Why do whole cities, their suburbs, and surrounding regions in the USA exist with little or no Public Transit infrastructure?
In which people are required to drive everywhere for everything with no alternative means of transit?
They don't. Our cities have trains and buses. Suburbs have busses. We just don't have BULLET trains from coast to coast. Also, America has a huge car and motorcycle culture. We love driving.
That said, I ride the train from NJ to NYC every day for work.
It's pretty literally oil and car companies.
There was a time you could cross the entire country by streetcar but decades ago they were all bought up, the rails removed, and then the cars burned. They were then replaced by more expensive dirtier and less efficient buses.
>>72205043
Houston and Dallas both have 6 million people. They have no metro trains inside them or commuter trains to and through their suburbs. They have no regional trains into their broader region and the big towns/small cities therein.
LA has two too short subway routes, no commuter, a few lightrail.
The list goes on like this.
>bullet trains from coast to coast
I did not ask about this. You are shifting the goal posts AND constructing a strawman because nobody suggests HSR would travel across the continental USA, only in the major regions
>>72205146
I think thats a bit of an exaggeration about streetcars.
They operated inside cities and their urban areas, some vehicles were used on railways for inter-urban travel.
America had the Streamliners on which you would have crossed the country like the M10000 and Pioneer Zephyr and Flying Yankee which were the 'high speed' of the 1930s-1950s they were doing in excess of 70mph.
The Japanese used them as the basis for their Romancecars which were the predecessor of the Shinkansen
>>72204249
Because in the United States we actually own cars instead of paying the State to transport us all around in incredibly inefficient ways.
>>72205908
>in incredibly inefficient ways
pic related
>instead of paying the State to
the roads the constantly need to be built to keep pace with congestion, where do they come from?
>we actually own cars
oh everyone else does too, but fewer per capita and with less dependence as there are options that allow you to ride when it suits you
>>72204249
This question is surprising coming from Australia.
I have moved to Melbourne and even if you have your little buses or trains, you still need to walk 20 minutes in low-density ourtskirt neighbourhoods to find a good bus stop that takes you somewhere decent.
>>72205752
a lot of cities have shit tier public transport but there are some that are really good, chicago and newyork to name a few.
The traffic problem for some makes buses damn near impossible to even try now, and theres no space to put in a light rail anymore as well.
>>72205908
>Because in the United States we actually own cars instead of paying the State to transport us all around in incredibly inefficient ways.
And that's how you pollute everything, including social relations.
No public space = all social ties are left to individual initiatives.
>>72204249
>Public Transit
What are bus routes?
Oh wait. Are you that trainfag who only considers trains as public transit?
>>72205752
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Area_Rapid_Transit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METRORail
>>72206322
I never found that and I have lived in Melbournes low density outer and mid ring suburbs
But it also varies a lot
Eastern suburbs have a lot of connections: think of how many buses operate from Lilydale, Croydon, Ringwood, Mitchem, Blackburn, and Box Hill railway stations
Compare that to barely any buses servicing the train stations on the Hurstbridge and South Morang lines
>>72204249
In Atlanta, they won't expand the commuter trains out into the suburbs because the white people in the outlying area don't want inner city blacks to have easy access to their communities. So there is horrible traffic all the time, some people I work with have commutes ranging from 30 minutes on a good day to like 2 hours.
>>72206419
>muh chicago muh new york
stock response when the problem is raised
Did I mention them?
No, I mentioned places with nothing or nowhere near enough
Because thats the problem, there is no point responding to that with places that have it
A train in NYC is of no use to the suburbs of Dallas
>>72206529
The least form of public transit
It has a place as a component of a comprehensive Public Transit System but it is simply incapable of operating as the primary people mover of the system
>>72206619
>one or two tiny little lightrail in the gentrified downtown are enough for a sprawling city and suburbia of 6 million people
>>72206652
what will they do? loot homes and bring the stolen goods with them on the train? top kek
America is the land of freedom. Everybody wants their own personal freedom to do whatever they want. With a European-style infrastructure you could go wherever you want on public transit (in Germany I could get from one side of the country to a particular street all on trains and buses), but America is a huge goddamned country with lots and lots of shit, and people want to carry that shit wherever they want whenever they want. You can't go shopping and take five giant bags full of stuff with you on a commuter train; this is why there is the minivan, the SUV, the pickup truck. Americans want to load up their personal vehicles with their shit all the time and this is one of the main things blocking a huge public transit infrastructure.
That, and in the 50's the government killed passenger rail by subsidizing the auto and air industries because muh military industrial complex, muh highway system.
There are some places though where the traffic is so incredibly insanely bad that people have had no choice but to go back to the old ways; Chicago has one of the best public transit systems in America with the CTA, Metra and based South Shore Line, the last true interurban railway in the country.
California also has good things going for it, lots of streetcars in San Diego and San Fransisco, Metrolink, SMART, other commuter rail systems. New York has MTA, Maryland, DC and Virgina have VRE and MARC, Oregon and Washington have their thing, there's also Road Runner somewhere, lots of things; but I would say nothing quite like what exists in Chicago. I wish it existed here in St. Louis; it would be fantastic if there were lines running to college towns like Columbia and Rolla, they would be very effective.
By the way, this belongs on /n/.
>>72206652
This, in St. Louis the white folks where I come from in the suburbs don't want Metrolink (not to be confused with California's thing) to come down to where they live because nigras.
>>72206763
>The least form of public transit
Just like Democracy is the worst form of government. Except for all the others tried before it.
Either way, you admit, America has loads of Public Transit infrastructure.
>>72206763
Why are you spouting bullshit? Never said it was "enough" you stupid ass.
>>72206915
>America is the land of freedom.
except apparently freedom of movement.
