🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4qc31u$6qn@trog.me>, mlbohn@mtu.edu (ekim) writes:

   ...it would be nice to see the u.s. come up to speed in the
   ... general availability of good reliable mass transit...

In article <4qe6io$bs6@condor.philabs.research.philips.com> jpc@philabs.research.philips.com (John P. Curcio) replies:

   ...The last time I looked, we have a much larger country [than in
   Europe], which makes efficient mass transit extremely difficult....

For _urban_ mass transit (which is what most people think of), the
relevant comparison is not the size of the country, but the population
density within metropolitan areas.  There are many US metropolitan
areas that have population densities similar to those of European
cities.  Then again, there are even more that are far less dense.
Obviously appropriate transit strategies have to take all this into
account.

As for _regional_ mass transit, there are several regions in the US
which are as densely populated as regions in Europe which are well
served by trains, buses, etc.  In particular, the population density
of Boswash (from, say, Nashua, NH to Richmond, VA in a 150-mile wide
strip) or the San Fransisco Bay area is not very different from that
of western Germany or the Netherlands, both of which have considerably
more developed regional transportation systems (rail).

Obviously it would be foolish to suggest that rail (or for that matter
automobile) is a viable alternative to airplane travel for long
distances in the US.

	-s