The Failure of Public Transit
True or False: Transportation used to be World Renowned in the U.S.
True
True or False: It is uncommon for governments to integrate land use and transit planning decisions.
False.
In U.S, urban land use is soley something the local government does. The planning and providing of major transportation infrastructure are regional and state “responsibilities” with federal funding assistance(Transportation Research Board Staff National Research Council 153). In Western Europe and Canada, urban land use and transportation “decisions are highly coordinated at the regional and often national levels,” (Transportation Research Board Staff National Research Council 152).
Without enough funding for public transit, the _____, _____, and _____ can be limited.
Without enough funding, the hours, frequency, and extent of service can be limited (Why the U.S. [7:52]).
True/ False: Public support helps determine what the government chooses to prioritize.
True
Some argue that even if public transit was improved, there may not necessarily be an increase in its usage because of the established benefits of cars. What factors contribute to this argument?
An Answer: car-centric designed spaces, conveniency of car, location of a transit station
Which of these factors led to the downfall of U.S. streetcar?
A) A failure to be profitable
B) Massive ridership loss after WW2
C) “The streetcar conspiracy”
D) Racism
All.
According to NACTO, the U.S. government should dedicate a ______, so that more thought and effort can be directed towards its improvement.
Department of transportation.
As English observes, “[g]overnments, eagerly embracing the available federal dollars, are willing to fund ______capital projects, most frequently light rail, but they are uninterested in providing a ____dollars a year of funding to run the service needed to make them work,” (2).
multi-billion-dollar vs few million dollars
Who is it difficult to gain support from when it comes to improving public transit?
It is difficult to get collective support from federal official as well as voters from the suburbs who are comfortable driving (Why the U.S. [5:47])
How would you measure an improvement in transit?
Answer: My paper defines an improvement in transit by determining whether transit becomes a more viable option in people’s opinions. As English adds, “[t]he objective is to provide people with genuine choices,” rather than a forced decision between the two types of transit (6).
True or False: The U.S.’ built environment is adequately constructed to support an improved public transit system.
A) True
B) False
False
Info: Places with a higher density of buildings placed close together tend to be better built to handle public transit then places with buildings sprawled out.
Between 2010 to 2020, railways were only expanded by ___ miles, in comparison to highways which were expanded by ____ miles (U.S. Department of Transportation qtd. in Why the U.S. [1:58]).
Between 2010 to 2020, railways were only expanded by 945 miles, in comparison to highways which were expanded by 105,485 miles (U.S. Department of Transportation qtd. in Why the U.S. [1:58]).
True or False: Multiple transit systems in the U.S. are expecting to see massive losses.
True
For instance, by 2027, Philadelphia’s SEPTA predicts to see a budget deficit of $268.6 million, while by 2026, Chicago’s RTA predicts a deficit of $730 million(Why the U.S. [7:28]).
“We have identified the automobile with ____, _____ _____,” (Why the U.S. [4:57]).
Person, individual liberty
True/ False: There is one way to measure improvement in transportation.
False
Why did the U.S. government fail to subsidize failing transit?
My Answer: They thought the fares would finance the full cost of operations, maintenance, and taxes.
The U.S. government currently leans towards _____ planning when it comes to transit.
Auto-centric
Unlike the U.S, after cars were introduced in Western European countries, few transit operators went out of business as the government took initiative to own and invest in them. The government showed this initiative by implementing_____ and _____ before cars became widely used (Transportation Research Board Staff National Research Council 150).
High car ownership and fuel taxes
According to one interviewee, when it comes to supporting different modes of transit, most Americans believe that ___________________.
Only one form of transit is allowed to thrive at the expense of another.
Both systems can be excellent ones and exist simultaneously, but can only do so if “taxpayers” are willing to support an “auto system” next to a “quality [public] transit” one (Bloom 9).
Why does public transit exist today? Does it still serve a purpose?
My answer: It exists to help the public access places that may be otherwise difficult to reach, so that people don’t feel limited as to where they can go. Multiple interviewees affirmed that it still serves a purpose. One interviewee adds that when we “incentivize” private transportation, we cause the original purpose of public transit to be ignored.
Prejudice or past injustices should be considered when looking at public transit history.
A) True
B) False
True. Looking at an international perspective, “The idea that transport improvements benefit everyone, even if they concretely harm certain categories of workers, is quite common now and has been used to justify a variety of transportation policies in Japan since the early 20th century,” (The Current). You this similar thing happen in the U.S.
Cities like San Francisco or Chicago that adopt transit first policies tend to be regarded as ___ (NACTO 10).
places with better transit systems in general
As English reinforces, “[w]ithout investing in _____ _____ upfront, the demand that would justify service improvements will never materialize,” (3).
Service improvements
To gain public support, what is it important to provide the public with?
According to NACTO, it is important to provide the public with the language to discuss transit improvements as well as the opportunity to make choices regarding these. These steps go towards not only improving transit design, but also empowering the public to meaningfully contribute to it.
How would you improve public transportation?
My Answer: The U.S. must focus on improvement in three key areas: government policy and decision-making, increasing funding, and increasing public support. A risk in expenditure must be first taken on improving one small transportation project in order to build confidence to improving larger transit projects.