Posted on 04/09/2014 6:39:06 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
Are we seeing a renaissance in public transit use by Americans? The answer is yes, if you believe a new report from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the transit industry's lobby group.
In fact, APTA's report is a textbook example of how deceiving statistics can be.
The report states that in 2013, the number of transit trips was nearly 10.7 billion nationally--the highest since 1956, according to APTA. Michael Melaniphy, APTA's CEO, hailed what he called "a fundamental shift" in how Americans choose to get around.
But even strong supporters of public transit like Michael Manville, David King and Michael Smart, of Cornell, Columbia and Rutgers Universities, respectively, label APTA's numbers "deceptive." Most transit use occurs in a "handful of dense cities"; New York City alone accounts for a third of all transit travel, they say.
Though U.S. transit trips increased by 115 million in 2013, they add, trips in New York City rose by 123 million. Their conclusion? Transit use outside New York actually “declined in absolute terms last year.”
(Excerpt) Read more at minnpost.com ...
Willie Green is not amused.
Wonder if he ever figured out that he’s a socialist?
Courtesy zottee ping.
There is a train between Portland and Boston. Totally subsidized. Hardly anyone rides it because it does not go where people need it to go. There is a private bus company between Portland and boston. Comfortable, not noisy and goes where people need to be.
The train has been extended up to Freeport so the 26 leftists in Boston who want to feel smug about traveling to Freeport by train can do so.
That is spot on; here in NJ they are trying to sell people on public transportation, and it is falling flat. People always used it to get into NYC, but when they tried to get people to take trains into Newark to watch sporting events the response was underwhelming. People surrounding the city know it’s a zoo, and the worst panhandlers know where to shake down or assault the white people. A friend described Penn Station in Newark at dusk; it was reminiscent of those scenes in zombie flicks where they gradually encircle the compound and keep pressing for a way in. The battalions of police present during the day are quickly thinned out, and the zombies press inward quickly as they stand down.
Once the word is out, it is difficult to change public perception; burying the crime in the news doesn’t work in the “information age”...
i will walk before getting on a bus.
Haven’t rode the bus in years,but last time I did, at least I was near a urine soaked transient.
I think public transit is the perfect solution for traffic congestion. I’dnever have to wait in traffic if everybody else took the bus.
Why would anyone want to go to Newark to watch sporting events ... regardless of the mode of transportation?
I rode a Greyhound 1 time and that wasn’t bad because it was the last route of the night and for about 100 miles of the 150 mile trip it was just the driver and one other guy on the bus.
LOL.
At least buses are more feasible than building trains all over the Twin Cities.
Pinging Willie Green
No bullet train renaissance in sight.
Driving seems to have peaked in 2007 and has been trending down since. 
while transit trips have been on an upward trend since 1996. Vehicle miles traveled as reported by Federal Highway Administration, Transit trips as reported by American Public Transit Association
Brilliant.
i meant city bus, not greyhound. greyhound is a private company.
Did you even read the article? It clearly shows how APTA is cooking the numbers, and yet you cite a graph of theirs to make a point.
“Why would anyone want to go to Newark to watch sporting events ... regardless of the mode of transportation?”
Because they duped the NJ Devils into moving there from the suburban arena in the Meadowlands (then tried to force the Nets there as well, though their new owner knew better and went to Brooklyn instead). When they were planning the Prudential Center in Newark, Essex County officials insisted there was enough business for both arenas; as soon as it was done the same officials complained that the older, established arena was taking “their” business.
Newark is kept afloat by gubmint redistribution, not private money.
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