Someone named Chris Wilson has asked me to plug a “thorough and in-depth article about the 5 main reasons why public transportation in the US is so bad.” He and his associates at Electric Ride Lab–which promotes personal electric transportation such as e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-skateboards–“took the time to thoroughly research and include a ton of information” in the article.
If you have an electric bike or scooter, why do you need transit anyway? Photo by Ian Sane.
They should have done a little more research as just about everything they say about transit is wrong. Here are Wilson’s five wrong reasons why public transit is so bad in the United States.
1. “Americans favor cars over trains and buses,” which is irrational, implies Wilson, because trains and buses are “cheaper and offer better service.” Cheaper? America’s transit systems spend more than five times per passenger-mile as it costs Americans to travel by automobiles. Better service? In America’s 50 largest urban areas, cars can reach twice as many jobs in 20 minutes as transit can reach in 60 minutes. This makes Americans smart to favor cars.
2. “Lack Of Investment In Mass Transit Infrastructure.” The text accompanying this claim is totally unrelated and reads like it was written by a bot. The headline is totally wrong: after adjusting for inflation, the United States has spent well over $600 billion on transit infrastructure in the last 50 years.
The text claims that most Americans prefer to rent their homes, which is wrong, and that rental agencies insist on providing parking spaces even if they don’t need them, which is also wrong. Landlords sometimes offer parking because there is a demand for such parking: as the web site itself admits, “Ideally, renting an apartment or house should include access to a garage where you store your car.”
3. “Funding Comes From Ticket Sales, Not Taxes,” says the article. “Since public transportation isn’t funded through taxes, governments can charge whatever price they see fit,” Wilson claims. Say what? In 2019, 78 percent of the funding for transit came from taxes, a share that increased to 88 percent in 2020.
4. “Bad Traffic Congestion.” More bot-written gems: “People feel frustrated when they look out their windows and think nothing else moves. As a result, they turn off their air conditioners or leave the heat cranked up.” Oookaaay, but how does that lead to bad transit?
5. “No One Is Motivated To Get Public Transportation.” Apparently, taking transit requires planning ahead and Americans aren’t willing to do that. Moreover, says the bot, “America doesn’t have any sort of federal standards that require people to comply with regulations.” If only we had federal standards requiring people to take transit!
Electric Ride Lab’s solutions to all of these problems are, of course, spend more money on transit. This article has persuaded me of one thing. Most of Electric Ride Lab’s web site is devoted to reviewing e-bikes and other personal electric vehicles. If ever I decide to buy a personal electric vehicle, the last place I will look for advice is Electric Ride Lab.
I read the article fast. In league solution 8: “Increase funding for subsidies”. I had to laugh.
Most of Electric Ride Lab’s web site is devoted to reviewing e-bikes and other personal electric vehicles……”
Which begs question, why should the government invest in technologies when private citizens are already capable of investing their money in private choices.
Taiwanese electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc. has beat around the bush of EV charging. Instead of charging batteries in time duration; they swap them. Riders would be able to swap out depleted batteries at a network of kiosks called GoStations for a monthly subscription fee. Unlike charging which takes Hours, swapping batteries takes mere seconds. According to Gogoro, in 2016 the company had a GoStation less than every 1.3 kilometers in Taipei.
meanwhile in news today, a 42 year old woman was brutally beaten and attacked on a Bronx MTA bus.
According to a Google Maps’ 2021 picture of the organization’s address, Electric Ride Lab is housed in either a UPS Store, Massage Green, Advance America Cash Advance or Lefty’s Cheesesteaks. My guess is that it’s a mailbox inside the UPS Store.
Life is short. Why waste away your life waiting for a bus?
Portland hipsters in the photo with Mary’s Club, a strip club where Courtney Love danced, in the background. Must be an old photo as sidewalks are covered in tents and windows aren’t boarded up and spray painted with phrases like “all cops are pigs,” “black lives matter,” and “defund the police.” The sidewalks are also free of human excrement and used needles. Just checked the date, and yep, taken in 2018.
Scooter is also blowing through a red light. Stark Street (now called Harvey Milk Street—eye roll) is a one way coming from the scooter rider’s right side. Note the do not walk sign is on, meaning the traffic light is red. These people are a danger to themselves and to drivers.
The point is…. monolithic technology is no match for modular or cellular technology.
Scooters and mopeds dominate in Asian Megacities. They’re cheap…easy to run…cheap to ensure and take up little space. And a lane of road can move 5-10 thousand an hour.
If you say the same lie over and over again in a clear way people will eventually believe it.
its kind of garbage. my parents were handicapped and they and myself used busses almost every day in North Carolina. the first bus system in my town was run mostly by the electric-utility company in the area….there was a fare as well and im not sure about any govt subsidization. that all changed in the 70’s with city/fed takeover. these utility run busses on a number of routes ran till near 11pm….in a sleepy southern capital city. i got an e-bike about 6 years ago because i like biking for many short, regualr trips and would love to have more and better bike lanes. but i have nothing against vehicles either. having ridden a city bus for a decade and half straight (busses shot at, fight on board, occasional wreck, drunks, pot smoke filling them, transferring) i see a cars conveinience. while living in reno, nv…a nice place with a good little transit system my e-bike could often match, sometimes beat or not be far behind nearly every transit route if i followed thier route. often i liked to take a less congested route and still wouldnt be to far off and i could get could around 35 miles of battery assist before a charge was needed. this easily covered my trips. with all the financing options now e-bikes are easier to get.