Submitted by Pardon_my_baconess t3_xxf63s in todayilearned
noise-tragedy t1_irc2rue wrote
Reply to comment by andersonfmly in TIL the length of the US rail network is twice that of Europe by Pardon_my_baconess
US (and Canadian) public transport is grossly inefficient largely due to land use policy. Public transit only works in reasonably high-density urban areas and can't serve suburbs. Public transit doesn't work here because most places are low-density suburbs.
We can't have effective public transit on this continent without rebuilding our cities along the lines of the larger European cities (e.g. 4-6 story midrise buildings everywhere) or Tokyo (essentially no zoning rules and 4-40 story buildings everywhere), or rebuilding our suburbs along the lines of Switzerland (rural housing clustered around public transit nodes).
There's not an ice cube's chance in Hades of major land use changes ever happening. A society so dominated by reactionaries that it won't build enough new housing just to keep up with population growth is incapable of major change on the scale required to meaningfully change land use policies. We committed to car-only land use decades ago and we're stuck with it.
OtherIsSuspended t1_ircmb5a wrote
Interurbans/electric trolley railways could easily serve the suburbs between two decently sized cities
behind69proxies t1_ire11xx wrote
You guys really like the word 'reactionaries' lately. Just noticed it everywhere in the comments recently.
noise-tragedy t1_irgl7nt wrote
Would you rather people used 'senile Boomers,' 'rentiers,' or 'fascists' instead?
behind69proxies t1_irhlj2f wrote
Do all those words mean the same thing to you?
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