The Oil Drum

Liberalism and conservatism have nothing to do with the success or failure of mass transit. Only people who are blind on both eyes while walking through cities where it actually works will ever raise such claims.

Here is the short list of places where mass transit systems work:

1. Cities which have too few parking lots to accomodate commuter cars, e.g. New York, London, Tokio. You can drive in but then you have to drive your car back home because there is no place to stop.

2. Cities which levy 100% luxury tax on cars and gas, e.g. Singapore.

3. Cities which have too few parking lots and levy a 100% luxury tax on cars and gas. That would be Singapore.

Everywhere else in the world mass transit is an addition to automotive transportation, not its replacement.

It is refreshing to see thought that once in a while someone shows up who just don't get it and still tries to make it a political matter. It is not. Mass transit is simply a matter of urban design. Some urban planners get a fighting chance to implement working mass transit systems and most don't. It does not matter how many billions of dollars get spent on a system. If it is in the wrong place, it will fail.

Now... that does not mean there should be none in places where they fail. There should be. They are simply a public service to those who can not or do not want to keep a car. Availability of cheap public transportation is simply a matter of quality of life. And quality of life, again, is independent of political affiliation. If a town sucks, it sucks for both, liberals and conservatives.