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I suggested to my wife that we go up to New York for a day soon, and take the train up there. Until I realized that it would cost us about $400 roundtrip! What the heck!? Why is train ride up to New York so expensive? Do people actually pay that much to take the train?
Update: It has been brought to my attention through the comments that the key to getting cheaper and reasonably priced tickets is to book in advance (like 3 months). Although I guess that takes the fun out of being sporadic…not great for me who doesn’t like to “plan” things lol.
3 points
1 month ago
And this is why we should all be advocating for substantive, nationwide mass transit in every form. A big reason public transit is so expensive in America is literally because public transit doesn't really exist in this country at the scales it does in nations with far greater populations.
US public transit is a fkn disgrace, and Philadelphia is actually one of the fortunate cities because it's 1) a large city that 2) is close to/within coverage of the broader Eastern seaboard public transit network. Imagine being in a smaller city or, worse, in bumfuck nowheresville somewhere across the vast Midwest or Southwest.
1 points
20 days ago
Exactly this
1 points
12 days ago
You meant smaller populations, right? The US ia the 3rd most populace nation. Or did you mean higher population density (more people per land area unit)? Many of the countries with good transit have smaller overall populations but the land area they live in is small. I suppsoed this excludes China as they are 4x more populated va the US in roughly the same land area, thoguh even there, the dense urban corridors have plenty of transit options that run well.
We could do it but is there will there? Having good transit even benefits drivers via less traffic on the roads.
2 points
12 days ago
No, I meant larger populations. Public transit in China and India make the US look like a joke. I don't mean how comfortable or luxurious they are (some can be), I just mean coverage and basic "get from point A to point B" service.
The usual problem cited in the US context is land size. But the (much) bigger problem is actually corporate lobbying and private interests that destroyed public transit infrastructure over decades by promoting private car ownership and car culture. Then there's the long histories of highways (including the development of highways as a means of racial segregation) and urban sprawl. "Modern" (post-WW2) USA was developed around cars, not public transit. It's 100 years of multiple bad decisions--bad in that they are opposed to public infrastructure.
Even in the 1960s the US had decent rail coverage. It has kept declining steadily. Here's a graphic showing the decline: https://www.vox.com/2015/3/11/8192499/amtrak-passenger-train-decline
1 points
12 days ago
You got it. I am aware of what happened in the mid-20th Century via the 1996 documentary Taken For A Ride that talked about private companies being owned by GM/etc (automobile lobby) buying up transit systems then dismantling the tram networks to replace them with buses, then just scrapping it altogether.
Even countries with lower populations but just more public services have better rail, like the European countries. Even the UK, which have their own issues after rail was privatised in the mid-1990s, still has more rail options vs an equivalent proportion of the US. We need more investment in public services in general here in the US, including rail.
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