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Re: Why Families Don't Ride Trains (or airplanes)
Author: mook
Date: 01-18-2015 - 14:42
Max: you're correct about transit, but most people in the U.S. won't believe you because they've never seen good transit. Most Americans do in fact equate public transit with that bus that runs every 93 minutes (averaged over a week) because something like that is what they've experienced. Local transit in my area, for instance, is light rail every 15 minutes during the day (1/2 hour at night; none after 11PM), and connecting and trunk line buses, mostly just during the day, every 1/2 hour-1 hour (sometimes longer, a couple of routes every 20 minutes at peak periods); only 1 light rail line and 1 bus line connect with Amtrak, and most potential riders have a 10-15 minute (or more) walk to a stop except in the downtown area. This is a metro area of nearly 2 million people. We both know it's possible to do much better.
As an example of local transit working, consider the "Anaheim Resort" area - basically, the 5 or so miles around the Disney complex where the "partner" hotels are. There's a "Anaheim Resort Transit" system connecting Disney, the hotels, and a few other attractions. It appears to be run by the local transit agency, but is a separate operation contracted out (per stencils on the buses) to First Transit. It runs often, mostly on schedule, and with many routes so nobody has to sit on the bus for long. Works great, the base cash fare is $3/ride, and all of the hotels sell multi-day passes that are quite reasonable - for instance $12 for unlimited rides for 3 days, which is a typical Disney ticket package. The only time they get crowded is for a couple of runs around opening time, and of course at closing time just after the fireworks. Regular local transit service like that is only a dream. So how does the resort bunch do it?
Educated guess: beside the limited area served, the hotels and Disney cover any deficit as a cost of doing business, because the customers wouldn't be able to get to the park in the desired numbers otherwise. So how is that different, except possibly in scale, from a public transit agency being subsidized from taxes because without it the City would simply stop working in gridlock? The SF Muni used to work that way.
As an example of local transit working, consider the "Anaheim Resort" area - basically, the 5 or so miles around the Disney complex where the "partner" hotels are. There's a "Anaheim Resort Transit" system connecting Disney, the hotels, and a few other attractions. It appears to be run by the local transit agency, but is a separate operation contracted out (per stencils on the buses) to First Transit. It runs often, mostly on schedule, and with many routes so nobody has to sit on the bus for long. Works great, the base cash fare is $3/ride, and all of the hotels sell multi-day passes that are quite reasonable - for instance $12 for unlimited rides for 3 days, which is a typical Disney ticket package. The only time they get crowded is for a couple of runs around opening time, and of course at closing time just after the fireworks. Regular local transit service like that is only a dream. So how does the resort bunch do it?
Educated guess: beside the limited area served, the hotels and Disney cover any deficit as a cost of doing business, because the customers wouldn't be able to get to the park in the desired numbers otherwise. So how is that different, except possibly in scale, from a public transit agency being subsidized from taxes because without it the City would simply stop working in gridlock? The SF Muni used to work that way.
