Ha Ha public transport

[The PIT]

I'm glad I don't work in north west Leeds anymore. I've just heard that a train company is going to cancel a hundreds of trains. I guess it's back to the hated car for people living around Leeds but we've got to stop using cars you know.

[Lizzard[MPE]]

speaking of which... why does alot of the peops in the Uk mainly use public transporation? why is the car hated?

[Jammrock]

Public transportation? What's that?

Jammrock

[ayoub_ibrahim]

Public transportation? What's that?

me thinks that Lizzard[MPE] is a trekkie!

[Wombat]

Public transportation is cheaper and more efficient, when it's well-deployed. That, and you can travel while having one too many drinks.

[Dr Mordrid]

Saying public transportation and Detroit in the same breath is a contradiction in terms

Dr. Mordrid

[Lizzard[MPE]]

i went to a wedding in Troy once. We got to Detriot at 5:30pm.. we made it to the wedding on time 3 hours later.

[Wombat]

St. Louis almost has decent public transport. The line has stops in all the nightlife spots. The MetroLink trolley and bus lines do a decent job of getting into the suburbs. Great for baseball games downtown.

However, even on Saturday night, the last Metrolink is at about 10 minutes after midnight! What good is public transportation if it stops while the drinks are still flowing?

[mdhome]

Originally posted by Lizzard[MPE]
speaking of which... why does alot of the peops in the Uk mainly use public transporation? why is the car hated?

Lizzie
Its probably because the UK is such a small and crowded island. Even so, public transport is more expensive than it should be.

[nehalmistry]

speaking of which... why does alot of the peops in the Uk mainly use public transporation? why is the car hated?

The reason is the road system is bad over there ie, you dont have ur regular american north-to-south and east-to-west streets, they go diagonal and curve all over the place, especially in London , the lanes are a tad smaller, and most cars (just about all) are standard, which is very stressful to drive, also gas prices (the last i checked) are a slight higher. The public transportation in some cities are excellent. eg, in London you are never more than a 10 minute walk from a subway station. Traffic and parking are also very bad (off course this is pretty much true in USA too).

btw, used to live in London

[The PIT]

The car is hated becuase it throws out a lot of pollution. The fact that there isn't a viable alternative doesn't come in too the picture.
Some of the good cock ups are the privatisation of transport. Railtrack has now gone bust after sacifising safety for shareholder profits and suddenly facing a huge repair bill for disintgrating tracks. In Sheffield we used to have the best Bus service in the UK and everyone used to leave there car at home. Car usage went up 50% almost overnight when Maggie Thatcher privatised it. You used to go down to your Bus stop to find that your Bus had been canceled rerouted almost on a weekly basis.
The council is now planning to knock down our poor Bus station opposite the rail station and rather than rebuild a new larger one have stops scattered all around the city centre. They then wonder why Business won't come to the area.
I used to work in north west Leeds they started at 8.30 in the morning to get there I would have to walk to Sheffield town centre at 5 in the morning to catch a train that would get me there by 8.30. Thats if it's running of course. The only solution was a car of course. Leeds council then started coming up with silly ideas about charging single drivers so I decided it was time to leave and work locally.
As far public transport being cheaper a total of 4 miles Journey costs me two pounds plus time wasted waiting to see if the Bus comes or not. So using the Car is more coveanant and cheaper remembering that you're still paying for your car if it's sat on your drive.

[spoogenet]

I see public transit as a necessity, especially in any large city. Fortunately for London, a very good public transit system is in-tact, especially a good rail system.

Many US cities consider a bus system to be public transit. Personally, I hate taking the bus. It's less direct, and you still don't get around the traffic problem. The only difference is that it's not me driving, but I'm still stuck in traffic. That's simply not efficient.

Trains, on the other hand, are more direct and have much less traffic woes to worry about. I'd rather take the train into the city than have to drive myself. When I lived in London, we only drove into the city twice, every other time we'd drive to the nearest tube stop and take it into the city, at which point we'd ride busses and the tube around till we were done. It was so much better.

Atlanta thinks they have public transit....."take MARTA, it's smarta" is their slogan.....no, MARTA sucks....there aren't enough stations around the city, it only goes N/S, E/W in a plus shape, no loops or trains that extend well into the suburbs like the tube does. Americans just love their cars too much.......

b

[Lizzard[MPE]]

where i live somebody you know taking public transportation is unheard of. Ofcourse we don't have a train system or a subway. The bus stops about 6 miles down the road from me. and taxis. haha you have to call them and have them come pick you up at your house then it's like $20 for a ride anywhere, i never see them out on the road. i don't live in a tiny village or anything either. I live across the river from Louisville, Ky. families around here usually have 2-3 vehicles on average. When my ex/bf and I first got together we had a 86 Rx-7, 92 toyota Corolla, 96 3000 Gt, 88 big white car (i forgot the name), and a Honda Shadow motorcycle. and all in good condition. We used each vehicle for a different purpose. its just the normal for here i guess. that's why it blows me away when all the people i know in the Uk don't have any vehicles between the 8 or 9 of them. thanks for the clarification

[RedRed]

on da busses

In Belfast, we dont have any public transport other than busses round the city. I must say though our bus system is excellent, with priority lanes for busses, and the network just expanded out past my work (I work in the South belfast 'burbs). I ditched my second car and either take the bus or cycle now. With Petrol at 79.9 per Litre ($1.15 per Litre) and the cost for Insurance and the loan I had to pay for it, I rekon on saving about £340 a month (less perhaps £70 for taxi & busses). I still would use the car for social and the pleasure of driving, but its great not to get stressed in the mornings.

Regards
John J

[Dr Mordrid]

What route did you take to Troy, the Mars detour? I can get there from Metro airport in about 40 minutes.

From Metro's parking deck:

Rogelle Dr./Merriman Rd. north to I-94 west to I-275 north to M-696 east to I-75 north to Troy.

37 miles, so if the traffic is going the 65-70 mph speed limit it's quick.

On some days I-275/M-696 traffic can get up to 85-90 mph easily so it could go even faster.

Going this way circumvents the downtown Detroit snarl. It doesn't, of couse, help with the construction

Dr. Mordrid