US spends billions on roads rather than public transport in 'climate time bomb'

Re:US spends billions on roads rather than public transport ... by skybrian on Thursday February 29, 2024 @01:42PM (#39553239)

I know a lot of people hate cars, but you should remember that much of the US is rural, and by land area, it’s mostly not suitable for trains. We should remember that cities and the countryside are different and reject simplistic slogans (“geometry hates cars”) that imply that one form of transportation works best everywhere. We should have a mosaic of different systems that work together.

The most successful form of public transit in low-density areas is the school bus. They work well for bringing kids to school. They require roads. We’re not going to switch to rail.

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Re:US spends billions on roads rather than public transport ... by eesmith on Thursday February 29, 2024 @03:03PM (#39554306)

The geometry argument was not as simple as you suggest.

There was a necessary precondition: "there's ultimately a limit to how effective personal cars can be when population density exceeds a certain level".

That's the opposite of implying that one form of transportation works best everywhere.

FWIW, in some low density areas the most successful form of public transit is the ferry, which carries kids to school, people to work, food to the stores, and more.

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Re:US spends billions on roads rather than public transport ... by theultdev on Thursday February 29, 2024 @04:47PM (#39555618)

I'm very pro car and personal travel / liberty, but I will say living briefly in Sydney that the ferry is the ultimate form of public transportation, like a free tour.

However weather does play a large role, and during peak hours the crowds are quite daunting.

There's only very specific places where ferry is useful. You need multiple ports close to each other in calm water with high frequency traffic.

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