Instead of asking Americans to just embrace our absolutely shit public transit (which they won’t do and will become more angry and obstinate about in its current condition), we need to push representatives into office that are far more left-leaning and not fucking autocrats who will MANDATE massive increases in taxes on billionaires and legislate much more significant subsidization of public transit to the point that it is MASSIVELY expanded and improved to a degree that it starts to look like what we see in actual 1st world countries like Japan, Europe, and pretty much all the Nordic countries. See “Not Just Bikes” for countless great examples of how other countries do this to a degree that it should be embarrassing for the US.
They didn’t get the public to “embrace public transit.” They made it good enough to the point that even the rich use it. It’s the same for anything. You have to show how good it can be. Then people will “embrace it” and guard it from dismantling by the rich looking to line their pockets. It’s why even ghoulish Republicans won’t touch Medicare. It was made GOOD by FDR’s administration, and now it is political suicide to do anything to water it down.
We need some bold leftist president to yell from the bully pulpit about high-speed bullet trains and advocate for it like Kennedy did for the Moon race.
Fixing things here means not only having lots of trains that stick to schedules, but regulating it very strongly and mandating adequate staffing, paying those staff well enough to live a dignified life, and providing proper training for every employee.
But the real sad fact is, there are so many other problems stacked on top of each other that all need addressing that are not only not being addressed, but directly worsened year over year - things like mass homelessness, housing unavailability, rising cost of living, zoning making nothing everyone needs to access (like grocery stores) within a public transit-friendly distance, that this will probably not happen ever…
Yeah. I probably should have been more detailed in my comment, but I did not mean embrace it as it is. I mean investing in it and making it competitive. I don’t think it’s embraceable in its current form.
we need to push representatives into office that are far more left-leaning and not fucking autocrats who will MANDATE massive increases in taxes on billionaires and legislate much more significant subsidization of public transit
The way the US is spread out makes public transit prohibitively expensive and difficult to achieve proper coverage. To make it effective, you would have to shift the entire way we live. Our entire society is built off the concept that everyone has a car.
Add to the fact that building transit is extra expensive in the US and you arrive at the reality that we will NEVER have a working transit system. That’s why the shift to small cars is needed. We don’t have any more room for roads, so we need more cars to fit in the roads we have
It’s not that it’s impossible. It’s just that we’ve been so indoctrinated to depend on cars that we can’t even comprehend the idea that real robust transit would work.
We aren’t the most spread out country in the world. Just because we are not a tiny country or have difficult geography is not a sufficient reason as to why we have basically no public transit.
We just lack the leadership needed to implement massive programs like high speed interstate rail.
We did it with the interstate highway system half a century ago.
It’s past time we had a real rail system. I agree with you it seems impossible. But it is not.
Politically you have to get several different groups of people to buy in to make it work. Unfortunately “what it’s about” is the deciding factor in accomplishment.
Bad framing.
Instead of asking Americans to just embrace our absolutely shit public transit (which they won’t do and will become more angry and obstinate about in its current condition), we need to push representatives into office that are far more left-leaning and not fucking autocrats who will MANDATE massive increases in taxes on billionaires and legislate much more significant subsidization of public transit to the point that it is MASSIVELY expanded and improved to a degree that it starts to look like what we see in actual 1st world countries like Japan, Europe, and pretty much all the Nordic countries. See “Not Just Bikes” for countless great examples of how other countries do this to a degree that it should be embarrassing for the US.
They didn’t get the public to “embrace public transit.” They made it good enough to the point that even the rich use it. It’s the same for anything. You have to show how good it can be. Then people will “embrace it” and guard it from dismantling by the rich looking to line their pockets. It’s why even ghoulish Republicans won’t touch Medicare. It was made GOOD by FDR’s administration, and now it is political suicide to do anything to water it down.
We need some bold leftist president to yell from the bully pulpit about high-speed bullet trains and advocate for it like Kennedy did for the Moon race.
Fixing things here means not only having lots of trains that stick to schedules, but regulating it very strongly and mandating adequate staffing, paying those staff well enough to live a dignified life, and providing proper training for every employee.
But the real sad fact is, there are so many other problems stacked on top of each other that all need addressing that are not only not being addressed, but directly worsened year over year - things like mass homelessness, housing unavailability, rising cost of living, zoning making nothing everyone needs to access (like grocery stores) within a public transit-friendly distance, that this will probably not happen ever…
I mean, I think this is what they’re saying, but yeah.
Yeah. I probably should have been more detailed in my comment, but I did not mean embrace it as it is. I mean investing in it and making it competitive. I don’t think it’s embraceable in its current form.
Make it good and people will use it. It’s really that simple.
You’re framing it wrong. We don’t need to elect scary commies to massively increase taxes in order to subsidize icky collective things; we simply need to elect Fiscal Conservatives™ who will cease massively subsidizing car dependency. In particular, it’s time to repeal Big Government® intrusive regulations that try to tell Red Blooded Americans© they can’t build a multifamily building on their own damn property or that dictate minimum parking requirements.
This is America, damn it! It’s high time we put the invisible hand of the Free Market back in control!
[insert screaming eagle noises]
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It’s more complex than that.
The way the US is spread out makes public transit prohibitively expensive and difficult to achieve proper coverage. To make it effective, you would have to shift the entire way we live. Our entire society is built off the concept that everyone has a car.
Add to the fact that building transit is extra expensive in the US and you arrive at the reality that we will NEVER have a working transit system. That’s why the shift to small cars is needed. We don’t have any more room for roads, so we need more cars to fit in the roads we have
It’s not that it’s impossible. It’s just that we’ve been so indoctrinated to depend on cars that we can’t even comprehend the idea that real robust transit would work.
We aren’t the most spread out country in the world. Just because we are not a tiny country or have difficult geography is not a sufficient reason as to why we have basically no public transit.
We just lack the leadership needed to implement massive programs like high speed interstate rail.
We did it with the interstate highway system half a century ago.
It’s past time we had a real rail system. I agree with you it seems impossible. But it is not.
In fairness the Interstate system was more about air defense than transit.
…and the moon landing was more about “beating the Soviets” than the pursuit of lofty science and exploration goals.
Regardless, I don’t care what we decide to “make it about.”
I just want us to get it done.
Politically you have to get several different groups of people to buy in to make it work. Unfortunately “what it’s about” is the deciding factor in accomplishment.