Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
The dirty truth is that people don't like transit. There are a lot of reasons for that, and a lot factors specific to each city. But, given the choice, people are happier to choosing other ways to commute despite the push for people to use mass transit. We've laid out environmental reasons, traffic and urban planning reasons and economic reasons that "we" should limit cars. People still choose these other methods though.
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I don't disagree. But that said, nothing is impossible here. The majority of people living in Tokyo are using mass transit - approximately 70-80% of Tokyo residents were estimated to use public transit for their daily commuting needs. Even during COVID measures it was still the biggest source of transit used. And in a recent survey, it was only edged out by Berlin and Copenhagen for public transit favorability.
Public transit must be designed in a way that people see it as critical. Continuously building infrastructure for cars doesn't cater to this; I'm even concerned about the adoption of EV's and how people are likely seeing it as carte blanche to be 'environmentally friendly' and yet these cars are heavier and create just as much infrastructure stress as ICE vehicles.
Public transit will never be the only answer. But it needs to occupy a huge place in societal transit needs with good design, frequency, timely delivery and efficiency, and safety. It needs to be part of a mix that includes micro-transit options, accessibility for non-vehicle trips, and better car usage management (e.g. tolls, carsharing, EV's, etc.)