It's literally as slow as walking. I had to get my car in for servicing and decided to walk back home that day, walk back to the dealer the following day. 7 miles as the crow flies, I think I did it in about three hours given the lay of the roads. Bus would have cut it down to 2.5 hours. For serious? To get to work is a straight shot down a main drag, 11 miles. Takes 20 minutes, plus minus for traffic. Bus transit would take me two hours. Walking the distance is about four hours. I haven't biked it but I could probably just about half the bus time.
As I believe I said above, a better bus transit system would probably be the quickest fix for my area. I guess you're seeing a lot of white bias in your area. I haven't really heard much from people I talk to but maybe they'd shoot down mass transit for seeming too poor or having to hang with too many ethnics.
I don't think you've read anything about the skytran model so you don't understand the difference in scale between their lines and traditional rail. Rail is like a highway and you only run highways where it makes sense. The smaller skytran lines could penetrate into less dense areas, a residential road compared to a highway.
From what I can see, we're still doing our level best to fuck over mass transit in this country. the decision-making process has nothing to do with the rational but is more about status symbols and the percieved good life. People like cars, people like instant transportation, and they've been inculcated into this culture. The younger generations aren't quite so enamored. We may see some real demand shifts in time.
What I don't think you've paid any attention to is that I'm not a PRT-or-bust guy. I like the promise of PRT but am more than happy to entertain any other idea. The only point I won't budge on is that cars fucking suck and I want alternatives.
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