Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Amusing DC area connection...

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

I think public transit is the way to go and I use buses quite a bit but 
I can understand why people don't take the bus. Most bus lines are 
dirty, uncomfortable, hard to navigate, expensive, unreliable, and slow. 
The bus in Columbia was crap. Here in Las Vegas it is much worse than 
crap. In Miami it was crap (and worse operators usually didn't speak 
English). Taking Greyhound is a nasty way to travel. It's definately 
dirty and uncomfortable and I would never advise a child or woman to 
travel alone by it. Navigating Greyhound consists largely of finding a 
bus and telling everyone that asks that it's the bus going wherever you 
want to go.. with suffecient numbers it ends up being that bus. Oh and 
you get the fun of transporting your own luggage as you try to figure 
out where the hell you're going.. interesting since they often don't 
tell you when you do and don't need to take your luggage or even where 
the hell you are. Overall bus systems are an unpleasent way to get 
around. Not because they need to be but because they are underfunded, 
mismanaged, and the only people that use them are usually tourists and 
the poor.

Actually one of the best bus systems I've used is, where I grew up, in 
St. Joe, MO. For a small town their bus system works really well and 
it's design is especially good for elderly or disabled citizens. The bus 
between San Diego and Tijuana actually worked pretty well too. Much 
better than Greyhound.

Buses I think are fine for smaller routes but major routes do better 
with trains. I'd like to see a national public transportation system 
that used high-speed trains between all major cities. An international 
system would be even better. Unlike buses trains don't have to stay at 
75mph or slow for traffic and they shouldn't have to wait for traffic 
control, weather, etc near as much as planes. They are probably cheaper 
than plane or automobile in most cases too. It'd be great to have that 
national system empty into local train systems that could make 
connections to smaller towns and important areas of big cities. Leave 
buses for moving through less important areas of big cities. They're 
good for places where the route may change but I don't hink they can 
compete with the speed and price of trains on major routes.

I did like those automated train bus pods that were on Slashdot a couple 
years ago. Those looked great for local travel. Schedule a pod or go to 
a stop and request one and you and up to 3 or 4 others can let it take 
you where you want to go on demand. THAT is a kick ass idea. With JIT 
public transit like that why would we need to bother driving unless 
we're hauling something big.

> Amtrak sometimes even makes money in the northeast corridor...  But in
> this case, you could get the same effect by just running the
> connecting buses as late as the metro is
> open.  I don't think there's anything magical about trains, per se. 
> And I recognize the fact that lower population densities make public
> transportation tougher in some places.  But I still marvel at the
> ridiculously tiny crowds on (say) the local bus system.  These days,
> it runs on time, bus fare is much less than parking, and there are
> literally hundreds of people who live as much as a block off Broadway
> who are really missing a deal.  That just weirds me out.
>  

--
Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>
http://kavlon.org


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