt with it too for years!! Bus being late so it means it’s packed up to the point that not everyone can get on or they would straight up skip stops. It felt degrading!
Car infrastructure is also heavily subsidized for driving. Look at our housing, zoning laws, and gas subsidies. We can’t add more lanes on a finite land but we can give citizens freedom to choose their method of transportation like bus, bikes, and even walking. We can’t sell our cities just for car manufacturers.
Corporate greed
...gas subsidies? Can you literally name one gas subsidy? From where I'm sitting, it seems as though gas is taxed to hell and back to pay for our roads. Which is how it should be. Just like how fares should pay for public transit.
I really hate our car-dependent system. I’m a delivery driver and I’m all for more options for transportation than driving.
Move to china they have the best transportation system in the world
@@youtubehasacontrolpolicypr9884 They do, but I’m not into authoritarianism.
I work as a train operator in Los Ángeles, and even I want our public transit service to improve. If only we didn’t elect these so-called “puppets from Washington” and have mindful people who wants every transit system in the nation to improve…& only then would we finally invest more in our public transit infrastructure.
Keep it clean, safe, and free of tweakers and then people would actually consider riding it.
@@lowfro02 - I Can only do so much, you know. How about you don’t trash our trains? That would be nice.
I hate people that trash trains. Better security is vital. Not fair to you guys. But that’s where it gets better. Make it nice, safe and clean. People will use it. Maybe making it a closed system would help. Once people start using it more people will make it better and so on and so forth.
I used to love riding the Blue Line from downtown Long Beach to downtown LA. Downtown LA has a lot going for it aside from Skid Row of course. Nowadays that same Blue Line is not safe whatsoever. Druggies, psycho homeless etc. Haven't ridden it for awhile and no plans of ever going on it again. My life is more important then a French dipped sandwich.
@@jaydibernardo4320 - You have no idea what has been happening on the Blue Line (now as the A Line) as there has been a lot of things as to what’s been happening since it’s inception in July 1990. It’s that you’re now seeing things as to what operators in the past has been seeing.
One of the main reasons I decided to leave the USA for good last year. I am so much more active and do a lot more walking throughout the day using public transportation. My body feels better and I sleep better as a result. I lived in Los Angeles for 5 years and I remember getting back pains from sitting in traffic so much in my car. Humans were not meant to live like that.
Humans were not meant to be on the internet either but here we are.
@eddycarpenter you are so right. Looking at the LA situation from the perspective of a Brit, it's just scary. Those huge 5 lane freeways, completely full of barely moving traffic, it looks like a nightmare. Is that what freedom looks like? Why do people put up with that? Do they really have that little choice over their lives, in terms of where they live, work, and how they travel?
I can understand why you would want to move, but surely, not all of the US is like that? There must be places where the balance between car usage and availability (and usage) of public transport is better?
One thing that really struck me was finding out how much land was given over to the 'automobile' in the greater LA area, in terms of highways, feeder roads, junctions, car parks, fuel stations etc. I can't remember the exact figure, but it was crazy high, over 50% I think.
@richardconway6425 the places that are less car centric are usually incredibly expensive places to live..like NYC for example
@@Wave02ZBecause the demand is so high there to begin with. Mass transit is not the cause, it's the relief valve for the amount of traffic it has to handle.
I agree. I think when public transit becomes the norm, obesity will reduce a lot!
I used to take bus for my internship when I studied in the Columbus, Ohio. One time, I forgot that my bus ticket is expired already when I got on a bus. The bus driver was kindly enough to let me on the bus. I never forgot his kindness to foreign student like me. It is sad thing to see the US under invested in public transport.
You got to ride the bus for free. What are you complaining about?
@@jgg204I think he isnt comolaining about this ride exactly. He is saying that even in those conditions he had a good experience and that its sad that the US doesn't invest more in thos mode of transport
It really is sad how car reliant america is. Kids and old people cant get around as easily as people in Europe and Asia, people are overweight due to lack of walking. The car culture allows people to build sprawling bland suburbs.
Public transportation is nothing without the cities being walkable as well. That's what people don't realize. Public transportation alone isn't enough. When I was in Germany, there was barely any car traffic. There were trains all over the city though. My class went to 10 cities and all over the place by train. It was very cheap and very reliable too. In Georgia, public transit is non existent besides a few unreliable busses in like Macon or Savannah. No trains throughout the state though. You have to pay for a slow unreliable bus or have a car.
