"Public transportation is for losers"

[nxylas]

How often have you heard people make this statement? I actually had a complete stranger roll down his car window once as I got off the bus and say "you're gonna get mugged riding those buses". I thanked him for his concern, but said that I rode the bus every day to work and had never once felt unsafe. He just shook his head at my naivete and drove off.

What can we do to challenge the perception that, in the words of the Merton Parkas, "a man ain't a man with a ticket in his hand, you need wheels"?

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Most of 'Em You Can't Reach, But...

Most of the transit-bashers you can't reach; they'll continue to believe the bushwah put out by right-wing "fibbertarians" or irresponsible talk-show hosts.

I suspect that growth in transit ridership in the US will only come about as automobile commuters wise up. They'll wise up either because driving will start getting too expensive as gas prices go through the roof, as traffic congestion gets worse and worse, or as parking becomes difficult, inconvenient, and/or expensive.

Case in point. During my last visit to Los Angeles several years ago I found the freeway congestion far worse than I remembered. I also found myself stuck in street traffic for what seemed like forever, and the nearest parking to where I wanted to go was at least six blocks away.

Give me reliable and relatively frequent transit service, and I will seriously consider minimizing how much I use my automobiles.

There will be other ways to wise up a few of the hard case transit-bashers. Those will get wised up as they lose their ability to drive because of deteriorating night vision or because their kids will yank their car keys.

[ramapo]

2. A vicious circle

Public transportation throughout much of the country is a joke hence you get the mindset that it is for losers. The motoring public doesn't want to support mass transit because it is inconvenient at best. Public transport doesn't improve because there is inadequate support.

However there have been moments in recent history when public transportation became very important. Most recently was post 9/11 when aviation was grounded followed by the general reluctance to fly. Amtrak was besieged.

Longer ago were the twin gas crisis. These both brought on an interest in bus and train travel until prices and availability eased.

We all know that public transport in the US is incapable of servicing the traveling public, either on a local or national level. Even those who should no longer drive because of age-related reasons, still drive. In many areas, the elderly have no other way of getting around town. When my wife told her dad that he should give up driving, he replied that he might as well be dead.
Give me my wheels, or give me death.

[TZ]

3. Make that "loser" sit in the DC beltway traffic sometime!

I think he would NEVER say that again (if he doesn't have a coronary first!) That attitude is not too prevalent here....:)

[ThomCat]

4. Those people will go bankrupt

paying for cars, parking, insurance, tolls, and maintenance/repairs, and then they'll act like it's cool to have gone through bankrupsy because it means they were living the good life. I know a few people like that.

As long as stuff is cool, and spending money you don't have is cool, riding public transportation will not be cool.
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