You drive, or you... drive.
>With a European-style infrastructure you could go wherever you want on public transit (in Germany I could get from one side of the country to a particular street all on trains and buses),
And Germany also has the Autobahn. Highway network linking the whole country with no speed limit.
They have both.
>but America is a huge goddamned country with lots and lots of shit
So a suburban commuter train linking the burbs and city cant travel coast to coast, so that means its no good?
Are you brain damaged?
>5 giant bags
Sometimes you drive sometimes you ride.
Heres that brain damage again making you think having public transit infrastructure would mean prohibiting cars.
>>72204249
>Why do whole cities, their suburbs, and surrounding regions in the USA exist with little or no Public Transit infrastructure?
>In which people are required to drive everywhere for everything with no alternative means of transit?
Because driving yourself to work in your own car with the air conditioner and radio set however you want and beingprotected from all the lowlifes who want to rob you is fucking awesome
We're too spread out for that to be worth the tax money. It would take me 30 minutes to walk to the bus station in my town and god knows where it goes.
My girlfriend the closest station to her is an hour walk, you either get a car or you fuck off. It's not hard to get a job in town and buy a cheap car, people are selling them constantly because they're dumb and have to buy the latest model every two years.
>>72207034
>Just like Democracy is the worst form of government.
>muh rightwing memes supporting dictatorship
lolno
>Either way, you admit, America has loads of Public Transit infrastructure.
It doesn't
>>72207034
>loads of Public Transit infrastructure
We do and we don't. It's not like it used to be, and it's not like many other places in the world. We used to have trains running through every little town in every city and every state, now there's just abandoned train stations in every small town and empty road beds being turned into bike trails, or simply being forgotten about. However, looking at Chicago, San Fran and San Diego, we have some holdouts.
>>72204249
bacons are disgusting
>europoors literally vote for higher taxes and more taxpayer funded transportation instead of just having more money and buying their own cars
>>72206835
Shit up stores and public areas
The homeless are everywhere and they beg.
I guess that is why, idk, I'm not a city coucilman.
The current system is used mostly by blacks, and people act like it is scary and unsafe. MARTA = Metropolitan Atlanta Rail Transit Authority = Moving Africans Rapidly Through Atlanta
>>72207097
>Because driving yourself to work in your own car
and paying for gas and insurance and parking
>and protected
why are you so afraid?
>>72207161
>too spread out
oh here we go, Merika the magical snowflake
I said inside a city and its suburbs and broader region
Continental size has nothing to do with that
Dont shift the goal posts
>far away bus stop
well gee if only there was more than one bus
or better yet some sort of vehicle that traveled on its right of way on metal tracks
>It's not hard to get a job in town and buy a cheap car, people are selling them constantly because they're dumb and have to buy the latest model every two years.
If we just consume and expend more everything will be alright
>>72204249
We are self reliant, unlike your faggot country
>>72207096
>>72207223
shut up cockroach
>>72206652
>>72206988
Yeah I believe that, but you can't really say that in >2016. How do they frame the argument against the expansion without saying they don't want niggers in their communities?
>>72204249
Because I own a car like a gentleman. Good lord.
>>72207242
>crazy europoors obtain funding to pay for things they use
voodoo economics failed you know that right?
>>72206652
>the white people in the outlying area don't want inner city blacks to have easy access to their communities
Thus preventing blacks from getting out of poverty
>>72207314
I understand what you mean but trains and buses are for poor people and niggers.
I work as a mechanic and have to commute 70 miles a day for work. Those miles are on a company car instead of my own vehicles but it still disgusts me.
The simple answer is that unless you live near a big city like Raleigh or Pittsburg, all of the good jobs are in extremely remote areas where land is cheap. The employees are the ones getting the short end of the stick, so companies are always happy to build and expand in the middle of nowhere just to save some money. In the case of garages and other brownfielding industries like cement making its almost impossible not to do business out in the middle of nowhere due to the immense taxes and environmental fees that you would have to pay in cities.
Passenger cars are also getting heavier and heavier with less usable space for their size thanks to increasing CAFE safety standards that are only encouraging people to drive even more. If i had my way I would make driving as dangerous as possible to discourage soccer moms in Cary from commuting 35 miles to the grocery store just to buy their organic carrots.
That would mean letting automakers build cars light and space efficient like they did in the 60's (a GM square body suburban weighs over 1000 pounds less than a new suburban but has almost twice the useful space), legalizing 2 stroke motorcycles but taxing only regular unleaded gas so people will have a reason to buy motorcycles to save fuel instead of more highly impractical hybrids.
>>72207337
And yet Germany has trains inside its cities and burbs and linking its cities and the Autobahn too while Texas doesn't
>>72206835
That's literally what they do.
Live in a city with a decent metro bus system and still choose to drive. I don't know why it is such a shocking concept to mass trans advocates that most Americans don't want to hang around poor, violent or sick people in tight spaces with no escape.
Besides, they've had their chance to get this done and they fail every time.
>>72207314
>and paying for gas
oh wow like $25 a month
>and insurance
$70 a month
>and parking
except this is generally free in places that dont have public transportation
again, maybe try not being in a poor socialist country
>>72207314
>why are you so afraid?
for one, ive been mugged/beaten for the cash in my pockets by a group of spicks
we've discussed this many times before cunt, nobody wants to ride a bus with niggers
>>72207420
Okay buddy, I'll send a pack of hood Atlanta niggers to your neighborhood so that they can get out of poverty and you can feel warm in your tummy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQuPyWYFja0
>>72207402
>paying for an inferior method of transportation because its "more efficient" because you're dirt poor
>>72206915
>Americans want to load up their personal vehicles with their shit all the time and this is one of the main things blocking a huge public transit infrastructure.
