Quote:
Originally Posted by Novacek
It's a bandwidth issue. Once you reach a certain density, rail is _much_ more efficient.
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That's the most parsimonious defense of rail that I've ever read, and it makes plenty of sense. But number-crunching doesn't capture cultural and psychological factors. Is it feasible to train sunbelt car addicts to utilize public transit? I'm not asking this to be snide, I see it as a non-trivial obstacle to changing our transportation systems. It kinda kicks ass to ride in your own car, listening to your music, blasting the AC or windows down or both, according to your own personal desires. This seems to be a lot of the appeal of the sunbelt American lifestyle, it's oriented toward private ownership and operation of every aspect of life.
What to do about this? Is it possible that we will change if we're simply offered a better alternative? Using myself as a case study, I haven't been to DT San Antonio in at least 15 years because I freaking HATE the drive, but if there were a speedy rail line that would dump me somewhere near the Riverwalk I'd use it, probably at least once every few years, and possibly every year. But this is regional-sourced tourism so I don't know if it's an important aspect of the situation.
I've never been on the Red line here, and the only reason I'd ever consider using it is just for a one-time experience of seeing what it's like. Other than that, it seems ridiculous because of its bizarre route and inconvenient stop locations. If we do rail, we need to do it right, and it will cost a helluva a lot. Not that this is a newsworthy comment, just saying that I know we have to pony up for a good system IF that's the wisest course of action.