Hi all,
I want to throw my three pennies in too, if I may. I have lived and worked in many places, sometimes very big cities, sometimes smaller ones and I now have the pleasure to live close to Vienna, Austria. It is my experience with the latter that lets me think that I know how a sustainable traffic solution in bigger cities can be designed.
In Vienna (pop. 1.7 million city + 300 k more in the outer belt) they offer heavy rail, light rail, metro, streetcars and buses on the basis of 7/24 using a "single ticket" system. The headway on most lines within the inner city usually is anything between 4 and 10 minutes, during peak hours 3 to 5 minutes. This is so attractive that meantime more than a third of all private traffic moves is done by public transport, a further quarter is done on foot or per bike and only one other third is still done by private motor car. I have to say that you never need more than 45 minutes from one side of the city to any other destination within the limits. Also, there is no need to go and look for car parks - there are nearly none and the few that are charge an hourly rate that is more than double the cost of a single ticket.
There is a downside to it as well, of course. People who live in the inner suburbs and don't have a private car park need to buy a parking licence for kerbside parking. All other parking is restricted to 90 minutes and is heavily policed. However most people are happy with the situation, in the summer many bistros, cafes and the like offer seats on the pavement, there is little traffic to disturb and quality of life has gone up significantly. Even the shop owners who initially opposed construction of underground metro or streetcar lines now are happy that these exist as business has increased proportionally with the time shoppers can now spend leisurely in the shops.
And if need be and they buy heavy goods, well many shops offer delivery services for a small charge only.
Kind regards from Europe
From my perspective, I live in a suburb of New York, the US would never come up with the kind of solution that works so well in Vienna.
sure, taking care and polishing one's car is a major activity for many Americans, and they want a subsidized rail service that they don't use just in case they need it when the car or cars need repairs!
BUT,surveys show that the population of Vienna is the happiest of any major city in the World
I live in Jerusalem, not Vienna, although these surveys show us also happier than residents of most USA cities.
davekleppersure, taking care and polishing one's car is a major activity for many Americans, and they want a subsidized rail service that they don't use just in case they need it when the car or cars need repairs!
Thats not what I'm talking about, Dave. I think Americans who use rail transportation to commute are happy with that method as long as they can get a seat and not have to stand. It is a comment on NJT that many people do stand on their trains and complain about it but they still ride the trains rather than driving their cars to work.
The reason that we will never be like Vienna or Jerusalem in that in the US the suburbs are towns unto themselves and cannot be taxed to provide services for the inner cities where many people still work and have to get to work. A big reason people move out the the city is to avoid paying taxes; suburban tax rates are usually lower. That is why we have so few places with decent public transportation.
Trenton is a beautiful example of working in the city for a good salary and then leaving for the suburbs where taxes are lower. Many people in Trenton work for the State of New Jersey. After work they don't just leave the city; they leave the state and go home to Pennsylvania where taxes are a lot lower. The State of New Jersey has several large office buildings and a hugh parking lot next to Route 29 which parallels the Delaware River which is the state border. There are 2 bridges across the Delaware convenient to those State office buildings. New Jersey has in fact made it quick and easy to work for the state and then leave the tax burden behind. That is a big part of the reason why Trenton will never be like Vienna or Jerusalem.
John WR The reason that we will never be like Vienna or Jerusalem in that in the US the suburbs are towns unto themselves and cannot be taxed to provide services for the inner cities where many people still work and have to get to work. A big reason people move out the the city is to avoid paying taxes; suburban tax rates are usually lower. That is why we have so few places with decent public transportation.
That situation was quite common in major German cities as well. Public Transport came to an abrupt halt at the city limits. Beginning in the late 1970´s, this saw a dramatic change by forming tariff and financing associations, the largest one covering the Rhein-Ruhr area with over 11 million inhabitants. Just take a look at their map:
The map does not even show all of the streetcar and bus lines.
Si it is politics, again!
Those of us who have been around awhile can remember that the Regional Transportation Authority barely passed muster with the voters when it was established. A public referendum was required by Illinois law and the enabling passed in Chicago with a strong majority while voters in suburban Cook County and the five collar counties voted strongly against it. The majority in Chicago was barely enough to carry the day and the RTA was established.
The city v. suburban split is a factor in local politics almost everywhere in the United States.
Thanks Ullrich.
Of course, some places in the US have subways, especially large cities. But in many areas the suburbs are like a slowly tightening noose around our cities.
Here in New Jersey, though, we do have a state Transit system. The best local transit is in north Jersey. Almost all local transit (with a few notable exceptions) is bus lines. They are organized on a county basis but are funded by the state. As you go south some counties have acceptable (but not all that great) transit while rural western counties have little or no transit. But we still have one of the better transit systems in the US.
We also have a system of commuter trains. They all connect with Manhattan and so are of limited use for getting around in New Jersey. But some local use of trains is possible.
John
PS. Here is a link to New Jersey Transit's rail service:
http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainSchedulesMapTo
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