I walked the entirety of San Francisco within a couple of days and felt safe. Just be vigilant when crossing the street. What is your point about cities not being walkable?
@@DenastusSF is like a mini NYC with walkable and dense lay out, it’s an anomaly. Many cities in this country don’t even have sidewalks
fun fact: many of the big cities in Europe are actually on their way to reducing even more car traffic, there are several government funded projects all over Europe to built more car-free zones, ban polluting and damaging vehicles, make city spaces more biker- and walker-friendly. PLUS, they're making public transport even more affordable through government funding and most countries are at least investing somehow into the public transport infrastructure and railroads, like many buses have become electrical.
Boston is one of the most walkable cities to live in the US car free. They even Tore down their highways. They also have a subway and commuter rail. They are also densely populated. Can’t say the same for cities like Houston or Detroit which are spread out and have a sprawl and lack public transportation. Only thing they have is trolley and buses
Boston is unique in that it never got hit by black or jewish lightning, so they are relatively unscathed compared to other cities.
Well Boston is largely built before cars. As for Detroit and Houston, one run by auto industry, another by oil industry, you can guess how they want their respective cities designed
I moved to Seattle 6 years ago and the transit was one of the reasons. Certainly not up to NYC/Chicago/Boston levels, but for a west coast city... it was better than other places I've lived. I won't go back to someplace that I have to have a car... if I ever have one again, it'll be because I want one... not be dependent on it.
@@starventureBoston is 25% black
@@thomasgrabkowski8283 yup people started moving to Houston around the time cars were invented
Just so y’all know, I live in Europe and I have 4-5 different ways of getting to my destination using public transportation so it goes to show how bad the public transport really is in the US
Bus service to NYC from Essex County, NJ just got severely curtailed, but it's better than no bus service at all.
I loved living in central Europe, and experience the transportation system. I asked "WHY?" when I came back to the US. Our cities are expensive to maintain because of the car favor.
Europeans are also semi-socialists which also explains a lot.
I can tell you that you don't live in Croatia.
@@dorothymartin8557 Yeah, the Railroad owners used Pinkertons to murder people for organizing..
I took a train from portland to pasco I think it was $35. It saved me a 4 hour drive. However, the walk from the max line to Union station was really sketchy. There were tons of tents set up on the sidewalk and I saw a guy walking around with his pants down to his ankles. The train only went once per day and the trip there arrived late at night. And the one back was super early in the morning. Yeah I saved a little bit of money but the time cost was so much more.
Its a big issue in the states. They are starting to realize you need transit hubs/stops near long commuter train lines and airports... buses meeting up with light rail stops. Additionally they are starting to also build multi-family residences around stations. Things other countries have been doing for decades...
@@kellygoodine4405 - Section 8 housing next to the metro stations just means more thugs on the train …
@@Clyde-2055 Who said anything about section 8 housing?
@@kellygoodine4405 - Who says anything about Section 8 housing? Anyone that has ridden the metros in LA, New York, or Chicago … etc.
@@Clyde-2055 New York has public transportation all over Manhattan... which all sorts of people use every day. Other cities are building pretty nice apartments around stations. Public transportation isn't just for the poor.
I think of it as having options. Don't want to be forced to drive? You can take a train, a bus, or bicycle safely to wherever you're going. You want to drive? By all means, there'll be fewer cars on the road with you. Choice is freedom.
As an American with epilepsy, I moved to Canada to have access to public transit. I moved back to places with good public transit. And I choose my jobs based on public transit.
you moved to canada for public transit? lmao Canada has worse transit to than the US
I understand you mate. I suffer from tics, and where I live(not the US, but in this meaning it's quite similar to the US) and yes, the bad public transport makes my life horrible here on my spare time.
No you didn’t
Curious how CNBC decided to overlook how hard Ford lobbied to dismantle public transportation in the US.
Of course they did. They wanted slanted “news”.
Love this! Wish this video could've touched on the perceived lack of safety associated with riding public transport as well - recent criminal activity in the subways is also a huge deterrent to civilians wanting to take public transport and may be more difficult to address than high fares and punctuality.
