Transportation in your city

[Student_Vienna 0]

Hello everyone! I am a master student at Vienna University of Business and Economics in Austria, and here we are currently working on an innovation project on topics of mobility and transportation in big cities around the world. Anyone of you could be of a great help for us, as we are very interested in YOUR IDEAS & CONCERNS: Which problems have you met regarding mobility and transport? Are there any interesting issues that directly come to your mind? What makes YOU angry and WHY? No matter how trivial it may sound, please write it Thanks for your help in advance!!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Welcome to Simtropolis.

First, please don't post in bold face (shouting), it is not necessary.

Now, I live in a rural area in Huron County, Ontario, Canada. We have no public transit in this area whatever, not even bus service to the nearest city, so everyone drives.

Because of my vision difficulties, I do not drive. I use a service provided by a zero-balance-budget organization called One Care that supplies volunteer drivers on 24 hours notice and for which I pay mileage at a subsidized rate. I am a retired senior and therefore eligible to use this service.

However, I lived for many years in the City of Toronto, Ontario which has about as many and different transit services as might be expected in a municipal area of some 3,000,000 or more. There is a very much over-crowded-at-rush-hour subway running between the suburbs and the downtown core. On the east, this has been extended by a section of light rail. Lake Ontario is to the south of the city and the subway with bus connections services the area to the north to the city limits.

Trams (street cars) are abundant in the downtown core and one line runs considerably far out to the west.

Bus services are provided throughout the city. Some of these buses are electrically powered by overhead trolleys, others by various internal combustion systems. The city has been experimenting with several non-petroleum systems but i am out of date on that.

The Province of Ontario runs a train service (diesel heavy rail) between farther points to bring commuters into the city with the main terminal at the main rail station (Union Station) which connects to the subway and bus systems. This station is located at the southern edge of the downtown only two blocks from Lake Ontario in the outer edge of the central business district. Much of the heavy commercial area is within easy walking distance. The Stock Exchange, for example, is three city blocks north of the station on King Street which also has the main offices of most of the large banks.

Much of the central area for business is connected by an underground mall which also contains subway stations. Taxis are also abundant.

All in all, the central area runs very well.

The main problem in the downtown area is congestion caused by delivery trucks and private cars. The whole downtown occasionally gets into a gridlock, but this is not very often. The city traffic flow is controlled from a central computer which can change the interval of traffic signals and also controls overhead signs on the city controlled expressways within the boundaries. The Province controls the highways leading to the city by similar means. Many cameras are sited along these highways and expressways and there are trained monitors on duty at all times. However, I would prefer that, with the exception of courier services, deliveries be restricted to the hours between 1900 and 0500 daily, that is, overnight. This would remove much downtown traffic.

The general lack of bicycle transport, which is endemic in North America, upsets me greatly. The city has taken only a token stance on bicycle traffic, and to bicycle downtown, which is done by some courier systems, is to take your life into your hands. Legislation need to catch up the the idea that bicycle traffic is just as worthy as any other.

Most of this information is fairly historical because I have not lived in the city for some time. I hope it is helpful.

  Edited October 20, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[Ocram's Razr 963]

Our roads are a mess, we have extensive buses, our viaduct and waterfront trolley need replacing and no one can agree, we have a tourist monorail that gets into crashes, we have the South Lake Union Trolley (yes, S. L. U. T, we even have T-Shirts with the official acronym) that benefits Paul from Microsoft that is supposed to fuel the growing biotech industry, and a light rail that goes from the Airport to Westlake Center Mall with uncomfortable seats, speeds lower that the cars below, and a high price, various commuter trains and buses, and a toll on most bridges and fast lanes.

  Edited October 20, 2011 by OcramSeattle  

[Duke87 1,070]

New York City has what is by several measures the world's largest subway system, and also the only one that runs 24/7. It's a great system if you know it, although tourists and other out-of-towners frequently find it confusing and overwhelming. The service is not only quite extensive, it is also fairly complicated compared to what most systems are like - with multiple services departing from the same track, and the same trains going different places in different ways at different times of day. The 5 train, for instance, runs express in Manhattan and Brooklyn to Flatbush Avenue, except evenings and weekends when it terminates at Bowling Green, and except nights when it runs only between Dyre Avenue and E. 180th St in The Bronx. In The Bronx, it runs to Dyre Avenue local, except rush hours when it runs express between 149th St and E. 180th St but only in the peak direction, and some trains run to Nereid Avenue instead of Dyre Avenue.

I have all this memorized, of course, but you can see how someone with zero experience attempting to figure it out for the first time will easily get lost. Now, not all routes are quite this complicated, but most have some sort of variation to worry about. And there are 24 different routes.

