I agree with your point about the political climate and NIMBYism for sure.
I think "fast" is subjective. Depending on city size, car culture, etc. Buses with dedicated lanes could be pretty fast. I suppose what I should say is, comprehensive public transit. And maybe not always out to the rural areas until we have good connections to the suburban hubs.
As far as economics, much like Agriculture, Housing and Healthcare the economics will never really work out. They will run at a deficit and require government subsidies because they are necessities.
Often with these things its a vicious cycle.
People don't use Public Transit --> Because its slow and doesn't cover everywhere -->
Because adding stops and more vehicles costs money -->
And there's not enough money to improve it -->
Because People don't use public transit -->
... repeat
If we improve transit, make it more convenient than driving (banning cars in certain metropolitan areas, making it cheaper than gasoline, etc.) Then likely over years the US could transition.
Though I agree, tis a pipe dream at this time in history.
>Depending on city size, car culture, etc. Buses with dedicated lanes could be pretty fast.
Dedicated bus lanes would help I'm sure, but I still don't see how this could ever be "fast" when buses still have to stop at intersections for red lights. It's what makes driving in a denser city so slow. Trains and subways don't have this problem.
>They will run at a deficit and require government subsidies because they are necessities.
Not true. The trains in Japan aren't subsidized and run at a profit from ridership. You could argue that they got some "unfair" advantages in their initial funding for construction, but as it stands today for ongoing operations, they don't need subsidies; they generate a profit for their owners. Moreover, the companies running many of the trains are really real estate companies: they own big stations in certain places, and then build big complexes around those stations. Build it and they will come.
>banning cars in certain metropolitan areas
The biggest thing to do is simply make it horribly inconvenient to use a car, by not having any free parking. If there's no place to park except some extremely expensive parking lots that might be a longish walk from your destination, people won't drive.
I wonder if frequency and hours get overlooked in these discussions. In my experiences one of the things that made the NYC subway more enjoyable than other systems is that the trains came frequently (so I didn't have to schedule when I got to the station and if I missed a train it wasn't a big deal) and they ran 24 hours a day (so I could do things like go to a bar and not have to worry about getting home).
I used to live in a smaller city, the busses would come every 15 - 30min and then after midnight every 1hr. It was hard to rely on, if you miss a bus you could miss an appointment, after bar close, you had to rely on Taxi and Uber.
Now I live in a city where buses/trams come every 9 and subways come every 4 during peak hours. I don't even own a car anymore!
I think "fast" is subjective. Depending on city size, car culture, etc. Buses with dedicated lanes could be pretty fast. I suppose what I should say is, comprehensive public transit. And maybe not always out to the rural areas until we have good connections to the suburban hubs.
As far as economics, much like Agriculture, Housing and Healthcare the economics will never really work out. They will run at a deficit and require government subsidies because they are necessities.
Often with these things its a vicious cycle.
People don't use Public Transit --> Because its slow and doesn't cover everywhere --> Because adding stops and more vehicles costs money --> And there's not enough money to improve it --> Because People don't use public transit --> ... repeat
If we improve transit, make it more convenient than driving (banning cars in certain metropolitan areas, making it cheaper than gasoline, etc.) Then likely over years the US could transition.
Though I agree, tis a pipe dream at this time in history.