NYC subways are still dramatically safer than they were back in the 70s and 80s. Crime in NYC even with the recent uptick is still an order of magnitude lower than it was 40-50 years ago.
not only better public transit you guys need, more walkable and bikeable cities, more mixed use housing in your cities to support smaller local producers and shop owners - making the life more healthy due to more daily walking and better ways of eating. i live in a medium sized city in germany and having everything in close connection on food or by bus is litterally the best. you get arround everywhere regularely and there is no need to actually own and support a car, no need to search parking space or else - and that comes from a car lover. i really do love cars but i also love to get arround without having to think about driving or gasprices
I remember when I just move to the US, the first stop was Jacksonville, FL. I had no car and I hoped to move around on the bus or train. It was so disappointing to find out there is literally almost none busses exist in the area. Those that exist are infrequent 1-1.5 hours gap between each bus. That just blew my mind how people are forced into owning a personal transportation. Now I’m in DC Metropolitan area and public transport here is much better than in most other parts of the country. But still is nothing close to Asian and European countries. Amtrak is a complete failure and it always was, I still don’t get it how Americans are allowing and enabling all of this to happen throughout decades
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated.
Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._*
So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_
It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_*
Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority (or *anywhere* else) and *prove me wrong!*
Because public transportation delegates your freedom of transport to the government where as a car you choose where to go. In Denver there is a system called the “RTD light rail,” it took 15 years to build and cost billions, when it was finished it could service about a million people and connect nearly all of Denver and it’s suburbs to DIA and in between, next to bus stops and rentable scooters and bikes, you’d except people would be eager to use it, except less than 15-25k use it daily. So when given the option of good, efficient, and reasonable public transportation, Americans don’t and won’t use it. It got so bad CDOT offered FREE tickets so people would just use it, it only improved it by .5 percent. So what a waste of time and infrastructure to just be a massive busts you’ll drive by these light rails on the highway and there’ll be NO ONE in there.
@@jalend9974 Wow! Interesting!
that's 15-25K cars off the road, that improves travel time for everyone who takes a car. thats a win! @@jalend9974
@@jalend9974
According to a commenter above, @MontgomeryMall, Denver commuters don't want to use public transit because of safety concerns. If the transit system is littered with homeless people and drug addicts, if the trains and buses are dirty and smelly, then who would want to ride in them.
I live in NYC and ride the MTA. I do have to deal with the unpleasantries mentioned above, but I have no choice because this is the only means I have to get around. It is a matter of lifestyle that I must tolerate and get used to. I am quite fortunate that the few routes I typically ride on are reasonably reliable, and the stations I use are patrolled by many police officers ... so I am counting my blessings.
And yes, having a car does represent, to us Americans, independence and freedom, albeit with some drawbacks. I guess in the end, everything in life has a trade-off, it depends on what you are willing to give up.
I rely on public transit to get me most places in the metropolitan city I live in. But it’s exhausting to ride now. Times are unreliable and people are just…gross.
And adds travel time by 3x.
underinvestment into mass transit will end about as well as underinvestment into any business, or any state service for that matter.
@@XDTape Why should the government care when the taxpayer will just pay them no matter what?
@@tuckerbugeater because if they want to keep their position, they have to ensure that they don't underfund the service the taxpayer uses. why do you think politicians are obsessed with road expansions? even Biden is still catering to the car when he subsidizes EV purchases or funds more bridges and highways for cars. biden literally flew out to Philly just to get a photo op of the burned-out I-95. it is political suicide to yank out goods and services from under the taxpayer's feet.
Times are unreliable because they're underfunded, as explained. People are gross on them because they're broke and/or homeless and get on transportation just to be somewhere inside. Funding helps develop routes to better get people to care/opportunities. And for those who just don't care to be helped, faster and more reliable transportation often pushes them out as they have more chances to get somewhere, and are less likely the wander in well-trekked, staffed, and bright places. Also, the transit systems could afford more sanitation workers.
It's not the immediate solution for, but every piece helps ultimately finish the puzzle.
It blows my mind how other smaller countries such as Japan have better transit systems than we do. Now that I lost my vehicle due to an accident i have to rely on our public transit to move around. I havent seen relatives who live across my city in a couple years. It would be nice to be able move about the city with relative ease if the current state of transit was for us instead of against us.
How does Japan's highway system compare to ours? I think that we only need a quicker way to move accidents to the side of the road,
@@georgesitgraves8474 It's called the shinkansen. moves magnitudes more people than a highway can ever dream of.
