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To: Frapster
Dallas already tried this experiment, and it has not worked: Dallas has 44 miles of light rail, 34 miles of commuter rail, and a bus system, yet only 2% are riding all of this combined. Also, they are facing a $37M shortfall and have asked for federal assistance. Dallas has spent billions on three light rail lines, a commuter line, and an expanded bus sytem, and the census shows that fewer people rode public transit to work in 2000, than in 1990 before the billions were spent on additions and expansions

Many people are in love with their private autos, which fits with their house in the suburbs that they oppose the using of transportation dollars for any other purpose than streets and highways. Many others have no choice because there is no public transportation. The result is that there are more cars than will fit on the roads, a fact that is evident to anyone who has to use I-35E during the rush hour. Improvements to this corridor would cure the problem if they had been made today, but when they are finished they will already be inadequate. Denton County has just bought into the idea of a rail system that will patch into the Dallas system. Will it eliminate traffic jams along I-35E? No. The question is, however, what can we do instead? The answer is: Not much.

Our personal experience with trasnportion in Germany showed us that given a choice people will prefer the privat Auto every time, but that a very high use of bus and rail, which takes pressure off the road net, is possible. Will it may for itself? No, but neither does the private car.

8 posted on 10/02/2003 12:41:59 PM PDT by RobbyS (CHIRHO)
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To: RobbyS
If customers prefer the private auto, why not simply give them more roads instead of extraordinarily expensive systems that only a 2% or so of the local population will use?

People in Germany have much denser cities and it costs a lot more to keep cars there. That's why public transit can succeed there, while it's a dismal failure everywhere in the US but New York.

I don't think Americans would stand for making cars as expensive to run as they do in Germany.

D
13 posted on 10/02/2003 1:48:08 PM PDT by daviddennis
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