#Public Transportation

[heterotopian]

The Tale of Two Cities according to Stephi and Heiko - Part 509

We have often shown you public and private transportation in Munich and Cologne. Today I will tell you once again about our public transportation, especially our trams. Both trams started being pulled by horses and only a year apart back in 1876 Munich respectively 1877 in Cologne. Munich reorganized the system into electric trams between 1895 and 1900. In Cologne the company that uses horse wagons didn’t want to use electric trams. That’S why the city took over the company in 1900 and started to modify the tram net.

There is a big difference between the tram system in Munich and Cologne that I am sure we never mentioned before. The system in Munich is organized as a closed one while the tram lines keep growing in Cologne and new lines are added whenever needed. One led to the collapse of the city archive in 2009, which led to a delay of more than 15 years as the life is still not fully in use.

As for the pictures: the first shows an old tram from Munich while the second picture shows a new car of Cologne. This is no longer a classic tram car as it uses a high floor entrance. We do have museum with old tram cars but I never made it there as the museum is only open on very specifics days.

Do you have old trams in your city?

[angryraptor13]

It's a good idea for public transport to go to places the public needs to go to often, like shopping and groceries. Plus Costco sells *everything* in bulk and it'd be very hard to bring stuff home from there if you're just walking.

Would you like to see my current stupid project?

Of course you would

[gaykarstaagforever]

I just think it is interesting to point out that an American man who shot another American man in America with an American gun has so far eluded authorities by using public transportation.

[amtrak-conductor]

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[writing-with-olive]

So i'm working on a project that involves looking at people's opinions on public transportation, and something that keeps coming up is that a lot of people like the idea of public transportation but ridership is at the same time low, so I wanna figure out what stops people from riding.

If you could reblog this for bigger sample size that would be so so appreciated

[sreegs]

never forget that we could have had robust trolley/tram system in many american cities still if it weren't for General Motors (this is not a conspiracy theory it's quite literally an actualized conspiracy that went to court)

[mapsontheweb]

Metro areas in the USA where more than 5% of population uses public transit to get to work.

by u/mexidominicarican8

[typhlonectes]

[thebreakfastgod]

America's Roads: Dangerous by Design

[caesthoffe]

starting my solarpunk-y patch pants off with a banger. invest in public transit.

[transit-fag]

A bill has been proposed by Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson to have the federal government increase subsidies of Public transit by 80 billion dollars in major US cities to help systems recover from the post Covid decline in service and ridership. Allowing for an increase in frequency, and additional funding for passes for low income residents. The bill is called the Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act

[itscolossal]

The Adorably Whimsical ‘Deer Train’ Transports Visitors to Japan’s Famed Nara Park

[reasonsforhope]

Paywall-Free Version

"Massachusetts’ so-called “millionaires tax” appears primed to actually deliver billions.

State officials said Monday that the voter-approved surtax on high earners has generated more than $1.8 billion in revenue this fiscal year... meaning state officials could have hundreds of millions of surplus dollars to spend on transportation and education initiatives.

The estimated haul is already $800 million more than what Governor Maura Healey and state lawmakers planned to spend from its revenue in fiscal year 2024, the first full year of its implementation. Most of the additional money raised beyond the $1 billion already budgeted would flow to a reserve account, from which state policymakers can pluck money for one-time investments into projects or programs.

The Department of Revenue won’t certify the official amount raised until later this year. But the estimates immediately buoyed supporters’ claims that the surtax would deliver much-needed revenue for the state despite fears it could drive out some of the state’s wealthiest residents.

“Opponents of the Fair Share Amendment claimed that multi-millionaires would flee Massachusetts rather than pay the new tax, and they are being proven wrong every day,” said Andrew Farnitano, a spokesperson for Raise Up Massachusetts, the union-backed group which pushed the 2022 ballot initiative.

"With this money from the ultra-rich, we can do even more to improve our public schools and colleges, invest in roads, bridges, and public transit, and start building an economy that works for everyone,” Farnitano said.

Voters approved the measure in 2022 to levy an additional 4 percent tax on annual earnings over $1 million. At the time, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a left-leaning think tank, projected it could generate at least $2 billion a year.

State officials last year put their estimates slightly lower at up to $1.7 billion, and lawmakers embraced calls from economists to cap what it initially spends from the surtax, given it may be too volatile to rely upon in its first year.

So far, it’s vastly exceeded those expectations, generating nearly $1.4 billion alone last quarter [aka January to March, 2024 - just three months!], which coincided with a better-than-expected April for tax collections overall...

State Senator Michael Rodrigues, the state’s budget chief, said on the Senate floor Monday that excess revenue from the tax could ultimately come close to $1 billion for this fiscal year. Under language lawmakers passed last year, 85 percent of any “excess” revenue is transferred to an account reserved for one-time projects or spending, such as road maintenance, school building projects, or major public transportation work.

“We will not have any problems identifying those,” Rodrigues said. “As we all know, [transportation and education] are two areas of immense need.”"

-via Boston Globe, May 20, 2024