@@georgesitgraves8474 the shinkansen moves many multiples more people in less time while costing much less than the average highway
People need to stop being hung up on wanting profitable public transit. It doesn't need to be. It serves the greater good. We do need that investment by the government to make it more appealing to people though, or it can't work.
Countless studies have shown that access to reliable public transportation is the singular most important factor to lift people out of poverty. The US as an innovative and enterprising society can easily provide smart solutions if only the government would make the necessary seed investments.
Completely missed one *key* problem: How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated.
Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._*
So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_
It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_*
Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
@@davidgoodnow269 I would love to hear your solutions to efficient mass transit alternatives across the US.
I love to an urgent plan to build at least 10k miles of high speed rail across the US in the next decade. China successfully built that length in the last decade. I am confident that the US can do much better.
Whoever is thinking about such plans should please sign me up for free support.
The problem is the poorest people are brown and black Americans. Yts are still in charge.
It's one of the most important to keep them there too
Paying attention in school and getting off drugs is the way to get out of poverty... so you can then afford to get out of the cities!
Personal experience: I and my family currently live in a tier-2 city in China. My parents have 2 cars that have been parked in our basement with only infrequent use because the public transit system here is so convenient that driving feels unnecessary, we can just walk for 5mins and there will be either a subway station, a bike rent or a bus stop (for us, we have all 3). My parents loved driving, and they drive almost everyday 10 years ago when we didn't have this much public transit resources. It definitely depends on the location tho, but comparing to my experience living in the US, I would say what we have here now is beyond comparison.
The main reason is that the public transport in the US is corporatized. In China for example, the railway agencies are national, everything, from the track gauges to the electrification are standardized. When you have a corporatized system, the companies will nake desicions based on profit rather than the economic growth of the nation.
China builds trains to nowhere using cheap labor and massive government loans that are meant to jump start their failing economy. Now the infrastructure is crumbling because nobody uses it and the government is out of handouts
It's amazing what you learn about the US when you move out of the US.... it's also very sad because you realize just how badly its broken at every level.
I lived in England for 6 months in college... I was blown away that I was able to do my grocery shopping by bus and the busses were setup to handle that sort of thing. I didn't set foot in a car once the whole time I was there and I never felt limited in any way. It was an eye opening experience
@@scottfrazer4669 What's ironic is UK itself is probably the most car dependent country in alot of its places in Europe even though it was great transit
You don't have to leave. I learn about other countries from RUclips based on other travelers experiences. It's why I'm an advocate against the government's ideas. We are nothing, but a third world country with fancy gadgets.
@@Racko. How is that? It can't possibly be worse than America. We are the number 1 when it comes to being trash at everything. 😆
@@b4rs629 I didnt draw a comparison to the US, I did it with UK to Europe, its unwalkable compared to the rest of the Continent, theres much more things the US does better than UK anyways, however North America overall just needs to work on transit since its been bulldozed for cars
Your job may be on the line if you rely on American public transportation to get to work due to inconsistency and disorganization. For example, there's a bus line with two types of service: one was the "Rapid" which had fewer bus stops, and the regular which stopped at all stops. I had to use the regular since the location of my work lay right in between rapid stops but there'll be two rapid buses that were usually empty vs one regular one that was always full...it'd make more sense to do the opposite. It was very frustrating to see a Rapid and then wait to see another Rapid even emptier with passengers! I'd sometimes kick the bus shelter and curse the system....thank god I no longer need to rely on public transit for job security.
Omg, this is the very situation that I was in. I spent 10 months struggling with the horrible bus service of Jacksonville, where I had to deal with all types of non-sense (sometimes I felt like vandalizing their electronic totems, because they were misleading). Sometimes I missed the bus changes, because of their stupid disorganization. Until I finally got a nice car. Will cost me more but everything is thought out for cars in this city.
Inconsistency and disorganization and are also the result of low ridership and underfunding of public transportation. That's what this video is about.