Train service between the city and suburbs is a mixed bag. Service to most areas north and east of the city is fairly frequent, reliable, and convenient. Service to New Jersey, meanwhile, is rather lackluster. Some close areas are served by PATH, which is a great service although one of limited scope, however most New Jersey residents are stuck with NJ Transit. NJ Transit has limited service due to being constricted to to a two-track tunnel under the Hudson River, and several lines have no direct service into Manhattan at all (requiring riders to change trains to get into the city). A huge public works project to fix these problems was underway, but it got cancelled due to politics.

The bus service is godawful and in most cases not worth using.

[Easy Bakes 253]

I live in the largest city in america that has no public mass transit.

Arlington Tx. 500K+ and does not even run a bus service.

I think you can get to certian areas in arlignton by DART ( dallas) and the T ( Ftworth)

like the Cowboy staduim for games, Hurricane Harbour,and Six Flags Over Texas but im not certain those last ones are true. I have only seen with my own eyes dart buses at the cowboy staduim.

[cityville2050 1]

I live in the largest city in america that has no public mass transit.

Arlington Tx. 500K+ and does not even run a bus service.

I think you can get to certian areas in arlignton by DART ( dallas) and the T ( Ftworth)

like the Cowboy staduim for games, Hurricane Harbour,and Six Flags Over Texas but im not certain those last ones are true. I have only seen with my own eyes dart buses at the cowboy staduim.

I agree, because I used to live in Dallas, and work in Arlington, and getting there was a real pain. I would be nice DART could provide bus service through Arlington at least, but I think Arlington doesn't want it (DART) for the same reasons Mesquite and Coppell doesn: It brings a bad crowd buy hey it's their loss. People in Dallas would benefit from jobs in Arlington

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I question the statement that NYC's subway is bigger than Moscow's.

[Duke87 1,070]

I question the statement that NYC's subway is bigger than Moscow's.

There's a reason I qualify it with "by several measures".

Moscow's subway does have a higher annual ridership than New York's. Tokyo's is even higher if you combine both of their competing systems. But Moscow comes nowhere near to measuring up to New York in terms of measures of infrastructure (rather than usage). New York's subway has more stations than any other in the world - by a long shot (468 compared to 270 in London, which is second). It also has more miles of track than any other system in the world (842), and more rolling stock than any other system in the world (6442 cars).

One key other measure it doesn't win by is if you use route mileage rather than track mileage, the London Underground has more. Of course, the tube consists almost entirely of two track lines while most sections of subway in New York are 3 or 4 tracks.

[EyeofMobius 27]

Well coming from a city dominated by single occupant drivers with a solid amount of newly immigrated citizens I can say the most startling problem I am noticing is the sheer number of people who are no longer obeying traffic controls. I fear that this is becoming a growing trend. Every time I drive I am seeing people ignore speed limits, painted lines lane designations as if these drivers are simply ignoring the exsistane of symbolic traffic controls. Thankfully few people are jumping curbs and other physical barriers at this time.

[Superbacon 380]

I live in St. Charles, IL, U.S.

Our city has about 26,000 residents. We are a very far-western suburb of Chicago. And I live in the west side of town.

Our city has your basic stuff, roads, and some buses. The fact that our city is mostly low-lying and very spread out means that there are few places for buses to go say for downtown.

St. Charles has four state highways running through it.

East-west IL Rt.64 (North Avenue)

East-west IL Rt.38 (State Street)

North-south IL Rt.31

North-south IL Rt.25

Rt.64 turns into our Main Street when it's in town, and it's the main artery through town.

Oh, and we have a river. Fox River.

Rt.25 on the east side and Rt.31 on the west side. Both these roads intersect with Rt.64 downtown.

We have three bridges in town to handle the traffic. The Rt.64 bridge through the center of town. The Prairie Street bridge and the Illinois Street bridge.

It's horrible during rush-hour. Thousands of commuters from the city come through town and completely bottleneck it going one direction. Same for Geneva, the city south of us. Rt.38 is their Main Street. Not only that, but students from the East High School start leaving right before the commuters arrive. The ones who have club activities leave during rush hour, making it worse. That school has over 2100 students and about half of them drive to school.

Also, we have a railroad, but no train station. We have no expressway connections unless you go two towns north or three towns south. The next nearest bridge is in our northern neighbor, South Elgin. Which is a 3-4 mile treck up Rt.31 or Randall Road and back around, depending on which road you take.

What I wish we had was a train station somewhere in town. We have a rail line that's connected to the Geneva line which goes to Chicago, but no one uses it anymore. And I hardly see anyone riding the buses. We have a cab company though, and I think they actually make more money.

