[lbo-talk] Planes, trains, and automobiles, was: public transportation

Gary? slade.g at gmail.com
Tue Sep 13 17:05:34 PDT 2005


On 9/13/05, Chuck0 <chuck at mutualaid.org> wrote:
>
> There are several factors which will play an important role in making
> public transit more appealing. Higher gas prices have woken up people to
> the costs associated with commuting and the very way cities are laid
> out. Higher jet fuel prices and crappy service will prompt more people
> to support a higher grade of Amtrak between cities. But if gas prices go
> back down to $2/gallon again, I don't see much change happening on the
> public transit front.
>

when I was a kid we used to travel London-Liverpool by train, four hours, usually spent balancing on a suitcase as all the compartments were full, as were the corridors. There were no restaurant cars, at some of the stops there were tea trolleys on the platform and you'd shout out the window for a cup of tea and a sandwich. Then they brought in the high speed inter-city trains, with buffet car, and bar, and I couldn't understand why anybody would drive rather than zip down to London in the comfort of a train. Then they were privatised, now they smell of pee, last time we travelled by train, couple of years ago it was pathetic, although I admire Richard Branson his trains suck. British Rail had seemed to be moving in the right direction now it's just a farce. When I lived in Hamburg I travelled by one bus and two trains to work, it took a little over an hour and would have taken about forty minutes by car. The trip was actually enjoyable, I could catch up on reading books and news , I recently realised that in all the time I have spent in the US I do not know the local bus routes, times or prices, why would I ?

Gary? ride si sapis



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