I live in Atlanta use public transit whenever I can because it’s cheap and bypasses a lot of the traffic you sit in on the free if you were to drive or Uber. If you learn the routes, get to know the drivers and use the app to track when the buses will arrive it’s pretty good. I have noticed there is a shortage of buses on the weekend. Which makes it harder to get around
One of the biggest problems with public transit in the United States, that no one ever talks about is the fact that it does not feel safe. I was just using San Diego’s public transit the other day, which is actually pretty good for the US. On a trip to downtown the trains and buses have, multiple people screaming and mumbling to themselves I’m guessing from mental problems. On the bus ride home, we stopped at a park in a whole bunch of minors got on every single one of them was blasted, drunk and high, doing them openly on the bus as well. The average person using public transit just wants to go to work or wherever they’re going and come home. No one wants to put up with the hassle of dealing with the typical clientele of public transit.
Bingo. That's what I hated about public transit
I had to deal with that when I was using the San Diego Trolley. I appreciate every day that I have a car.
Best way to deal with this - in my opinion - is by getting to the root of the problem. Better programs to support the addicted and the mentally ill, drug reduction programs, programs to house homeless people that may feel it necessary to get on public transit to escape the elements, etc. Reduce the amount of addicts and homeless on the street and you'll reduce the amount of them on public transit by extension.
@@tristanneal9552 That is being tried. It fails.
I once rode on a public transit bus in a major city. A homeless guy was on the bus. He stunk up the whole bus. It was awful. My eyes were watering the smell was that bad.
I was so glad when he got off the bus.
The city has homeless shelters, social support programs, etc. Lots of them. It did no good.
All my fellow Americans should travel to other countries - Germany, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and others, and see how this "problem" is easily solved with proper mass transit!
Completely missed one *key* problem: How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated.
Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._*
So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_
It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_*
Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
Most Americans have never travelled abroad at all.
Export American diversity to those societies and watch how quickly support for mass transit fades.
Thailand public transit is still pretty bad compared to those other three countries. Lots of delays, high prices for locals, poor and undeveloped routes, and closes too early.
@@lom888 Canada is a much more diverse country than the US. We have great public transit. What's your excuse? ;)
Here in Los Angeles public transit has a reputation of being dirty and dangerous, which has pushed more riders into becoming drivers. Transients evade fares and just ride back and forth all day on the subways and light rails. Just yesterday Metro announced they're going to spend millions more on security and cleaning up trains and busses. Only time will tell if it's too little, too late.
It's been that way for decades. Back when the system was called RTD, people called it the "rough, tough, and dirty."
For the HK MTR Anything more than a 3 minute wait is super annoying lol and any delay more than 60 seconds is already rare - super fortunate to have super a great system as a teenager, which allows me to get anywhere I want
That´s a great video and the pros and cons are very clear to me.As a tourist, everytime I go to NYC, I use the public trasnsportation very often.In my point of view, I would invest more to have a better public transportation.We must reduce pollution, time, and being stuck in traffic is awful.Thanks for letting me take part of it.
As someone who can't drive due to disability, I'm angry about this every day. There are people like me all over and plenty of them aren't homeless or drug addicts or whathaveyou. Carcentrism is really ableist
It really is makes me mad how I can’t have a job because I don’t poses a license it’s infuriating
Within a 5 or 6 hopefully this will not be the case. Self driving cars can and will fix this issue.
Amtrak has been pretty good for me lately. Cheaper than bus tickets, super comfortable, usually on time and even when it isn’t, it somehow gets to my destination early. If its this decent with minimal funding, then it could be amazing if Amtrak got the funding it needed.
It's cheaper for one person to drive from SD to LA than to take Amtrak.
@@SCHMALLZZZ that sucks for you on the west coast. Here in the northeast public transportation is actually good. It definitely needs more funding to become great though.
Edit: Tickets on Friday August 11th from SD to LA are literally $36 one way lol. Idk the tolls in Cali, if you drive from DC to NYC, which is about a 4 hour drive depending on the traffic, then you’re gonna have to pay at least $40 in tolls anyway. I recently got my ticket for $20, but usually I’m willing to pay up to $80 since I can do work while I’m on the train so my time isn’t wasted.
@@MajorPickleSwag amtrak needs to charge twice as much and operate like a business instead of running on government welfare. but then the # of passengers would drop like what happened to private rail in the 70s.
Amtrak in the NE should be way faster than what it is. They need to demolition parts of Baltimore and Philly to straighten out the track, or just build a brand new HSR line that hits the outskirts of the cities.