We can't expand the roads in town because the buildings are in the way. And the winding suburban neighborhoods are a nightmare because the roads go in random directions and the neighborhoods have like.. 3 exits. Yeah. Nice.

[RipRap 4,400]

Winnipeg...

Roads

The City is surrounded by the Perimeter Highway. There are three main N-S Arterial Roads (Rte. 90, Rte. 52 and Rte. 20) and 1 E-W Arterial Road (Highway 1)

The roads here were in very poor condition and there are a lot of potholes. Traffic is also horrible during the morning and afternoon rush hours...

We have a decent transit system. We have more than 80 bus routes. Taxis are also decent in the city. We have one railroad station (VIA) even though the two major rail companies meet here...

[Snateraar 0]

I live in a somewhat small city, and the most roads are for bikes. It's easy to get from point A to B on a bike, but with a car you'll need to go to C, D and E first to get to B.

I like the bike stuff, but it also means a lot of cars need to fit on one road.

[Student_Vienna 0]

thanks people for all the answers, it s really helpful

...and for instance, if you had a possibility of choosing between public transport and your own car, when going from A to B, what would influence your decision the most and why?

what i ve found out from my research so far, is that people tend to avoid public transport mainly because of overcrowding, delays, accessibility issues (for instance parents with baby-buggies) and lack of information (like when things go wrong). but would people really be willing to spend 1h in their car stuck in the traffic jam, instead of taking a metro for example, and saving their time (even if overcrowded) ?

[RipRap 4,400]

Actually our transit buses have a lot of spaces, even though it was rush hour... It seems that cars are used because they are way more convenient and faster...

[Ocram's Razr 963]

If it's dark, then car. If I'm injured, it's rainy, and have to walk more than a block from the stop, then car. If someone wants to drive me somewhere with other family members, then I don't decline the offer. Otherwise bus, since I do not like driving and I often feel nauseous in fast moving cars but less so on buses, and virtually not at all on trains.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

In Toronto, if I am going somewhere downtown, even at night, I'd take the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission, a.k.a. The Red Rocket).

Around here, I don't go out at night because the service doesn't supply drivers at night. Last month's charges by the way were $47.60 Cdn. That's less than the insurance premium I used to pay for my rarely used car, and certainly less than the hit for gas if I had a car to maintain.

[Duke87 1,070]

...and for instance, if you had a possibility of choosing between public transport and your own car, when going from A to B, what would influence your decision the most and why?

Ultimately it's just about what's convenient and practical. So, points in decision:

- how easy is it to drive versus take a train to where I'm going at the time I want to go there

- how much stuff am I carrying with me

- will I be consuming alcohol

I will gladly take a train if it can get me there without too long a wait or too circuitous a route. I will have no choice but to take a train if I'm going somewhere where parking is impossible/expensive (Manhattan) or if I'm going to be drinking. I will not take a train if I'm carrying a million bags with me or going somewhere the train doesn't go.

I mostly avoid using the buses here because, as I said, they suck.

[Easy Bakes 253]

thanks people for all the answers, it s really helpful

...and for instance, if you had a possibility of choosing between public transport and your own car, when going from A to B, what would influence your decision the most and why?

Also take into account the people with cars are already paying the expenses to have that car.

Paying to ride public transport just t adds more expenses to your budget.

And as i mention earlier here in the DFW area the mass transit is lacking, were some towns dont have service at all.

I guess i would take the bus some were were parking was very very expensive ( thanks Jerry Jones)

but only if it cold get me reasonably close to home.

[hamsterTK 93]

If I lived in a big city it would be nice to do without a car and all the associated costs. Being in a suburban area everything is more difficult without some kind of private transportation.

What makes YOU angry and WHY? No matter how trivial it may sound, please write it Thanks for your help in advance!!

The most prime real estate in my town lies vacant and full of blight, some say it is because it is owned by people without any vision.

This is related to transportation because without a vibrant center, we have a lot of dense development spread out around town rather than clustered in a place where people can walk or take a bus to their destination. There is more traffic as a result.

  Edited November 2, 2011 by hamsterTK  

[Evandad 109]

I live in Calgary, AB with 1 million+ citizens and we only have buses and an LRT... and the buses aren't so great. On top of that, our main highway, deerfoot trail, is barely ever moving at rush hour.

[nathanthemayor 1,261]

Here in Fresno, the only public transit is bus.

However, the city is thinking of adding a bus rapid transit line possibly light rail and streetcar by next year.

Also, if you count trains, then there is Amtrak and later on(Yay) High speed rail.