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Anti Public Transit article....

T

tkip

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Did anyone else catch the article in the Post yesterday about how public transit is a bad investment?

The writer's entire theme was that public transit is simply not sustainable and that it doesn't make sense anymore to fund transit in north america and that we should instead divert funding elsewhere where cars are concerned.

I read it quickly but it really seems that the driver sees public transit as a disease and that everyone should just own a car and things will be fine.

Have to reread it again. I was kind of turned off though from the message the writer was trying to get across.
 
Writer is obviously of the belief that highways, parking, and other car infrastructure are free gifts from the gods.
 
It seemed like the writer was citing averages in North American transit. In the average North American city probably transit IS a bad investment because the city hasn't been designed for transit, everyone has two cars, there are lots of freeways, and transit travel times are pitiful. If all the numbers were based on New York, Chicago, Montreal, or Toronto it might have been worth reading. Reading about how bus routes in Dallas are more polluting than cars per passenger because there is hardly anyone on the bus is really not an article about the merits of transit but instead a commentary on how poorly implemented it can be and how poorly a city can be designed to support it.
 
Thankfully, even for the Post, there were a lot of dissenting comments. Nobody buys their argument.

Some arguments are just flawed. Citing the fuel efficiency of buses vs. cars without talking about the fact that a bus carries 10-15 times more passengers is just one example of a flawed argument.

Also missing was a lot of local context. Transit is small towns or suburbs is inefficient. Transit in major urban areas is not. Also no discussion of the fact that a lot of Ontario's power is fairly clean hydro and nuclear.
 
The minute I saw Wendall Cox's name, I closed the browser. Not worth a read. This guy has been spewing this crap for a long time now.
No wonder the National Post is on life support at the moment.
 
Why are most of you guys so anti-car? Wouldn't you rather have the freedom and convenience of owning your own vehicle instead of riding buses and subway trains?
 
Even worse than his statistics was his logic. In actual fact, the large number of existing non drivers means that a certain base line level of transit service is offered regardless. When an individual has to travel somewhere, doing so by transit effectively creates zero additional emissions because the bus would be on the road anyway. But if they drove - even in a Prius - they are creating brand new air pollution that would not exist otherwise, because they themselves are putting an extra vehicle on the road.

His solution of just giving everyone a Prius also wouldn't work. Many people who use transit do so because they are too young or too old to drive, or because they simply don't want to drive even though they already afford it. He doesn't even begin to explain how millions of extra cars could fit on the existing roads, nor the environmental impact and financial cost of building enough new roads.
 
Dugmor said:
Why are most of you guys so anti-car? Wouldn't you rather have the freedom and convenience of owning your own vehicle instead of riding buses and subway trains?
Click to expand...

I own a car. I hate it. It costs a lot of money, gets stuck in the snow and is a pain to park. Plus it is guaranteed to cost me at least hundreds of dollars in repairs over the course of each and every year I have it. I can't wait to get rid of it one day.

At least me and my partner only have the one car. I can't imagine having to have two. What a money pit.
 
Dugmor said:
Why are most of you guys so anti-car? Wouldn't you rather have the freedom and convenience of owning your own vehicle instead of riding buses and subway trains?
Click to expand...

Of course not.. we all hate those motorizied planet-killing machines with a passion! I guess you missed the fun at the last UT forum meet

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Last edited:
Dugmor said:
Why are most of you guys so anti-car? Wouldn't you rather have the freedom and convenience of owning your own vehicle instead of riding buses and subway trains?
Click to expand...

I'm not anti-car, and I think most people here would agree with what I'm about to say.

What city councillors such as Rob Ford and that other one from out in Scarborough would call anti-car, I call pro-transit. And that is what I consider myself to be.
I accept cars as a part of everyday life, and they are more than likely not going away anytime soon, no matter how high the price of gas gets or how long it takes us to invent a 100% electric car that is suitable for the majority of the population (not just a ZENN).
I do not, however, subscribe to the idea that the car should be the be all and end all of our entire existence. I shake my head at people who base their decisions on how easy they can get to their destination by car and car alone.
I cringe when I hear that streets are being widened, when new car-focused suburbs going up in already car-only suburbia or when something as stupid as a surface parking lot is constructed.
Too many people base too much of their lives around their cars. It is sad but true. They won't go somewhere because of the traffic in that area. They won't go downtown or wherever because parking is a hassle.
Too much of this city and this region is plainly stuck in the wrong decade. Far too many people seem to think that it is their God-given right to drive their car wherever, whenever and with total ease. God forbid we run into some traffic, or have to pay for parking, or narrow a street like Jarvis because of the influx of residents.
In essence, there seems to be this notion of "How dare you make it harder for me to do everything by car!" and that is simply stupid.

Cars need to be looked at as one of many ways. Not the only way.
 
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