Missing the point about the cost of commuting

It's about the development form. Is it any wonder that places like Houston--no zoning, sprawl--and Detroit--the city where an automobile industry based on mass production was created, and the region was re-created around deconcentration, and where mass transportation was junked, "logically," in favor of the automobile--the cost of getting around--transportation--is high, and separate, rather than chained, trips are required to accomplish most tasks. Without "centers" non-automobile based transportation systems are difficult to pull off.

Note that it is interesting that the Dallas light rail system is considered a great success, whereas 5 of the bus lines in DC proper carry about 75% of the equivalent ridership, which is a function of density of housing, and density of destinations.

See "America's Most Expensive Commutes," from Forbes Magazine, which lists the top ten cities where households spend the most dollars on transportation.

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Ironically, to get to the article, I had to avoid a screen ad from Jeep, and there is some kind of fancy ad from Audi within the piece also.

For an alternative view about how to make commuting better, see this past entry from Washcycle, Biking to work = happiness.

I saw a relatively large number of bikes in Brooklyn this weekend, depending on the area where I happened to be. We stayed at a place about two blocks from a Q line station, and one half block from Coney Island Avenue, which has 24 hour bus service, and for large parts of the day, bus service headways range from 7 to 12 minutes. And with a $7 all day pass, you can get on and off and on again without worry about spending too much money. (The weekly transit pass is a steal at $24. Of course, the 30 day pass is even better: $76.)

And on one subway platform I managed to explain to someone who asked me how to get to Yankee Stadium that he needed to be going "uptown".

All the buses in Brooklyn have a borough bus map posted. Metrobuses have the space for such maps, but they don't utilize the space thusly.