Obsessive ownership is slowing you down.
The more I live in the city, the leas I own (except some tools, my skills an clothing). I want to reach the point I am fully free without being a tramp.
>>72207520
>except this is generally free in places that dont have public transportation
More accurately: It's free in places that have enough room. Our parking isn't expensive because we have buses, it's expensive because we lack space.
>>72206437
>No public space = all social ties are left to individual initiatives.
And this is bad? And Americans are generally more friendly than Europeans who uses more public transport.
>>72204249
Because we can afford to drive. I know the concept is foreign to you.
Kind of a bizarre complaint coming from an Australian since you have a similar car culture. In a lot of European cities the idea you'd drive to work at all is bordering madness.
I don't recall the Sydney suburbs being that well served by an underground. From what I remember it had some shitty monorail that they had to get rid off because it was a shitty monorail.
The answer is because Australia and America built enormous fucking roads and have 'suburbs' that aren't serviced properly by public transport. America has done one better though and murdered everyone in the middle east so they can have cheap fuel.
>>72207512
>poor, violent or sick people in tight spaces with no escape.
well that sounds like an unbiased opinion of the system that is coloured by deranged paranoia
>>72207173
>>muh rightwing memes supporting dictatorship
Churchil supported a dictatorship? I don't recall him ever espousing returning power to the throne or reducing Parliament to a single office.
>Bus routes are public transit
>Bus routes are not public transit
Take your anti-psyche meds and stop posting on /pol/.
>>72207191
>We used to have trains running through every little town in every city and every state
Bullshit. I don't recall ever having "trains running through every little town" in Alaska, Nebraska, Montana, Kentucky, etc. etc. etc. Maybe in high population tiny little states and maybe in some of the bigger cities but you're spouting patent bullshit.
>nigger slave pancakes
>native savage bacon
AMERICA mmmmmm
>>72207314
>or better yet some sort of vehicle that traveled on its right of way on metal tracks
Sweet the closest one is an hour walk from me and only goes to NYC(where I don't work). There's a closer one but it doesn't operate and has been dug up by people wanting metal.
>>72207034
>Either way, you admit, America has loads of Public Transit infrastructure.
I think anon is not concerned with the number, but with the density.
>>72207096
It's more to do with culture at this point, really. If Americans made logical choice concerning transportation, you would be right, and if the infrastructure existed, maybe some of them would do that, but there is also a stigma against it now.
I'm not sure you understand, in America, people are /constantly/ moving people and shit around, whether it's grocery shopping, clothes shopping, hauling the soccer team around or whatever; if they're just going to work sure they might take the train to save fuel, and a lot of people do in fact do that.. if the train takes them to where they want to go and it's not in a bad area. If they drive, sometimes they have a better chance of finding close parking, even if they have to pay for it (and they will).
There's also the racial issues and the cultural stigma. Where I live, people in the suburbs would never take a train to the city unless it was very nice, always on time and didn't go to places like East St. Louis or Ferguson. They would be very reluctant to sit on a train full of blacks.
Another good example is the tendency of parents to cart their kids to and from school every day even though there is a FREE bus program they can use; they don't trust it and feel more comfortable just driving.
>huge country
I'm not sure what you're trying to argue, I just meant that America being big, there is lots of material and people are constantly shopping and getting stuff to haul around in their cars.
In the end, sometimes you just can't explain American behavior and culture. It's very complex and a lot of comes down to individual lifestyle choices.
>>72207520
>except this is generally free in places that dont have public transportation
no such thing as a free lunch
is the council paying for that free parking? thats your taxes!
>again, maybe try not being in a poor socialist country
a poor socialist country where society doesn't have to pay for other peoples parking
>>72207598
>And Americans are generally more friendly than Europeans
ah yes those friendly americans taking rifles with them to starbucks
I don't think people view it as necessary as most people own cars. If you live out of a large city it's almost impossible to get by without one, we're very spread out. You have hundreds of thousands of people living 10-100+ miles outside 20,000+ population cities. We're all just used to cars being a requirement.
I live 50 miles away from where I work and drive an hour there and back every work day. I'd like to be able to walk to work, but it would be hard to give up my 60 acres of land. But I don't even think I'd want to use the public transport in a city even if I did live in one. They're used by way too many blacks and shifty homeless people.
Maybe that's why we don't have better public transport? Because most whites drive and we don't care about blacks and bums?
>>72207686
I think anon is cherry picking what is an is not public transit simply to justify his anti-US sentiment.
>Australia
I figured it out, guys.
>>72207366
>CURRENT YEAR
It's really easy, closet racism in the suburbs is evergreen. They basically say that don't want to bring poverty into their towns and devalue their real estate. They use the socio-economic argument.
That, and the other big part of the argument being they absolutely refuse to raise taxes to fund the expansion. In fact they veto the shit out of almost any and all tax proposals, even if that means devaluing the education of their own children and blaming the teachers for failing grades instead. They're seriously a bunch of pseudo-jews. Fucking suburban Catholics.
>>72207768
>having a rifle slung over your back you don't touch is a problem
If they were going to shoot you they would've had it in their hands to begin with you ausfailian retard. I don't understand why people are so afraid of guns. If they wanted to shoot you they'd be shooting before you had the chance to shitpost on the internet.
>>72206915
Chicago fag here.
Chicago traffic is fucking horrible from suburb to city which is what most people do these days. You're telling me its worse in other cities?
Sheeeeet
>>72207768
ah yes those friendly emus taking beaks with them to our criminal country
Fuck off, shitposter
>>72204249
US government wants a healthcare and education bubble.
EU use the shekels to revamp roads, build rapefugee buildings and create pharaonic public infrastructure.