@@SgtJoeSmith tell me you haven't travelled anywhere in the world without telling me you haven't travelled anywhere in the world
There is a way for transit authorities to operate without federal "investment" dollars and it's called value capture (VC). In Asia there are multiple private rail companies that operate profitability by monetizing the land around stations, Ie shopping malls, office complexes, apartment buildings etc. Hong Kong's MTR in particular has done a masterful job providing excellent service and remaining profitable at the same time, from what I've read. Apparently they own like 13 malls and other buildings directly next to stations.
This is very popular in Japan where i lived for a decade too. But those companies acquired the land more than 100 years ago. YOu don't have enough money for any of that now.
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated.
Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._*
So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_
It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_*
Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority and *prove me wrong!*
Same with Thailand's MRT system. It's so convenient that trains are linked to all sorts of establishments and easily accessible.
That’s how they’ve been doing it in London for 150 years.
@@davidhill850this is where imminent domain would be beneficial
Lived in Hong Kong for a bit years ago. Their trains came every minute during rush hour…no delays, cheap, everyone used it, trains are spotless, and the agency turns a profit every year. It’s possible.
I'm an American who currently lives in Europe (for work) and has lived in Europe for over 10 years. I've also lived in Kansas City and the Wash DC area. It is absolutley a cultural thing that prevents us from embracing public transit. Of course there are lots of cars in Europe, but Europeans value living in walkable cities over everything else. Suburbs (like in the U.S.) are not here because of the culture. Europeans don't care about the house with the white picket fence. I saw a map of public transportation rail in Europe and in the U.S. and it is laughable how little the U.S. has when compared to Europe. Americans love their cars, and we're taught that the American dream means a house with a yard, a couple kids and one or two cars. There's nothing wrong with that if you don't mind driving a lot.
There is literally nothing but flat plains between Kansas City and Denver, and yet if you look at a map of Amtrak there is no rail connecting the two cities. So your choices are flying or driving 9 hours. Flying has ceased to be a pleasurable way to travel, and if you can't drive too much you're stuck.
I had to use public transit in Portland OR. Every day in the morning, you’d have some passed out drunk bothering people. On the way home I was always wary of hoodlums around me. I really tried to keep to myself and be ready to defend myself. I saw lots of people get punched for no apparent reason. After a Trailblazer game that I took my young daughter to, a dude firehose vomitted straight into one of the windows of the train. I’m so glad I don’t live there anymore.
American logic:
Sitting in traffic with thousands of other cars - Individualist
Taking the train - Collectivism
IF you're in certain cities like LA there are instances where transit overall makes more sense since you don't have to sit in traffic.
@@chrisaycock5965In every city transit makes sense. Even those with only 100,000 population. It just needs to be funded and used before it can become better than driving.
@@dylanc9174well, the transit needs to be combined with greater density. a bus in a single-family neighborhood is a lot less efficient than in even a medium-density neighborhood. so it’s important that in addition to letting people reach other destinations, people should also have *more* potential destinations to reach in the same general area.
Trains don't stop on my doorstep, nor does it stop at the doorstep of my job or my friends' houses. Trains don't run at all hours. Trains don't let me control the temperature, or choose a radio station or podcast to listen to without headphones. Trains don't have a large trunk where I can dump sports equipment, or even all my belongings before moving cross country. Trains don't let friends and I travel together and have private conversations about potentially sensitive topics. Trains don't let me take an alternate scenic route if I want. Trains make me wait outside in the heat, cold, or rain for them to show up. Trains struggle to run when there are leaves on the track, when there is a power outage (for electric metro and commuter trains).
@@dylanc9174 No, it doesn't. It doesn't even always make sense in dense cities. I, and many other americans, dont want to sit on a packed bus / train that takes double the time to get where I want to, and then have to walk additional distance to get there. Plus you can't transport anything other than what you can carry. Not to mention that I now have to pay more taxes to fund something that I wont even use.
I dont get this obsession with transit. It just doesn't make sense in most of the U.S. It is great in DENSE cities, such as New York, but falls apart as soon as you get to anything remotely suburban.
I visited America years ago, and while walking from one shopping centre across to some other nearby shops only a few hundred metres away, I actually had some dude in a truck yell "Get a car!" at me......
As an American, I am embarrassed by our brutish ways, especially to guests.
