Why American public transit is so bad | 2020 Election

I also hate how a lot of Americans look down on people using public transport like they're worse

if you're comparing to toronto transit. those other cities must be REALLY BAD....

"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation." Gustavo Petro - Mayor of Bogota

Living in Seoul, South Korea - I was spoiled with how amazing the Subway metro system was and even today, it still costs about $1!

When Toronto is used as an example of good public transit, you know things have gone seriously wrong..

American city planning is like someone playing SimCity half-heartedly.

I just spent a week in Italy, and I’m shocked at how you can easily navigate cities and regions with buses, subways, and trains. We didn’t step in a car once in 8 days.

I used to think Toronto’s public transit was awful (still have those days, tbh). And Torontonians love to complain about our transit system. As someone who has lived in Japan and spent months through East Asia, SE Asia and Western Europe, Toronto’s public transit is very poorly run in comparison. BUT every time I attempt to use public transit in some major US cities, I’m always grateful for what we have in Toronto. Even at the edge of the city where it’s mostly residential, you can count on a TTC bus arriving within 10 minutes (2-3 minutes during rush hour). Buses aren’t trains, they get stuck in traffic and are often uncomfortable, but they at least get us moving and (eventually) get us to a subway station.

it’s so funny how americans always say “this is pure fantasy & not realistic” about concepts that literally every other highly developed country has

Jonathan: "A bus that comes every 30 minutes till" European: "I lost my bus. The next one comes in 3 minutes. Too much time"

I moved to Phoenix AZ 4 years ago from Mexico and that was one big cultural shock. I remember wanting to explore the city but it took me so little to realize that is imposible if you don't own a car. You are forced to buy a car then you end up with montly payments and you are also forced to pay insurance and pay for maintenance if your car breaks. Owning a car should be optional not imperative

Having lived in Seoul for a very short time, coming back to America's completely ineffective public transit is a nightmare

Anything worse than the Canadian transit system is not a system.

Most of America: What’s having a train? New York City: What’s having a car?

Negative feedback loop: few people rely on public transportation because it's not good, it's not good due to lack of funding, there's lack of funding due to few people relying on public transportation.

I’ve lived in Vancouver and Toronto and gotten by for years without needing a car. Visiting family and friends in Chicago and Dallas suburbs and finding out that the nearest convenience store to buy a soda or some cigarettes is 3 miles away just feels like a strange way to live.

"a bus that comes every 30 minutes" the standard is really that low? that's so sad

People from Toronto literally complain about the public transit at least 3 times a day. Seeing it being used an example here is actually shocking. Source: I'm people from Toronto.

I can't imagine living in a place where they make it impossible for you to commute without a car. Here in the Netherlands, lots of people cycle and/or use public transit. I cycle to the train station, take the train and then cycle to work. Total of 40 minutes, door to door. Easy peasy. I don't even have a car, but I do have three bikes (one for my home town, one for the town where I work and one for recreation). If I need a car, I can borrow my parents'. Of course, the Dutch are the best at complaining, so we complain about our public transit system all the time :)

A big thing to blame this on is the American societal viewpoint of cars. In nearly every country except France, the car is seen as a status symbol and in America it's cranked up to 100. People judge you based on the cars brand instead of the real value, I'm only 25 and currently drive a $30k full size sedan and I've had people call me poor or similar simply because it's a Chevy Impala and not some high luxury brand. Most Americans don't see public transit as an option to commute because societally is looked down upon. I have a coworker who takes the bus every day and he's been made fun of for taking bus because "only poor people use the bus" even though he's a manager at 23. Americans have a stigma that public transit is bad and would much rather have private options. Public use scooters were tested in my city over the summer and they might not return when winter is over simply because people did not respect them. They were mostly used by younger people to get around downtown and they were regularly abused, the couple times I did use them they were either broken in some fashion or the scooter looked like it had just been thrown down a flight of stairs, which it probably was. If we want public transport to work in America, not only will we need to massively revamp our cities but we will also need a mass change in opinion