Murica roads appear to be third-world goat paths.
>>72207096
>And Germany also has the Autobahn. Highway network linking the whole country with no speed limit.
>They have both.
Yeah mate, but what's the population density of Germany?
They need less roads to service everyone.
The US has many more roads than Germany but less densely used.
So you cannot demand an Autobahn-like infrastructure just to link some major regional cities of up to 1 million people that are more than 500 km apart. Because the density of transit will never justify the expense. Unless you drown in cash, of course.
Much better to use taxpayers money to keep petrol price down.
>>72206915
nice picture. i like it
>>72206763
I live in a mid-sized city with public transit. One day I had to skip school and spend like half a day traveling to + social security office + waiting for bus + traveling back home.
Buses take way too long.
>>72207988
>Keep petrol price down
Uhh, you don't understand how cheap GALLONS of gasoline is here in the states you aussie cuck
>>72207768
That has nothing to do with whether they're friendly or not.
Some are just exercising their rights, rights that are constantly being threatened by shit-spewing idiots like yourself who make sweeping generalizations and small minded assumptions. It's called solidarity you sniveling little faggot.
>>72207768
This comment is so ill-informed nobody needs to reply.
>>72207658
>Ahem
I don't know about all the others, but I know Alaska used to have lots of fantastic railways criss-crossing up and down the coast. The White Pass and Yukon is one example of a survivor of those days. Alaska Railroad still exists too, one of the only railroads in the country that carries freight and passenger under the same name; they used to be huge and offer way more passenger services.
I'm also pretty sure Kentucky used to have hella more railways through the Appalachains. Not sure about Nebraska and Montana, though Nebraska is part of Union Pacific's home territory, and a key part of the original transcontinental railway.
>>72205908
>public transportation is inefficient
Hahahahaha
Inconvenient maybe
>>72204249
It's a race thing. If the US was as homogeneous as any European country public transport would be popular.
I honestly hate the automobile. It atomises people. And clogs up beautiful cities and cuts through the countryside.
>>72205752
>I did not ask about this
You asked about public transit infrastructure. Rail is mostly limited to the Northeast. Cities elsewhere tend to have buses for public transportation since they are a cheaper alternative, using the existing roads.
Houston and Dallas lack public trains, but they have buses for those who don't own vehicles.
>>72208170
The US Government is the most inefficient thing in the fucking universe. You should learn to be a good Canadian like >>72208069 instead of a French Canadian from fucking Montreal.
>from Texas
>worked in Houston for 5 years
>rented from a friend 4 days out of the week
>drove in 4 hours Monday morning
>drove out 4-7 hours on Friday depending on what time I left work
> it would take me almost 5 hours some days to get from the south side of Houston to the north side
I would have saved more money even with fuel cost and car maintainence if I had taken my car every day.
The cost of living in the city is so rediculous. It would be even worse if there was a subway system connecting the city.
tl;dr it's actually cheaper to drive 100s of miles from out of town to work in the city than it is to live in the city. It would be even more expensive to live in the city if there was a respectable transit system.
>>72207242
Funny you posted Hitchens when he loves public transport and wants to nationalise the railways.
The car is a symbol of hedonistic individualism. Not anything conservative.
>>72208014
Based South Shore Line. Descended from the original company, but currently owned and operated by the state of Indiana. The real railroad itself however still operates freight trains and operates with the same facilities on the same tracks, same paint scheme, etc. It's nice to think of them as the same railway, even though they technically aren't. If nothing else it's beautiful watching them operate in the same area together. If only we could have electric freight locomotives again...
>>72208132
>I know Alaska used to have lots of fantastic railways criss-crossing up and down the coast
For CARGO not PUBLIC TRANSIT
Did you completely miss the entire point of this thread?
>>72206763
>primary people mover
The primary people mover are privately owned vehicles. What's wrong with that?
>>72208177
>If the US was as homogeneous as any European country
How long you think that's going to last?
>>72204249
Everyone needs cars to get about. Doubt there's a major push for changes in infastructure simply because of that.
One thing the US could do is maybe introduce roundabouts to help with traffic.
>>72208319
He's an Australian shitposter so that's probably why.
>>72207618
>America has done one better though and murdered everyone in the middle east so they can have cheap fuel.
God Bless us.
>>72208177
>If the US was as homogeneous as any European country public transport would be popular.
I agree with this. Being reduced to using public transportation is one thing that I would absolutely not want to have happen, given the amount of black people who use it. I would drive an extra 100 miles a day for a family member, if it meant they didn't have to use the public transportation in certain places.
>>72208055
I know it is very cheap.
But maybe you don't know it is also kept cheap by you doing permanent economic wars against other countries.
So you delude yourself into thinking it is cheap without contribution from Taxpayer money.
But in fact that's exactly what all US international policy is about: keeping oil cheap abroad so you don't have to use your own reserves.
Try to read again my post and please realize how intelligent it is: I gave you the perfect perspective on what America's priority are.
Funding an Autobahn would be ridiculous given how spread out you are.
Instead, funding war in Iraq or sanctions against Russia or diplomacy with Saudis is exactly what helps your economy to keep steady without the need to have European-tier infrastructures.
And THIS is the reason you have the society you have.
It's not founding fathers. It's not that you are free thinkers and Europoors are cucked people controlled by authoritarian states. It'a nothing like this.
The real reason is merely geographical. That's why I don't welcome comparisons with Europe (with Swedish healthcare, German trains, etc.): because the geographic differences are so huge what works in the EU may never work in the USA.
>>72208344
They just turned a 4 way intersection into a roundabout near me and I love it because everyone panics and I can just blast right through.
