Re:Solar and Wind Power So Cheap They’re Outgrowing Subsidies
by AnthonyMouse on Sunday September 22, 2019 @01:25AM
(#21039828)
> There are many reasons people use public transit besides convenience (poverty, disability, inebriation).
Sure, but those aren't really helpful ways to increase ridership. Increasing the number of people with a disability or promoting poverty or alcoholism in order to increase use of mass transit is not a reasonable plan even if it would be effective.
> I want something better than what we have, which is walk-able city centers and less space wasted on mandatory parking.
Mandatory parking is indeed very stupid. If there isn't enough parking then people will build more. There is no legitimate reason to mandate it by law.
This isn't quite right. There are many reasons people use public transit besides convenience (poverty, disability, inebriation). My home town is very spread out (1000 per square mile) and many of its buses run only every hour or two. This doesn't mean there are no riders, it just means that people who can drive do.
Density impacts the costs of operating transit and makes it more cost effective to provide higher quality transit. Higher quality transit means more people will use that transit.
> Nobody wants something which is worse than what they already have.
I want something better than what we have, which is walk-able city centers and less space wasted on mandatory parking. Just because driving has been subsidized for decades doesn't mean we can't stop subsidizing driving and shift that money to subsidizing mass transit instead.