#Mass transit

[liberalsarecool]

Spending $150 MILLION to chase down $104K is a wicked level of class warfare.

Just letting fare jumpers go would save hundreds of millions. #ACAB

[3liza]

"hey how's it going"

[bhrarchinerd]

Ad from the Wichita Falls Times: 20 Feb 1927

Cars in cities have been a problem for a century, and we've known the solution to that problem for a century.

[chitaqua-toast]

@amtrak-official mourns with us, I feel.

[akimbo-akimbo-akimbo]

rode boston metro for the first time in while.

the red line was good, i rode it for 20-30 minutes in and out of boston. we only had to stop for couple minutes to let another train out the station.

the green line was less good. we came to multiple complete multi minute stops during my ride from two almost consecutive stops (there was only one stop in the middle)

although, for all my bitching, the green line wasn't terrible. the wood paneling and the fact that is two feet off the station floor gave it some charm.

in all, you did okay, mbta. would (and probably will) ride again.

[fresherfriut]

[femboy-expert]

How am I this good at transit map making holy shit this is beautiful I am so talented

[lucyslenses]

next stop

Shot with Street Candy Psychedelic Street 400.

[politijohn]

Source

Source

Source

Source

Public image vs. reality

[liberalsarecool]

Cancel cars, improve cities.

[damn-these-eyes]

rtd

[phoenixyfriend]

I don't love capitalism. This is known.

But every time I think about the company doing High Speed Rail along a specific set of Florida cities, I do feel respect.

Like yeah. That WAS a good choice. Go you.

[keiteay]

10pm in the underground

[odinsblog]

“All this happening at once is really startling,” said Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University professor who researches intercity bus travel and directs the university’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. “You’re taking mobility away from disproportionately low-income and mobility-challenged citizens who don’t have other options.”

Roughly three-quarters of intercity bus riders have annual incomes of less than $40,000. More than a quarter would not make their trip if bus service was not available, according to surveys by Midwestern governments reviewed by DePaul University.

Intercity bus riders are also disproportionately minorities, people with disabilities, and unemployed travelers.

A spokesperson for Greyhound, which is now owned by German company FlixMobility, said it strives to offer customers the most options for connections, but has “encountered challenges in some instances.” The spokesperson also said they “actively engage with local stakeholders to emphasize the importance of supporting affordable and equitable intercity bus travel.”

The terminal closures have been accelerating as Greyhound, the largest carrier, sells its valuable terminals to investors, including investment firm Alden Global Capital.

Last year, Alden subsidiary Twenty Lake Holdings purchased 33 Greyhound stations for $140 million. Alden is best known for buying up local newspapers like The Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and The Baltimore Sun, cutting staff, and selling some of the iconic downtown buildings.

Alden has started to sell the Greyhound depots to real estate developers, speeding up the timetable for closures.

“I don’t know the specific details of each building, but it is clear what is happening here: an important piece of transit infrastructure is being sacrificed in the name of higher profits,” said Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School.

“The public sector has turned a cold shoulder to buses,” DePaul’s Schwieterman said. “We subsidize public transit abundantly, but we don’t see this as an extension of our transit system. Few governments view it as their mandate.”

Bus terminals are costly for companies to operate, maintain and pay property taxes on. Many have deteriorated over the years, becoming blighted properties struggling with homelessness, crime and other issues.

But terminal closures cause a ripple effect of problems.

Travelers can’t use the bathroom, stay out of the harsh weather or get something to eat while they wait. People transferring late at night or early in the morning, sometimes with long layovers, have no place to safely wait or sleep. It’s worse in the cold, rain, snow or extreme heat.

Bus carriers often try to switch to curbside service when a terminal closes, but curbside bus service can clog up city streets with passengers and their luggage, snarl traffic, increase pollution, and frustrate local business owners. In Philadelphia, a Greyhound terminal closure and switch to curbside service after its lease ended turned into a “humanitarian disaster” and “municipal disgrace” with people waiting on street corners.

(continue reading)

[trenchphotos1]

Chicago 2024