>>72208305
You would be surprised. Back in those days, wherever there was freight, passengers would tag along; mixed trains (coaches tagged onto the back of freight trains) were common. There was hardly a way couldn't have passenger services of some kind.
>>72208449
>You would be surprised.
Just like cargo container ships sometimes deadhead passengers in open staterooms. That does not make them a form of public transit like a ferry.
You sir, are retarded.
>>72208325
Eastern European countries still are. It's besides the point anyway, that being public transport in the US is perceived as something for minorities and the poor, whereas European systems developed in homogeneous states.
Americans are too stupid to realize that good public infrastructure would benefit everyone in their country
>>72208229
What does the US government have to do with basic laws of nature that govern efficiency?
Public transit saves the US 11 million gallons of gasoline per day, thereby reducing CO2 emmisions. It also reduces the amount of cars on the road, decreasing congestion and allowing for faster flow of vehicles.
Moving 50 people from point A to point B in a bus is obviously more efficient than 50 people driving a car from point A to point B.
>>72204249
driving is awesome you numale faggot
History is a factor: many car-centric cities in the US grew rapidly just when the automobile got really popular and certain suburban planning and architecture trends were hot. Laws and regulations locked in that low-density building model, making most transit fiscally impossible for local governments.
>>72208540
No... I'm not. They still do it today on the Alaska Railroad, apparently.
http://alaskarails.org/sf/mixed/index.html
>>72208573
It's that way here too to a degree. Everybody drives, and if you don't, people start asking questions.
>>72208344
Everyone needs cars because North American cities are designed around cars, not people
>>72208440
Gas is cheap now because business people in the states saw how much cash other countries were making on oil. They made innovations that increased the productivity of existing wells and made areas that wouldn't have been previously productive profitable.
Gas isn't cheap because the US is bullying other countries. It's cheap because Americans wanted a piece of the pie other countries were getting, but they over did it.
If not for American innovation you would be paying $20 a gallon right now.
>>72208730
>http://alaskarails.org/sf/mixed/index.html
That is carrying cargo on a passenger line not passengers on a cargo line.
>>72208741
>people start asking questions
And they'll view you as a freeloading failure. Well, freeloading if you've ever asked them for rides.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_density
>>72208703
>hurrhurr let met take the car to buy bread
>2m drive
>13m to find a place to park
Meanwhile I can walk anywhere in the city in 30m top. Unless you live in rural area you got no excuse to take your car for everything, not to consider how fucking packed road are becoming thanks to overpopulation.
>>72208945
Within the US, lots of cities are very spread out, making public transit difficult to sustain.
>>72204249
because busses bring niggers to your town
this is the whole reason you move far away
no niggers
>>72208841
???
Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad carrying both freight and passengers. In fact they carry freight more often than passengers.
Are you not aware of the long history of mixed trains in America? They were very common on branch lines and in remote areas like mountains, i.e. the Rockies, the Appalachians, Alaska, etc.
>>72204249
>Car is a sign of freedomzz!!!
>Public transportation is COMMUNIST
etc
Actually cities n shieeeet simply don't have enough or don't want to pay to maintain it. It would mean either lowering the gibsmedats that cities are plagued ferociously by and thus cause the city to be burned to the ground or increase taxes on a population that doesn't pay any in the first place.
>>72209057
>>72209057
yeah but it's a stupid feedback loop
> why is everything so spread out? because there's no public transit so everyone drives
> why is there no public transit? because everything's so spread out since everyone drives
>>72204249
>mfw istanbul has public transportation in the form of metro, metrobus, bus, train, boat, tram and its still not enough
i wonder if russia would nuke part of the city if we asked them for it
>>72208852
You know, I have a friend who went through a drug addiction stretch where he spent most of cash on blow and booze, and rather than tell people he didn't have his shit together to buy a car, he lied and said it was suspended for a DUI. Funny thing is, it's a more acceptable answer than saying you don't have the money for one.
>>72209155
>Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad carrying both freight and passengers. In fact they carry freight more often than passengers.
The modern Railroad you mean? Not to be confused with the White Pass line that existed before Alaska was even a state?
Not to be confused with your concept of PUBLIC TRANSIT when Alaska "used to have lots of fantastic railways criss-crossing up and down the coast?" We have a few lines, mostly for freight and they carry passengers, also known as TOURISTS. We don't have any rail lines that services as public transit for Anchorage to any of the suburban areas such as Eagle River, Wasilla-Palmer (the Valley) or Fairbanks to the outlying North Star borough.
The mixed lines are not PUBLIC TRANSIT. The terminal that ends in Ted Stevens International airport does not take on commuters and only runs during the summer months, aka construction or TOURIST season.
Yes, you sir, are a retard.
>>72205043
>We love driving.
Then why do all your cars have automatic gearbox? It's like driving a go-cart, gas - brake - gas - brake.
What about bikes, are those automatic too?
>>72209456
My point still stands that there USED to be lots of ways to get around in many parts of the country.
How much do you actually know about your state's history? About the history of Alaskan railways? For fuck's sake the gold rush is what brought the railroad to Alaska, and that's how people got around after the figured out that donkeys wouldn't do. The train lines that used to run between all the towns you're familiar with in Alaska probably got taken out in the 40's or 50's. Yes, the vast majority of passenger train travel in Alaska today is for tourism, but it didn't always used to be that way.
This is a very complex issue for the country, but a lot of people have cracked at the realities of it. First and formost is the early 20th century plot by Oil and Car companies to reduce Trolleys in the big cities. Second is Eisenhower's Interstate System. While this seems at first to have been a great idea economically and militarily, but decades on it has proven to be a bad thing. Third was desegregation. This saw white flight exit the cities impoverishing them and building suburbs all across the metro areas. Fourth was deindustrialization which further hollowed out cities and destroyed rail transportation in favor of Trucking. So ultimately what we see is that cities simply can't afford public transportation due to the increasing costs of welfare for inner city blacks as well as the enormous maintenance of roads leading out to the suburbs.
