Quote:
Originally Posted by bossabreezes
Not that different than California in that regard, in all honesty. California infrastructure is highly limited to highways, similarly to Texas and Florida. The difference is that CA is a mature state and should have gotten their act together decades ago in regards to infrastructure and public transport.
Also, climate change is causing issues in all states but notably is worst in these three.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedestrian
I think you aren't that familiar with CA.
The state's 2 largest metro areas have decent--not what it should be but what American metro does have what it should be outside of maybe NYC?--transit and are gradually expanding it. I'm obviously most familiar with SF and SF's Muni system pre-COVID provided a bus to most residents within 2 blocks of their doors and with service every 15-20 minutes on the least active routes and every 8 minutes or so on the most. The city also has a pretty extensive light rail network (still growing with the Central Subway line about to open soon) and a linear underground heavy rail (BART) through the center of town and through 5 major spokes into the suburbs. There are also supplementary rail systems in suburban counties that feed into the central system like SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit) and the East Contra Costa BART Extension.
LA is building out its rail transit as rapidly as a 21st century city can. It costs a lot more to do it now than 100 years ago when some of the world's great cities did it. But it now not only has a respectable subway/rail transit system but a decent commuter rail system as well.
But beyond that, CA subsidizes intercity rail like pretty much no other state: It pays for service on multiple AMTRAK routes: CalTrain, Capital Corridor, San Joaquin, Altamonte Express, Pacific Surfliner. And of course it has provided $10 billion of state funding for HSR which actually has a segment under construction (and a gorgeous new downtown SF station just waiting).
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Yeah, I concur with Pedestrian: when it comes to transportation infrastructure, California has invested heavily in much more than just freeways. I am surprised to see such an uninformed claim.
California's massive airports, seaports, and freight railroad networks are top notch. They greatly lessen the burden on the state's road networks.
And in terms of public transport, California transit agencies carry far more commuters per capita than those in Texas. For example, before the pandemic the state's fourth busiest transit agency--San Diego's--provided 282,300 daily rides, while Texas' largest agency, in Houston, provided 297,900 daily rides. California has the fifth- and ninth-busiest heavy rail systems in America, six different light rail systems that include the first-, third-, and fifth-busiest in the nation, and the sixth- and eighth-busiest metropolitan commuter rail networks in the country. The state also funds the nation's third-, fourth-, and seventh-busiest interurban Amtrak routes.
Yes, Texas and Florida are America's future--they are currently growing fastest--but so are all of the other states 'America's future.' America isn't just one or two states.