Pete,
Not true. It takes 2.8 hours to go from Kenosha, WI to downtown Chicago, IL by car during rush morning (its long past a rush hour). By Metra from downtown Kenosha, it takes 40 minutes including many local stops along the way.
I don't understand why you pick the most extreme example to make your point. I can drive from NYC to Philadelphia in that time, and BTW, nobody commutes this far.
Do to this by mass transportation (during the hours of frequent service), it would take me 40 minutes just to get to Penn Station, then an average of 20 minutes wait for the next train, then 1h 20 minutes by Amtrak at $60, then another 40 minutes to get where you really want to go (to the door). Did I mention that $60 is one way?
You can save money and double the train time on a commuter railroad (with some money savings likely).
From there its less than 5 minutes to most downtown locations by bus.
Pure BS. It takes 5 minutes (or more) just for the next bust to show up. It generally takes more than one ride to get where you really want to go, so you need to add an additional 5 min average for the waiting time for your transfer. Plus, of course, the bus drive time and walk from where the bus drops you off to your ultimate destination. Now, add to the equation -5F windchil factor we had in NYC today, or drenching in your sweat in the summer all I can say: "Where do I sign up?"
And with 5% of the annual gas taxes, mass transit would have 3-6 times the equipment and 10 times the operating budget yielding to more area covered, more frequent service and longer hours of operation.
Mass transit already operates at loss in most places it is tried. You are proposing multiplying these operating losses several-fold, while increasing the average commute times, and greatly reducing convenience. Again, where do I sign up for this plan?
Joe
PS: Mass transit has it all wrong. It starts from its name "Mass". It needs to be completely rethought, turned upside down, and start from the individual, and how the individual can be best served.
Since most people involved in the entire money losing operation called "Mass transit" start with the wrong premise, the probability of them arriving at something smart would be only by chance or an accident. Throwing more money will only increase the Massive losses. |
