Very good and useful thoughts, Matthew. It's imperative that we invest in mass transit systems that reduce our dependence on the automobile.
Your essay helps me to finally answer a question from opponents and skeptics of more short-distance or local passenger trains.
Here in southern Louisiana, a question that gets raised when we are discussing a commuter train between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is, why, since probably not a huge amount of people will use the train, not just subsidize some bus service along the route in question? While it's true that passengers on a bus take up less space than they would if they were traveling in regular personal automobiles, they are still taking up space on highways and still congested and delayed by others using the highways.
Very good and useful thoughts, Matthew. It's imperative that we invest in mass transit systems that reduce our dependence on the automobile.
Your essay helps me to finally answer a question from opponents and skeptics of more short-distance or local passenger trains.
Here in southern Louisiana, a question that gets raised when we are discussing a commuter train between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is, why, since probably not a huge amount of people will use the train, not just subsidize some bus service along the route in question? While it's true that passengers on a bus take up less space than they would if they were traveling in regular personal automobiles, they are still taking up space on highways and still congested and delayed by others using the highways.