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Why Public Transportation Is Not For Me…


Charles J. White

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8 hours ago, IpMan said:

Public transit, like most modern technologies, had their start in America. All major US cities had amazing, clean, efficient, cheap mass transit systems up until the 1950's. Of course like all great technologies which seek to help the common man, the US abuses of capitalism always winds up killing it. It was in the early 1950's that GM & Ford conspired and carried out their plan to purchase all public transit rail lines in all major US cities (which they did), and then immediately tear them up and remove them, thereby making individual vehicles almost indispensable outside of centralized cities such as NY.

That is what is such a shame and a major problem with unfettered capitalism, money and profit will always trump progress. This is also why the US, the country which was first to both adopt rail and institute a nationwide rail system, is one of the only first world countries to NOT have a high speed, efficient public rail system such as Europe, Japan, & China enjoy.

:goodpost: 

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22 hours ago, IpMan said:

Public transit, like most modern technologies, had their start in America. All major US cities had amazing, clean, efficient, cheap mass transit systems up until the 1950's. Of course like all great technologies which seek to help the common man, the US abuses of capitalism always winds up killing it. It was in the early 1950's that GM & Ford conspired and carried out their plan to purchase all public transit rail lines in all major US cities (which they did), and then immediately tear them up and remove them, thereby making individual vehicles almost indispensable outside of centralized cities such as NY.

That is what is such a shame and a major problem with unfettered capitalism, money and profit will always trump progress. This is also why the US, the country which was first to both adopt rail and institute a nationwide rail system, is one of the only first world countries to NOT have a high speed, efficient public rail system such as Europe, Japan, & China enjoy.

Register now to attend IpMan's hippie dippy Post-WWII U.S. history course at UC Berkeley and receive 25% off your tuition! 

You think those rail lines were built by some benevolent force who wanted to help the common man?  Public transit is about $$$ and it has always been about money. Construction of the interstate highway system, introduction of jetliners, and post-World War II suburban sprawl had far more to do with killing public rail transit in America than anything Ford & GM may have done to further cement the automobile as the option of choice for daily travel.

Most comparisons between the US and Japan are apples to oranges comparisons, especially those concerning public rail transit. For one thing, the United States is more than ten times larger than Japan. 

 

    

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1 hour ago, SteveAJones said:

Register now to attend IpMan's hippie dippy Post-WWII U.S. history course at UC Berkeley and receive 25% off your tuition! 

You think those rail lines were built by some benevolent force who wanted to help the common man?  Public transit is about $$$ and it has always been about money. Construction of the interstate highway system, introduction of jetliners, and post-World War II suburban sprawl had far more to do with killing public rail transit in America than anything Ford & GM may have done to further cement the automobile as the option of choice for daily travel.

Most comparisons between the US and Japan are apples to oranges comparisons, especially those concerning public rail transit. For one thing, the United States is more than ten times larger than Japan. 

 

    

And here is the perfect example of why all political discussion on this cite have been prohibited, because people like Steve just cannot help themselves in regard to insult and general bad manners.

Now, please explain how the interstate highway system & jetliners affect intra-city public transportation as I mentioned in my post... The high-speed rail is still a better and cheaper alternative that either highway travel or aircraft for large cities within 200 miles of each other such as Philly - NY & NY - DC, which BTW, the later has the nations ONLY high speed commuter route in the nation and is packed every day, 365 days a year. Looks like a pretty good business model to me Steve.

Also, Tokyo has a population which is 13.5 million vs. NYC which is 8.5 million and to my knowledge Tokyo has a pretty good public transit system as does most major European & Asian major cities. Oh, and Europe has a little thing called the Euro-Rail, so, if they could do that in Europe, please explain why it could not be done in the US.

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47 minutes ago, IpMan said:

And here is the perfect example of why all political discussion on this cite have been prohibited, because people like Steve just cannot help themselves in regard to insult and general bad manners.

Now, please explain how the interstate highway system & jetliners affect intra-city public transportation as I mentioned in my post... The high-speed rail is still a better and cheaper alternative that either highway travel or aircraft for large cities within 200 miles of each other such as Philly - NY & NY - DC, which BTW, the later has the nations ONLY high speed commuter route in the nation and is packed every day, 365 days a year. Looks like a pretty good business model to me Steve.

Also, Tokyo has a population which is 13.5 million vs. NYC which is 8.5 million and to my knowledge Tokyo has a pretty good public transit system as does most major European & Asian major cities. Oh, and Europe has a little thing called the Euro-Rail, so, if they could do that in Europe, please explain why it could not be done in the US.

Oh come on, don't be so thin-skinned. 

High-speed rail didn't exist in the 1950s, and by the time it did rail travel in general had been supplanted by automobiles and jetliners.

The bottom line on high speed rail travel, particularly in the United States, is that it isn't profitable. If it was, private interests would be seeking to exploit the sector. Yes, Europe and Asia enjoy high speed rail networks. However, those networks were originally built by the government(s). Even with privatization, government(s) remain major shareholders. Strict regulation mandates that the few profitable lines underwrite the unprofitable lines. I'm beginning to see why you are pro-rail, because it leads to Big Government intrusion into the transportation industry.

Additionally, as I've said, the automobile still represents individuality and freedom in the United States. You'll find few willing to give that up to sit next to Mr. Stink on the 5:15.     

 

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23 hours ago, LedZeppfan1977 said:

Just got two traffis poll bills from California for Tolls I never fucking saw.

There's a toll highway in Orange County...did you drive by Anaheim Angel Stadium on your way from San Diego to L.A.? If not, you probably got the tickets from the Bay Area. They have some sneaky tolls up there.

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Public transportation was my savior, for so many years both in high school and during my University days.

With Auckland being such a hilly city (along the lines of cities like San Francisco) , the only way to make it to classes on time without driving your poor feet to insanity and utter exhaustion, was to take the freakin' bus and boy, did I enjoy my rides, every morning and evening! :) 

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On August 26, 2016 at 2:08 PM, Strider said:

There's a toll highway in Orange County...did you drive by Anaheim Angel Stadium on your way from San Diego to L.A.? If not, you probably got the tickets from the Bay Area. They have some sneaky tolls up there.

It had to be on the way to Frisco then.  I never saw a toll booth but did see something about a pass on one stretch.  So fuck it. I paid the bastards.  Just like the parking ticket I got in San Diego, Del Mar.  Pure shit.  I was out of the fucking car for ten minutes if that.  Walked into the ocean, went back, and the prick was there and was not going for shit.  Had my wife not been with me I likely would have grabbed his clip board and ripped it up in front of him the old bastard.

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