California leaders set for high-speed rail groundbreaking Tuesday

[LeftyMom]

36. We're mostly not very good at doing useful, pleasant mass transit projects.

Last edited Sat Jan 3, 2015, 03:10 AM - Edit history (1)

I really liked the Metro in DC, and I use the heck out of the Max when I'm in Portland. They're clean, they're fast, they show up on time, they generally go where I want to go, they're not very expensive. They are unfortunately the exception.

BART is working on the clean part finally (god bless whoever decided to get rid of the carpets and dingy upholstered seats) but the trains are stuffy and the transit connections can be wonky if you're not going someplace within walking distance of a stop, and it's surprisingly expensive. If you're out late you're out of luck, which is just unacceptable in a big city. It leaves a lot to be desired, and it's biggest selling point is that it's less of a hassle than driving over a bridge and finding parking, but that's like saying that the flu is less of a hassle than cancer. It's true but it doesn't mean that it isn't an enormous drag in it's own right.

Then again the transit system out here in Sac makes BART look ideal. It's filthy, crime-ridden, slow, expensive and has routes could not be designed in a less effective way if one tried. So it could actually be worse. Sacramento also told BART no when they were building and wanted to run the line out here, because this is where urban planning goes to die.