Why low mileage cars, why not cool and groovy mass transit ?

Question

Why produce thousands, millions, of vehicles that NEED some sort of energy. Why not concentrate on LOW COST, LOW EMISSION, high quality, ON TIME Mass Transportation???

Why not make mass transit like a StarBucks on wheels? Morning coffee sitting at a table, on your ride to work.

Different theme transports:

go to work on THE MAKE A LIVING MASS TRANSPORT

for family friendly travel, ME AND THE KIDS ON THE GO

for those who don't want chatty folks interrupting, cruise along in THE LIBRARY CAR, or THE NEWS STAND EXPRESS

handicap travel? THE WHEELCHAIR WELCOME WAGON

teens? TRAVEL GREEN TEENS

And don't give me ANY of those answers about "people don't want... blahblahblah."

Provide the solution... see what happens... sort of like Field of Dreams -- IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME.

OOOH OOOH -- what an opportunity for short films! THE THEATER SEAT
for kids and families -- THE CARTOON CAR

Make it cool. Make it happen... easily and affordable!!

Answer 1

Not that easy. It's about the land use.
Look at Zach who answered this question, he selected a house on the rural fringe, fully intending to only ever get there by automobile. That was also the intention of the developer who parceled the land, and the local government who provides the access.

That's just how things are done in metro Detroit.

Works the other way too. People don't just wake up one day and realize there's a commuter rail station 2 blocks away. They shop for a house near a train station and pay a lot of extra money for it, and that's why transit works for them, they gave it every consideration.

So despite your ideas, people have to choose to live near where transit works, which means the developments must exist for them to buy a house in, which means the developments must be built. And that's all about land use.

Answer 2

Great ideas!! very clever, and this is the way we all need to start thinking. I started taking the bus to work a few weeks ago, and it is not all that bad. I get a little extra walking in everyday, which is a great thing, and I get to read for an extra 1/2 hour each day. Sure my commute is a little longer, but LITTLE is the key word since my commute is only about 15 minutes longer. Also, if you get more people using the bus or mass transit, we will have more money to start implementing some of your or others groovy ideas.

Answer 3

In my area (Western Washington) there is not much mass transit outside the major cities. And the mass transit that there is is simply inadequate for longer trips - 45 minute one way by car = 2 hours by bus with all the stops or 4 hours if you take wrong bus by mistake. Not to mention if you work graveyard shift, mass transit isn't running on those hours. We don't have a subway here, though they are working on light rail (finally) that is coming in another year or 2. It is debated when the project will break even.

Affordable? Not likely. How many million$ have you got?
The city and the county don't have it really, either, so the taxes go up, up and up. But if they succeeded to make it affordable and found the financial backers for the project, I'd be all for mass transit with all the trimmings like onboard DVD players, onboard galley/cafeteria or espresso stand and so on.

But as things are now, things get stolen aboard mass transit, and we have to ride with people who talk out loud to themselves or rant to anybody, everybody, and nobody about various topics when riding mass transit. If you leave something in your car, you usually can find it later, but if you leave something on the bus, its usually gone.

Answer 4

Reliable efficient and and affordable Mass Transit Rail networks and buses are the way to go. Government need to offer incentives to passengers who use public transport with subsidies. If tomorrow the government offered free public transport to all or heavily discounted, with improved service, I would imagine this would have a marked improvement on bums in seats numbers. But unfortunately government are too reliant on the taxes generated by car users, road tax, fuel tax, insurance tax, so the process is a slow and gradual one, which is a more economically viable solution. Which sadly is failing in the UK with year-on-year increases in the number of cars on the road.

If you look at Hong Kongs transport network, and many other Asian nations, as well as major cities around the world. You begin to see how a reliable efficient transport network operates. The MTR, (one of three public transport services in HK, along with KCR, Bus) with an average of 2.557 million journeys recorded each day. The population is little over 7 million. The KCR and Public bus services carry simmilar passenger numbers daily. Prices are about $0.40 / £0.20 - $2.00 / £1.00 (only if you go through the harbour tunnel). MTR trains are timed to meet demand, and at peak times you can be on an 8 carriage train with 1000 other people.

I cant see themed trains taking off, I wouldn't rule out Starbucks on trains though, but by improving the rolling stock, facilities and features on trains, this will encourage more people. Lower prices and better service are the way to go, with increasing graduated taxes on the most fuel inefficient cars.

Energy Saver
http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com

Answer 5

My theme for you:

Start by using the bicycle or even, wait for this one,

a horse, for local independance, then use mass transit trains with cars built to support the rider and his/her ride.

Yes, the trains would have to run every 15 minutes and run 24/7, and we would have to put more shading/environmental sheltering allong the riding routes.

And if you have not noticed, it is like drawing blood from little babies with the giant's needles asking for any support for these alternatives.

The polititians feel that the alternate transportation is for the low class society --- call it racism, or economicism, or what ever, it is still the truth and the case.

Answer 6

It would definitely be great if all you suggested can be implemented. But, unfortunately, mass transportation is not that easily implemented. Landscapes and location have to be taken into consideration, and most importantly, cost. Not everyone can live in a place where public transportation is available. If everyone in a city were to use public transport, congestion is still bound to happen, and if i'm not sure if i can get a place in the CARTOON CAR with my family when i want to...

Answer 7

I live in a township of 8,000 and I commute to either Ann Arbor, MI or Dearborn, MI for work. With the location of my house, I'm actually in between three mass transit systems (MTA, SMART, and AATS). Though, due to the cost to operate the busses up to my neighbourhood, it's just not feasible to create stops near me, even within 15 miles of my house. And in my case, I'd have to take three different bus systems to get from home to work.

It is all based upon cost, and how much the companies are willing to spend, but they're not going to spend millions of dollars to expand their system to gain three passengers.

And in my case, I need my car for work, just like the 2,000 other people in this building with me. It's not that I don't support mass transit, but it's totally not feasible.

Answer 8

I travel a lot for work, there is no way to develop mass transit that would work for most of us. Promoting working at home and virtual commuting is a more realistic alternative. I work in heavy construction building the mass transit systems would consume more energy than they would save.

Answer 9

Mass transit is still transit. The library car is still a car. It will still have emissions. If we can make a clean library car then we can make a clean personal car. And since everybody is coming from and going to different places, everybody wants to have their own car.

Answer 10

LA is just now trying to build a subway system...the problem is the city was built first now they have to build around the city...people are not too crazy about having to destroy their houses to put a subway system in. Other cites such as San Francisco, New York, London, etc. already had a transport system in place before the city got built up. It could be YEARS before LA will have a reliable transit system...so until then I will continue to drive my hybrid.