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Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by ghshephard on Monday January 04, 2016 @07:18PM (#10839932)
Re: Buses - if you get a chance, come over to Singapore. The buses come by every 3-5 minutes, have world-class air-conditioning, and on the half-dozen or so routes that I ride regularly, I don't think I've ever had to stand.

I rarely bother to even use their (world class) MRT I love the buses so much.

An advanced city is not a place where the poor move about in cars, rather it’s where even the rich use public transportation

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by vonklaus on Tuesday January 05, 2016 @01:33AM (#10841650)
Singapore is ~1/4 of the size of Rhode Island and ~200 square miles larger than lichtenstein, the smallest country in Europe. It's like 50k USD to own the ability to own a car which expires in 10 years at which point you will have to scrap it or rebuy this cert. A passat is somewhere north of 150k.

Also, I would add that subways are probably a better way forward than busses for a modern city, or at least some sort of connected underground transport system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_in_Singapore

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-04/singapore-...

https://www.google.com/search?q=singapore+size

https://www.google.com/search?q=rhode+island+size

https://www.google.com/search?q=size+of+the+vatican

Re:G.M. Invests $500M in Lyft by ghshephard on Tuesday January 05, 2016 @01:59PM (#10845165)
I agree - that there are a number of factors that benefit it's bus system over cars - the reasonable size of the country, and the enlightened attitude towards car owners paying for their externiality costs (the Certificate of Entitlement, or COE).

I also agree that Subways are awesome - and Singapore has an awesome system for such a young country, and they are going to be adding a new one each year through 2024 - That's a new line, not just a new station. [1]

The nice thing about bus stops - is they are everywhere, and the buses come by very frequently, and they all have GPS locators on them - so you can time your arrival to the stop to be when the bus arrives (which you can look up on your smart phone). I've never been a fan of buses before Singapore - but it's great to see what can be done in a country where cars are not the default option.

[1] http://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=80d3169f-dc...