Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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Take-Your-Bus-to-Work Day
June 19, 2008 3:28 PM
The American Public Transportation Association has declared this "Dump the Pump day," hoping you'll save on gas money, reduce pollution, and enjoy the ride if you leave your car at home and commute instead by bus or train.
They say ridership on public transit is up 32 percent since 1995, and that "34 million times each weekday, people board public transportation."
Their home page happens to link to my colleague Scott Mayerowitz' piece from last week, "Can Mass Transit Rescue America?" Scott reported that "the typical American driver could save $1,800 a year by giving up his or her car and taking the train or bus to work" -- but that only a minority of Americans have transit systems comprehensive enough to make a difference for them.
And Scott found that while there are more than 10 billion trips taken on public transit each year, that's down from 23.4 billion back in 1947. (It bottomed out in 1972 at 6.5 billion and has risen unsteadily since, spiking with gas-price shocks.)
The U.S. Census finds public transit use highly uneven. In New York City, it shows 54.2% of workers using public transportation -- which stands to reason because (1) New York has a vast bus and subway system, and (2) two minutes in New York traffic can be persuasive. More figures HERE.
On the other hand, look at Orange County, Calif. The Census found only 3.4% using public transit.
And for Maricopa County, Ariz. (Phoenix and vicinity), the number was 2.3%.
These figures are from the 2006 American Community Survey -- which only covers some major metro areas, leaving out rural counties where the rate of public transit use would likely be zero.
There is clearly an uptick in people taking buses, carpooling or working from home -- $4 gas will do that do you. But an urban planner, Peter Calthorpe, argued to me years ago that public transit really works only when it gets you there. People use it heavily if the stations or bus stops at both ends are less than a thousand feet from home or work, and if they don't have to change trains or bus routes.
Otherwise, they use it if they really have to. Or they drive. Even when it costs them.
June 19, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (37)
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In most of the US, mass transit would require a massive restructering of where people live and work. It could be done - but realistically only with a 75+ year rezoning plan. If we had started in 1973, we'd already be more than halfway there.
Posted by: John Kantor | Jun 20, 2008 6:22:43 AM
Big duh. I have to take my car to work. There is no mass transit where I live. Only buses going to NYC is around where I live, and they go no where near my office.
So unless they have buses going nearby my office, I always take my car.
Posted by: GWP | Jun 20, 2008 6:58:33 AM
Why not take public transportation?
* Your at the mercy of spacific a schedule. If your late your screwed. Plus, the fact that it doesn't take you where you actually want to go or you have to take several buses to get there.
* The biggest person is the one that wants to sit next to you and on you. There is also the person who falls sleep on you or smells. There really a bunch of creepy people on the bus.
* The thugs that are haging out on the bus.
* The screaming kids with mom and a baby stroller.
* Standing when the bus is to full.
* There is no public transportation outside of cities.
Posted by: Renae | Jun 20, 2008 8:01:34 AM
mass transit works. i live in the Czech Republic and here in Europe, you really (I mean really) don't need a car. Public transportation here is easy, convenient, and acsessible. Also, Europeans walk alot more than Americans. This is why Americans are so fat. Also, its much, much safer here, so, you don't feel like you have to drive.
Posted by: tulcak | Jun 20, 2008 8:20:51 AM
mass transit is a good idea...
it is like public transport...n it is for convinience of public...n very affordable...
Posted by: pooja | Jun 20, 2008 8:28:10 AM
I walk about 1/2 mile each way to work every day. I live in Miami so the weather is rarely an issue. I take the bus everywhere else, including to the beaches. If all else fails, I can take a cab. A $20 cab fee once in a while is still cheaper than a car payment, insurance and gas.
Posted by: BigDeal? | Jun 20, 2008 9:52:30 AM
My time, comfort and safety are more valuable to me than saving a few dollars. I can get 10 times more done with my car than I can waiting for a bus or train! Time IS Money!
Posted by: Gerald | Jun 20, 2008 10:13:25 AM
The mass transit system in this country is deplorable, its utterly crap! I have just returned from Great Briton after living in London for nearly 3 years and although I was looking forward to purchasing a Smart, with in the first week of staying there I had decided against buying my own car all together, taxes, insurance and petrol first of all but the main reason was that I was able to get anywhere and I mean ANYWHERE by either taking the railcar, the bus or the bullet train(which btw usually goes at about 300mph!). I recommend that the author of this article go stay in the EU or London for a couple of days and he'll see that not only can mass transit work but it can serve humanity greatly!
Posted by: just returned from Europe | Jun 20, 2008 10:56:07 AM
It's a plausible solution for some people in the cities, but it really leaves rural America out of the picture. Remember those people that grow your veggies and raise the cattle that you eat? We have gas bills too. We spend a fortune in gas to plant, raise, maintain, harvest, and deliver all those yummy goods. How about thinking about us as well? I somehow doubt anyone is planning a rail station or a bus system anywhere near my land!
Posted by: VeteranD | Jun 20, 2008 12:40:25 PM
VeteranD
I am in the same boat. All I can do is plan ahead. Get the shopping done in a minimum number of trips per month and do as much as I can while the engines hot on the tractor (it's a diesel). I did not mention rural areas above because it's so obvious that we can't do things like city or urban folk.
Posted by: Quietman | Jun 20, 2008 1:59:55 PM
Ohio used to have a great Interurban rail system that served the outlying rural areas and connected them to the cities. But the state refused to support this system, and the rail companies were forced to decommission their rail lines when they couldn't compete with automobiles - which were subsidized through the federal government, via gas and highway subsidies. Ohio once had the premier public transportation system that served urban AND rural communities, but narrow-minded politicians and greedy corporations sabotaged it.
Posted by: Chris | Jun 20, 2008 3:22:15 PM
Mass transit allows for criminals to commute as well as residents. A mass transit rail line created two blocks from my old house increased local crime almost overnight.
I miss the inexpensive relaxing commute to work, but I don't miss the environment it created near my home. I live in the boonies, it costs me a fortune to get to work, but the safety, security and peace of mind make it worth it.
Anyone who lobbies for more local mass transit needs to take a good hard look at location they'll be linked to. If you wouldn't live there then you don't want it linked too closely to your home.
Posted by: Jerri | Jun 20, 2008 5:20:32 PM
I Have found that the people who want mass transit don't use it them selves. They have no Idea about the length of time it takes to travel on place to another.On the max line in Portland Oregon going from my house to down town is about 1 1/2 hours to get there. and the people who ride it smell real bad.Have you ever smelled someone who sweats out meth? I can drive my car down town round trip in 30 min. Why would I subject my safety and gag reflex to 3 hours with these people?
Posted by: John | Jun 21, 2008 2:00:16 AM
The dunderheads in Orlando are cutting routes after getting people dependent upon those very routes. After spending lots of dollars advertising them. Ridership on them was up 300%. Bad leadership is why it doesn't work, from the government level down.
Posted by: PNA | Jun 21, 2008 10:09:18 AM
I decided to live close to my work, so I walk. It's nice to live in a place where city planners made that possible. So now, I have an easy walk to work. Meanwhile people live in the 'burbs, pay out the nose for gas, and get not an ounce of exercise. It's all about choice.
Posted by: Martian dude | Jun 21, 2008 6:13:30 PM
Hydrogen can be made from water by using an aluminun-gallium alloy to split the hydrogen from the oxygen. Thus the hydrogen is stored in the car as water.
Posted by: Ed | Jun 23, 2008 6:42:24 PM
Ed
Part of the problem was the rate of production verses the rate of consumption. This apparently has been overcome.
Posted by: Quietman | Jun 24, 2008 8:12:38 PM
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