It is absolutely insane that our society assumes that everyone can be a pilot, and that not making it home from work or an errand is just the cost of doing business. That's not even touching on emissions and petrochemicals and their effects on our health and environment.
The main issue is that our government officials look at public transit as a business and worried so much about ROI which it shouldn’t be it’s a public service if it was good we would ride it more. I’m in Miami we’re so happy to have the BrightLine here to take a train from Miami to Orlando and back without having to drive.
How Federal Grants for Mass Transit programs are allocated.
Federal Grants are (1) given as long as the public transit system *does not turn a profit* and (2) those Federal funds are given *without requiring they be spent to improve public transit **_services._*
So, first the City and State are incentivized to ensure their mass transit sustems stay *_broken,_* that any failures _remain unrepaired,_ that service be _unreliable_ to *_discourage_* commuters; and _as long as that happens, the receiving government can _*_keep_*_ that money_ and _use it wherever and_ *however* it _wants!_
It is a never-ending doom cycle *by design* because no one could fail *this badly for so long **_unintentionally!_*
Please, *examine the books* of New York City and their Mass Transit Authority (or *anywhere* else) and *prove me wrong!*
This is because the US is designed to keep the poor poor and make the rich richer. Access to transportation allows for social mobility. In most cities, the cost of housing is too high to own a car, and owning a car in the city is also more expensive than owning one in the suburbs, due to parking and insurance costs. So the peasants are forced to work locally to pay their landlords and have no means to escape or find work outside a certain radius of their homes. This is American dream - to maintain the status quo.
I'm 53 and never got my driver's license. I was always an urban guy. I don't like driving and actually get sick in cars. I enjoy walking, biking, running, and taking public transportation.
Fun fact: Albert Einstein never learned how to drive. He thought it was too complicated and preferred riding his bicycle. 😊
We need some walkable cities. I miss walking in Europe when I visited. I lived in the bay area for 4-5 years without a car. Coming back to the Central Coast/SoCal I went from going mostly everywhere I wanted by public transit to relying on Uber/Lyft, friends and family. I had to purchase a car which has put me behind 20k, I love cars, like driving my dad's old manual honda accord but I would at least like the choice to do either. We need some real change in our policies.
Being raised in the UK and after living the last forty years in Florida, I can say that the US is light years behind Europe and other places. If the US had focused on building out public transit decades ago, we likely wouldn’t have as many cars on the road. It’s likely too expensive to do it now.
Stop lying
What makes me optimistic is that there's a lot more momentum behind better transit these days. When I was in college there was very little, other than a few go-nowhere projects like the Wisconsin high speed rail line. People just didn't see the benefit. A combination of an aging general population, a younger population less interested in car culture, and a rapidly growing immigrant population from countries with reliable transit... at the very least we will be forced to talk about it more.
I'm mostly interested in commuter rail, or even suburban mass transit like BART. It's rush hour commutes that we all hate, and it's by far the most glaring issue with using cars for our commutes. Instead of a commute that could be anywhere from 40 minutes to 2 hours, I'd take 5 minutes to drive to the station and get there in 40 minutes every time. Don't have to worry about dozing off or paying attention to the road. I could do some prep work while I commute. The benefits of commuter rail to driving are pretty clear to me.
Also, national rail like amtrak and even private rail companies. Our country needs better commuter, national/regional and suburban railing transportation connectors.
Park and rides are considered bad by urbanists. So driving to a station will soon be impossible as all parking is getting replaced by tiny apartments. Good luck finding a place to park so you can train 😂
@@cmdrls212 It's true, it seems like urbanism is just people who hate cars - which is just another form of this new age zillennial degeneracy. But I don't think supporting public transit projects means I'm an "urbanist".
In Paris, during busy times, like around 7-8am, you could catch a train every 7-10 minutes. In the USA, it's more like 45 minutes if you miss a bus.
I don’t understand it’s like they want us to be handicapped America is great lol
I worked in Portland, OR. for 21 years. Public transportation is everywhere, and it is used during peak work and home times, but is pretty much ignored by the majority of the public. The reasons are quite real and varied. Downtown they have or had a "fareless square". No fares were required. Homeless, drug users, and alcoholics just jump on with the workers trying to get to work or go home. Urine smells, and physical assault on people happen a lot there. Then, the stops every 500 ft for bus and light rail is a real slow down both to the riders and to vehicle traffic. This goes for the local government's favorite train system, called the Street Cars as well. It is an absolute abomination as far as I am concerned. (Don't live there, or work there anymore. Haven't for 4 years.)