The only way to make largescale public transportation viable is to bring back industrialization and gentrify low income minorities out of the cities
>>72209456
>Defunct railroads in Alaska
Alaska Anthracite Railroad
Alaska Anthracite Coal and Railway Company
Alaska Home Railroad
Alaska Northern Railway
Alaska Pacific Railway and Terminal Company
Catalla and Carbon Mountain Railway
Copper River and Northwestern Railway
Council City and Solomon River Railroad
Golovin Bay Railroad
Nome Arctic Railway
Pacific and Arctic Railway and Navigation Company (White Pass and Yukon Route)
Seward Peninsula Railroad
Tanana Mines Railway
Tanana Valley Railroad
Valdez, Copper River and Tanana Railroad
Valdez-Yukon Railroad
Wild Goose Railroad
Yakutat and Southern Railway
>source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_railroads_in_Alaska
>>72209681
>My point still stands that there USED to be lots of ways to get around in many parts of the country.
Your point stands on a retarded notion that because there were rail lines they were used for PUBLIC TRANSIT which is demonstrably wrong.
>>72209681
And cities also used to be much more compact when cars were expensive and scarce.
>>72209784
>defunct
Straw man much? The point was not about defunct rail lines but that the rail lines were never and still are not PUBLIC TRANSIT lines.
Because Rosa Parks ruined buses.
>>72208824
>Gas isn't cheap because the US is bullying other countries. It's cheap because Americans wanted a piece of the pie other countries were getting, but they over did it.
>Not because they are bullying other countries.
Thailand, please
>>72209763
This is a prettygood answer, but I think land use regulations like zoning, parking requirements, and federal highway spending totally fucks local cities and towns in spending money on crazy unproductive car-centric shit, which destroys any possibility of sustainable public transit.
>>72209949
Well you have to look at it from the point of some city mayor. You have to do something in office that residents will be able to concretely see happen, but all the taxing powers have drifted up to the federal government so they're unable to enact big infrastructure projects without a bureaucratic green light from above. Regulations sure have an impact, but there desire to get reelected is stronger and it's very easy to just fix potholes or add lanes onto congested roadways
as a student i heavily rely on public transport. many people commute here. honestly i wouldnt know what to do without it. how do people without a car have the chance to move around the country? here i just hop in the tram, bus, metro, train or whatever and can reach every street in my federal state without walking more than 10 in total. In germany public transport is seen a possibilty of social participation. low income people arent confined to their small blocks, they can actually do stuff.
>>72210059
*10 minutes
>>72209387
I never thought about it like that, but it really is more acceptable to have a car impounded, to show that you have at least bought one, than it is to have never bought one at all. We really do have a car culture, don't we? And the few friends I have that didn't get their license until they were in their early twenties were very embarrassed by it.
I remember how strange it was going on the internet and realizing many Europeans don't even have cars and it's normal for them.
I used to think it was very odd, but now I kind of envy them for that. I still love driving and my car, but it would be nice to have the option to feel comfortable walking to work and wherever. It seems like a healthier and a potentially more interestingly social lifestyle. Plus poor people could maybe focus on saving for education or something that would serve them better than cars they have trouble maintaining.
>>72209947
Already stated I'm an America and yes it is cheap because we fracked our way to $40 a barrel.
Output from other countries hardly changed the past 2 years. The big change came as the US became the largest oil producing country.
I wouldn't expect a prison colony descendant to understand basic economics, but there is always hope.
Just take 30 minutes out of your life fighting off poisonous things and emus to comprehend supply and demand.
Google is your friend and it will make you a better shit poster.
>>72210182
Why is it necessary to get personally insulting?
>>72210052
Good point about political incentives. I think we are seeing more and more local politicians reacting to the unsustainable status quo as the fiscal burden of road maintenance costs come due, and so might slowly shift away from rules and public expenditures that generate negative tax revenue etc. Over time these denser and more economically resilient cities and towns could better support public transit.
>>72210353
How was copper wire invented? Two Jews were fighting over a penny.
>>72204249
2 things you need to take into account.
1) The size of the United States. The cities are huge and spread out over vast distances. There are a LOT of people that live in many of the areas. Housing is also rather expensive so often you have to live pretty far from where you work.
2) The type of people who take public transportation. I would love to take BART or CalTrain to work. Not a chance though. I don't want to deal with niggers. They flood the trains and busses and rob people, stab people, fight with people and act the fool. I would rather sit in traffic in my car (where at least I can listen to what I want to listen to instead of nigger music) then get on a bus or train and have to worry about getting sucker punched and my stuff stolen.
>>72210285
You are right, it's not necessary, just as it's not necessary to disregard my post because of the flag I'm posting under.
It's clear no one here really intends to have a serious argument.
>>72205752
>LA has two too short subway routes, no commuter, a few lightrail.
LA has 6 commuter rail lines and an absolutely sprawling bus system.
>>72209648
It's more than just that. Personal vehicles are a status symbol of sorts. Most wont admit it, but many think they are above public transportation. Has to do with the whole "dependance on the state" issue.
>>72204249
something something, dirt cheap petrol back in the day, something, decision, something something.
>>72205908
Public transport is the most effecient way to travel. I dont have to worry about a broken down car or accidents too. A bus breaks down? Just wait for another to come by.
>>72210760
It's not too bad taking public transport like busses here in Bangkok, but if you are doing it in the states you are truly of a different breed.
