APTA recently announced that US transit ridership is at its highest level since the 1960s, wi8th commuters taking 9 billion trips per year. Moreover, ridership is rising by 4.5% per year-faster than automobile use. The Washington Post reports that the trend is stressing transit systems such as Metro in Washington DC, where subway cars are packed to overflowing and station parking lots fill up by dawn. In response, Metro announced, Thursday, that it will open five new subway stations early, extend weekend subway service to 2 AM, and expand bus service throughout the area. The service expansion will add 500 new jobs to Metros's payroll. Another sign of the times in Chicago: The CTA has decided to open six elevated and subway stations and even stations entrances (that have previously been closed late at night and on weekends) during all hours that trains are in service. The Christian Science Monitor says that "mass transit in America is undergoing something of a renaissance," as a result of low unemployment, innovative service, increased urban highway congestion, more federal investment, higher gasoline prices and the use of newer, better equipment. Modes of transit are changing too. New light rail lines in Salt Lake City and Denver have attracted riders beyond all expectations. New and restored ferry service is being evaluated as a way to ease the ever-increasing traffic jams in urban areas such as Seattle, Savannah and San Francisco. Citizens of Atlanta and Ottawa are anxious to find transit solutions to polluted air. Conservative commentator Paul Wyrich, writing for Conservative News Service, reports approvingly, that "altogether there are some 58 projects now in the works for either entirely new rail systems or expansion of existing systems." Buses are also undergoing a transition too. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "buses are increasingly being seen as the best way to combat congestion... Bus rapid transit is a modern bus system that operates as efficiently as a subway, speeding commuters to their destinations along carpool lanes, dedicated roadways or even city streets with special lanes and traffic signals that give preference to buses." The Bay Area plan envisions the use of "tour bus-style vechicles with high-back seats, reading lights and computer plugs."

It you build it, they will use it.

Mike

-- Mike (mkpow1962@earthlink.net), June 21, 2000

Answers

to Mike: You write: "It [If] you build it, they will use it."

I agree whole-heartedly with what you say.

But, I must admit that I'm not opposed to road-building, either. If you build the roads, "they will use it", too.

Also, if society were to invest in a parallel network of tolled roads, then this would facilitate the privatization of transit agencies.

Given the huge Federal surpluses, there is absolutely no reason why society cannot afford to double the existing capacity of roadways in heavily congested urban areas. And, there may be little to no impact on the surplus, if the new capacity is tolled.

It seems to me, there is a lot of room for compromise between those who want more roads and those who want more transit.

Screw gasoline taxes, build a parallel network of tolled roads!

-- Matthew M. Warren (mattinsky@msn.com), June 22, 2000.

APTA, for those not in the know, is the American Public Transportation Association, a relatively recent change from the American Public TRANSIT Association. It is the LOBBYING GROUP for the transit establishment.

But on a local note, the King County Benchmarks for transit use show that, despite billions in investment, it's still stuck at about 48 unlinked trips (a trip with a transfer counts as two unlinked trips, a round trip with a transfer each way counts as four trips. A no-fare hop on the downtown bus for a block, still countrs as an unlinked trip) per year per person.

We built it.

They not only didn't come, they didn't even breathe very hard!

zowie

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), June 22, 2000.

Thanks zowie.....I found the opinion pretty hard to swallow.

"New and restored ferry service is being evaluated as a way to ease the ever-increasing traffic jams in urban areas such as Seattle, Savannah and San Francisco. Citizens of Atlanta and Ottawa are anxious to find transit solutions to polluted air."

Yep, ferry sevice across Lake Washington because of the failed transit program. And yes, you could say any city for that matter looks for solutions to polluted air, even if its 2 citizens.

Hmm...I remember when they started to build these HOVs. Relieve congestion? I believe this was about the third priority. I was being told about the dependance the US had on the OPEC countries. Sharing the ride would lead to reduced fuel needs, help reduce air pollution and, oh, reduce traffic on the roads. Ride sharing, combined with the reduction of the speed limit to 55 mph would save a lot of oil. So...where did this turn into some god given right that the only solution to congestion is mass transit/HOV lanes?

-- Doug (dgoar14@hotmail.com), June 23, 2000.