Hop on the Bus Gus
Denver, Salt Lake City Among “Best U.S. Transit Systems You Never Knew Existed”
Riders are responding to fluctuating gas prices and paychecks by using public transit more often.By Courtney Lowery, 6-15-09
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Grist.org this week takes a look at 10 public transit projects that, despite not being the big systems, in Chicago, San Francisco, etc., are beacons for how to get people from A to B in urban centers. Two Western cities are at the top of that list.
From Grist:
As cities big and small rethink how their residents get around, new systems are taking shape—and as gas prices and paychecks fluctuate, riders are responding in droves. While the current economic crunch is forcing many cities to hike fares and cut back on service, innovations continue, and the tracks are laid for a bright future.
Coming in at No. 3 is Denver, where Grist says FasTracks and the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority plan makes: “Denver’s mile-high sprawl is a lot easier to navigate thanks to one of the leading transit systems in the West.”
No. 4 on the list is Salt Lake City and light rail, TRAX, and its bus system. The city also gets props for plans to “build seventy miles of rail in seven years; officials are also studying the possibility of adding a downtown streetcar and a bicycle transit center.”
Click here for the full list from Grist.
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Comments
Taking a Good Bus System out of Suburbs increases Poverty and Crime.
Thank You! Utah Transit Authority is Number One in Corporate Welfare and Corporate Greed in Action.
Thank You! Utah Transit Authority is Number One for Government Waste in Public Transit.
Public transit does relieve transit for all those who use it. They can relax on the trains instead of dealing with traffic and idiot drivers.
On your number 4 point, you use the typical road warrior stupidity. Yes you could lease someone a vehicle for the capital cost. But then you put those people on the highways which would require roads to be expanded and congestion points to be eliminated.
While light rail may be slower than driving, if you add congestion it often is not a big difference. In addition buses get stuck in traffic and express buses are less cost effective than light rail.
Most light rail riders are not former bus riders. The numbers are less than 50% depending on the system. More people will ride an nice light rail system than will get on a bus. In fact in Salt Lake the two light rail lines are carrying 50% the number of riders as the entire 6 county bus system.
Most of the time I ride light rail in Salt Lake or Denver the trains have lots of riders.
In Salt Lake City the cost per passenger is only $1.75 per light rail rider but twice that on the bus. So yes rail is cost effective.