We as a nation will suffer when oil costs rise but the thing that is happening now is that all jobs can only be found in cities. Towns are dying. Without public transport infrastructure people in suburbs are gonna hurt big time.
>>72210760
>Public transport is the most effecient way to travel.
Maybe in big cities with 3 parking lots. Anywhere else and you spend more time waiting on the bus than riding it.
>I dont have to worry about a broken down car or accidents too. A bus breaks down? Just wait for another to come by.
That's what roadside assistance is for. It's like 5 bucks a month.
>>72210884
Is there many places to get 'special' massages in BAngkok?
>>72210884
I live in a east coast big city that connects to Penn station train line. Public transportation is a god send especially traveling to college from my own home.
>>72208730
>Blazejewski
>Photo of train with several passenger cars
wew lad.
>>72204249
We can afford to buy cars. Go suck an abo dick and imagine shooting a rifle.
>>72210917
>this
what filthy swine cant fix basic problems in their car?
>>72210917
Here parking lots are multistory building lots. Its cheaper and quicker to travel from my city of Newark to NYC using the Path train then driving. Public transportation allows people from Jersey and Connecticutt to work in NYC and live in the suburbs of their own state. Also not worrying about car insurance and bills to fix problems is a huge relief. Car culture is deadin big cities.
>>72207594
I think what he means is, places with the population density to require paid parking, usually have the most comprehensive public transit systems.
>>72210962
You "live in the east coast"? You are of a different bread senpai.
Like I have the fucking time to take public transportation to work.
Alternative means are Uber now.
>aussies and europoors trying to convince us that riding the bus is better then driving your own car
top fucking kek
>>72211075
People that dont have time to wait for it to get fixed. Not owning a car feels so free. I aint a slave to any insurance and never have to worry about a DUI. I can get pissed and just walk home from the bar.
>>72206294
>>72206294
>I405
>representative of all LA
Pick one. I commute 10 min from Reseda to Wooland hills, shame these cucks can't get a better job ose to home
>>72204249
>In which people are required to drive everywhere for everything with no alternative means of transit?
Aussies Ruin Everything
>>72211231
>Not owning a car feels so free.
How so? You are confined to a 20 sq mile area at best unless you want to pay greyhound a retarded amount of money to go to a different city. When I want to go somewhere, I just top off my tank and drive.
>>72207654
sounds to me like you have never ridden on an american greyhound bus
last time a guy dropped his 40 and it rolled back and forth from the front of the bus to the back of the bus for an hour. the bus driver screamed about 'no drinking on the bus' and the drunks just smiled at each other and kept drinking and talking loud and giving all the women rape eyes
>>72207654
hey AU shitposter. Come here and live in San Francisco for a few weeks using the public transport. They have two trains (cal train, bart) and a bus system. see how you feel about it then, its a fucking mess. It is that bad here, you use public transport and you are sitting with the homeless soaked in piss or asking to get robbed by niggers.
I tried taking the Cal Train for a month to work one year, I was late 5 times due to the train being late for whatever reason or people throwing themselves on the tracks to die because our tracks are easy to jump on, plus we had a crazy guy come on one day with a knife and wave it around then he pissed in the corner. I said fuck this and switched back to driving. Our system is broken and unless they fix those issues nobody will use it. we dont even have prepaid scan cards here you can refill and swipe on transport as needed.
Try to picture your trains being dirty, late, expensive, and filled with abbos. Would you deal with that or just take your own car and deal
with a little traffic and parking expenses?
>>72204249
le non American meme opinion
America has the same public transport options as anywhere else given the size of the country
Cities like Boston and Portland have better public transport than 99% of Europe
It varies you can't expect a midwestern town of 50,000 people to have street trams
>>72210059
I think this is an american thing, but getting a car is just one of those things. If you dont own one people look at you like you have something wrong with you, like not having a cell phone. Most of us get gifted a shitty one when we turn 16 or save up for one as students and make due till we can upgrade. It sucks when you are younger because your parents have to drop you off places, but everyone manages to get an older friend, older brother, etc to lug the younger members around too. kind of like the friend that turns 21 first and can buy all the other friends the beer.
153 replies. This is some incredibly subversive aussie shitposting.
>>72204249
Because we can all afford cars, lmao at you poorfags.
>>72211901
Came here to post this. I'm riding from Salem to Boston right now on the commuter rail, then from Boston to Cambridge on the subway. You can get near anywhere in the state via public transportation, and every square inch of Metro east with little effort.
>>72206294
>the roads the constantly need to be built to keep pace with congestion, where do they come from?
Probably from the taxes I pay when I renew my driver's license.
>>72206437
>And that's how you pollute everything
Pfffffthahahahahaha.
See pic.
>>72210631
>Most wont admit it, but many think they are above public transportation
This is the reason 100%
>>72204249
>bacon pancake
At first I was kind of disgusted, but now I really want to try one.
>>72204249
Because public transportation is for poors and socialists.
>>72211901
>America has the same public transport options as anywhere else given the size of the country
Bullshit. If you had ever taken a train in New York State you'd know this... America's passenger rail network is laughable, if you consider that they are supposedly a developed country.
>>72206652
>>72207366
>>72207907
Yes, all us racist Atlanteans. Who wouldn't enjoy this on a daily basis?
Who wouldn't enjoy taking MARTA every day?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhcgFF8OiWQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fmJudxjvdI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6yq2Ddwy7s
Even black people hate MARTA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6yq2Ddwy7s
>>72214589
>implying New York is a good example
Come on yurocuck. New York isn't even a good representation of any piece of America as a whole. Go to Boston and experience the easiest rapid transit system in the country.
>>72213845
By the way... Habbening maybe? I saw guys with big guns at Downtown Crossing. Any news about Boston?