It was explained to me once that the 500 foot distance was an artifact of a time when sparse development meant that each stop would only be used infrequently. Once development expanded out to those areas, bus stops weren't removed and now multiple stops have passengers getting on or off, slowing buses to a crawl. Time is money and doubling commute times this way makes everyone leave who can find a way. New York has express trains. My own area has started express buses but it is long overdue. My area's subways could be computer controlled and allow express trains to pass local trains at stations the express train is not scheduled to stop, but automating the union jobs is a non-starter in urban political environments. We're about to have self-driving cars. Automatic trains would be so much easier to perfect; but there's no demand.
@@williamjacobs In Portland, it is codified by the actual physical build. There is no way to route an express around the light rail or street car. Buses though do have that ability and there are express buses from outlying suburbs. But once you get to their downtown stop, you are back to the every other block stop. This design parameter was set by Earl Blumenauer during his reign as a City Council member and head of the Portland Office of Transportation. Then he went on to be a Congressional Representative, and makes it a requirement in his position there.
Portland is now a "no-go" area.
@@ednorton47 I retired from the City back in 2011. After that I rarely went to Portland for anything, especially downtown (CBD). We lived in Vancouver, WA a very conservative county (Clark). Unfortunately, that cancer spread into the City of Vancouver, and into Clark County. When my wife retired 4 years years ago, we moved to Texas.
If public transportation was better than I would stop being scared over my car breaking down and not having the cash to fix it.
I wish they would make more trains so we could go everywhere cheaply, quickly, and cleaner air.
Some Americans don’t seem to care about increasing the number public spaces because they hold contempt for their fellow Americans. Hyperindividualism has many people thinking everyone exists in their own separate worlds
I am much older and have seen so much transition in my life. USA is worsening year by year. So little money has gone into maintaining and or upgrading the infrastructure. EVERY BODY wants a car! We are so manipulated daily on what we should want. I am semi retired but once I fully retire I plan on spending my retirement years going over seas. I know that the grass is not always greener on the other side but things are still better for what is offered for people overseas. I want to enjoy my retirement! I have been working since I was 14 yrs old, I purchased my USED vehicle in the 70’s for $9,000. and within 1 month gasoline went from .39 gal to OVER 1 dollar! I am 71 so have contributed A LOT in my taxes. So government you’ll be loosing your supporters in the near future due to your ignorance and greed.
As someone who has lived in two transport deserts I see that the problem is getting worse and worse. The transport deserts are growing, when they should be shrinking.
They aren't transport deserts if you have a car. They are only public transport deserts.
@@laurie7689What happens when your car breaks down?
@@Jenna1394 I use one of my others. My husband and I own 3 vehicles. If I don't have the option to use one of my own, my daughter lives 1 mile from me with her boyfriend and they have 3 vehicles. So, I'm covered. Before you ask, we're not rich. My husband and I earn $55,000-60,000 annually. My daughter is a college student, but lives off of a small inheritance from a deceased great-aunt. She gets around $1200 a month from an IRA held in Trust. She works when not attending classes. Her boyfriend works at a home improvement store. And yet, we have our own places to live and our own cars. We live in a low-cost of living State.
@@laurie7689they are transit deserts. There’s no transportation available besides private methods of transportation. There should be public transportation everywhere
@@Supr_KILLA Only if people want to pay for it, which we don't since we put our money into our own private vehicles. We tend to vote down public transportation. I don't have enough money to pay for BOTH private and public transportation. I'd rather pay for my private transportation. Other people who can't pay for transportation aren't my problem.
I'm glad that guy hit on housing and zoning towards the end. The fact of the matter is the biggest reason why transit is so hard here is that our cities are just not as dense as other countries due to zoning and people even within cities wanting yards. It just makes it too hard to effectively serve areas. Mass transit requires mass density to make it work.
Each dollar that goes into the public transportation system generates five in return. But all of them are bleeding money like crazy. Something does not add up.
It can be money saved. If you invest in public transport, you have less polution in City which leads to a greater productivity. Goverment policies does not have to be directly profitable, because increase in economic activity leads to more taxes, or better health leads to less expenditure on healthcare.