tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27851011.post4428372498297886481..comments2023-10-23T12:53:30.487-07:00Comments on 295bus: Back in the Third WorldNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11276619955553290726noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27851011.post-68326906483255314122007-12-29T10:59:00.000-08:002007-12-29T10:59:00.000-08:00I admit I'm just kind of throwing out the term thi...I admit I'm just kind of throwing out the term third world without thinking about it too much.<BR/><BR/>There's a lot of variety in 3rd world transit, ranging from Mexico City's excellent subway, to fairly broken down and barely running rail systems, to the gobs of really dirt poor cities that just have hordes of privately operated busses.<BR/><BR/>The main fault I see about US transit generally and Bay Area transit specifically is a lack of commitment to dealing with the details that actually make it useful. Sometimes this is a lack of investment. Sometimes it's unwillingness to do anything that migh ruffle feathers (like making bus-only lanes at the expense of car lanes or parking). Sometimes it's just really bad planning, either when an expensive new system is built that doesn't go where people need to, or because there is just no coordination between transit and land use.<BR/><BR/>The failures of US transit probably have more in common with the failures of the former Soviet block (referring to their entire economic system, not transit, which they seem to have been fairly good at)--heavy handed top-down planning, inattention to detail, and disregard for what people really want and need.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11276619955553290726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27851011.post-56874546712437449092007-12-29T08:44:00.000-08:002007-12-29T08:44:00.000-08:00Transit in the Third World is actually much better...Transit in the Third World is actually much better than that. It has to be because just about everyone takes it. It's only here in the US that it's that bad.Cap'n Transithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.com