Quote:
Originally Posted by davidmash
Yes right now it is more expensive to own a car there. Do you not believe that the US will catch up? The time to start investing in the infrastructure is now, not when we need it. As for the size issue, look at the size of some of the US cities that have public transport. Look at NYC. It is far more expensive to own a car there than in most of the rest of the US. Parking spots in NYC cost more than I paid for my house here in TX. The congestion makes most people take the subway or the trains. Fortunately they had a good infrastructure to start out with and kept it.
As with most things, I think we either start to pay a little now or a whole lot more later. Building a public transport system when you are desperate for on will cost substantially more than starting to build it now when we just needed it. Granted they will not be efficient at first but that will come as they get larger and people start adapting to them.
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I can appreciate your position, and understand it well. I just don't think it will pay off here in the US, particularly when we've already taken on a massive debt, to shell out the massive amount of money to get the ball rolling. The term "boondoggle" comes to mind. I see very little return on investment, more probability of a further-devalued dollar, and a system that will do little (if anything), for folks like me in small towns in America.
This might be the future of transportation, but now's not the right time.