>>72216534
whatever new york features one of the oldest and best subway systems in the world.
>>72206915
>Chicago has one of the best public transit systems in America with the CTA, Metra and based South Shore Line, the last true interurban railway in the country.
CTA is broke
Chicago is broke
the CTA is complete shit and most humans avoid buses/trans when ever possible
>>72216534
>implying boston and their charlie cards (pronounced by locals like CHALIE-COD) beats New York mass transit
get a load of this guy
>>72204249
I walk 20 minutes to work every day. Feels good to get the blood pumping a little bit at the start of the day.
>>72207520
>gas 25 a month insurance 70 a month
on what planet
>>72217475
Insurance prices vary wildly in the US, if you live in flyover states where minimal liability is required then you can get by really cheaply. Even in New York I could hit $70/mo with high liability limits if I dropped collision/comprehensive (with those I pay $100/mo).
As far as $25/mo for gas, it depends on the part of the country, but earlier this winter in a hybrid or for someone who drives less it wasn't hard to imagine. $2/gallon gas (nationwide average was actually below that this winter) * 25 mpg in many newer cars... $25 would buy 12.5 gallons * 25 mpg = approx 310 miles on $25/month. Not everyone drives an hour to work and back.
>>72209648
Anyone who's serious about cars drives manual. Bikes, too. Your average person drives automatic. Not sure why there is so little public transit here. Probably has to do with the vast areas of land and the fact that much of America was developed after the invention of the automobile.
>tfw was never taught how to drive
>tfw nowhere in america has good transit that isnt a cold shithole
>>72217661
>25 mpg in many newer cars
My Dad's massive Skoda estate diesel does fucking 54mpg, even accounting for imperial vs US gallons that's 44mpg for you
>>72218301
Diesels get higher MPG than petrol engines, that's one reason the euros like them. That being said petrol for us is super cheap so Americans don't care as much about fuel economy.
>>72218442
Petrols generally get similar values here. A little shitbox (the kind of car a 17 year old might get in the UK) will get 60MPG usually on a 1.1 or 1.2l engine.
>>72204249
As the creators of "cars" I'm sure we'd still enjoy driving .
>>72218549
Americans don't buy shitboxes or 1L compacts. Fuck, my 2015 Fusion (what you Euros would call a mondeo) has a 2.0L turbo I4 and with AWD has a curb weight of 3700 lbs. It averages about 20mpg city and 27mpg on the highway (although I do drive kind of fast).
The hybrid model does much better for city drivers, obviously.
>>72206915
comfy pic
>>72204249
>urban sprawl
Our cities/suberbs are much more spread out than yours. I work in DC. If i wanted to use public transportation I would have to drive 20 miles to park at a metro station. I then would have to catch a train to a spot, get off, and then catch another. It'd take me an extra hour every morning.
Plus my job pays my daily 20$ parking tab, and also gives me a $400 a month car allowance so I'd be dumb not to drive.
Also I think our weather comes into play. Whenever we get an inch of snow, the whole public transportation infrastructure comes to a halt. Buses can't get up hills, streets are blocked etc.
>>72207520
>spending $100 a month on gas and insurance
god goy. Don't let those communists take your freedom!
>>72218917
>Mondeo
>27mpg
Kek
>>72219249
Please give us your monthly expenditures, so I can say things like
>spending $250 a month on the caloric jew
>spending $70 on the cellular jew
>etc.
>>72219449
oy vey
>>72204249
Are those little bacon pancakes?
>>72220348
Oh shit, I was wondering what the fuck i was looking at. Let's see if it checks out.
>left two items are a slice of bacon, with a pancake underneath.
>right two items are a piece of bacon
>middle items are pancake batter being poured onto a slice of bacon.
>pancake mix, and bacon packaging shown in photo
Yup, you figured it out. Thanks netherlands, now I can go back to learning how to chew bubble gum
>>72204249
they do. Just like nearly every village in the US or in germany has a bus stop.
At some point people have had enough money to buy themselves a car and no longer need to wait for hours in freezing weather to catch a bus that stops every 10 metres and takes 50minutes to cover a 20km distance.
public transportation is cancer outside of metropolitan areas.
>>72204249
My friends who have traveled to Australia said that the public transit there is shit.
>>72204249
>with little or no Public Transit infrastructure
Would you want to put up with ghetto niggers on public transportation on a daily basis?
Also that would be perfect hunting ground for them for mugging, raping, etc.
Don't be a dumbass. US cities are absolutely fucked, aside from the small handful remaining that are mainly white (for now)
As for the suburbs and surrounding regions, thanks to Section 8 housing, the ghetto nigs are pushing their way there too.
Don't know if you're just shitposting or you really are that stupid not to understand the situation in US cities, especially right now.
>>72221004
>>left two items are a slice of bacon, with a pancake underneath.
So the picture is fucking lies?
>>72204249
Bacon pan cake things are AWESOME
>>72215811
I worked as a MARTA cop and my beat was from Peachtree center to Sandy springs and all I would do is respond to WORLDSTAR tier videos
>>72204249
Holy shit that looks so good! I wonder how long you cook the bacon before adding the pancake batter?
>>72205752
Dallas has a metro system you daft cunt.
>>72205908
>i cant belive you all took the bait
>>72204249
1. Because we're very spread out. Most cities have a few PT options within their limits.
2. Niggers. Niggers. Niggers. Fucking niggers. Get in the rolling nigger bin and it's a mixture of rap blaring from cellphones, obese sows openly staring, hyper-chimps sizing you up for robbery, and screaming packs of infants your taxes pay for.
So much nicer to sit in a car by yourself or with people you want to voluntarily socialize with.
>>72218168
Im not making fun of you, but where do you live and how is it you were never taught to drive?
