With gas prices soaring the country is experiencing serious hikes in the utilization of mass transit. While that correlation is not exactly rocket science our traditional underfunding of mass transit as a country will have consequences as ridership goes up. From MSNBC:
The story is the same everywhere: In Seattle, commuter rail ridership recorded the biggest jump in the nation during the first quarter, with 28 percent more riders than during the same time last year. Ridership in Harrisburg, Pa., rose 17 percent. In Oakland, Calif., it rose 15.8 percent.
Nationwide, Americans took 2.6 billion bus, subway, commuter rail and light rail trips in the first three months of the year, 85 million more than in the same period last year, the American Public Transportation Association said. But it’s not clear that the nation’s transit systems are able to handle the load.
While many communities have made investments there are so many that chose not to.
“We’re seeing it in a lot of other metropolitan areas where there just [aren’t] viable transit options — places like Indianapolis, Orlando or Raleigh,” said Robert Puentes, a transportation and urban planning scholar with the Brookings Institution, a public policy association in Washington. “They haven’t put the money into it. They haven’t put the resources into it.”
Even those big cities with robust systems are struggling, Puentes said.
“There are major challenges in most of the older, established transit systems, places like New York or Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston — places that are really starting to show their age,” he said.
With ridership going up dramatically the usage of automobiles has lessened for the first time in decades.
Mass transit is supposed to get cars off the road, and it’s working: For the first time since 1980, the number of miles driven last year fell, from 3.014 trillion to 3.003 trillion, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The drop continued by another 2.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, the FHA said.
A desirable effect, but this country needs to evaluate some of the crazy policies that have put us into this oil dependent mode that is so difficult to break. Mass transit has been neglected over the years by our federal government, and that needs to change. There are so many financial challenges out there at this point that adding another may seem to be undoable, but we ignore transit options at our own peril.
Bill Manzi.com 
Your Honor,
As a child growing up in Dorchester, I have fond memories of traveling the “Boston Elevated Railway” (MBTA today) all over the city. You could get to anywhere from anywhere.
Went to school on the old Type 5 street cars and eventually on the trackless trolleys that surplanted them.
I took many trips with my mother to downtown Boston to shop. My favorite destination was the 6th floor of Jordan Marsh around Christmass time to see the massive model train displays.
Mass transit went out style until some places began to rebuild as did Boston.
L.A., however, completly dismanteled one of the outstanding rapid transit systems in the country. Now they have to rebuild it from the ground up.
The suburbs never took part in rapid transit and today remain enslaved to the car for transportation.
If the days of “cheap gas” are over then we are in a miserable position as we shift to expensive energy.
Can you invision a subway in Methuen?
Jules
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We all remember the unfortunate incident in Boston where an apparently poorly trained 24 year old was operating her trolley while on the cell phone and rammed into another trolley…Sen Baddour..the Chair of Transportation …who has not yet called for public hearings on such issues as driver competence/training or safety on public transit…was quoted in the press as blaming the whole thing on the effort to extend public transit…somehow the logic escapes me…it seems to me that we need more public transit..an expansion for instance into Methuen and Salem NH…and an expansion on the number of times trains leave and arrive in every train stop…MORE PUBLIC TRANSIT convenient enough to encourage its use and save on gas..should be Sen Baddour’s priority one would think…wouldn’t you Mr Mayor?
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Your Honor,
One of the reason investment is not enthusiastically endorsed in the country is because should fuel prices fall, people will crowd back into their SUVs.
We are lucky here to be serviced by the commuter line.
What’s going on with Bob Leblanc? He doesn’t seem to like Steve Baddour.
Jules.
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Jules,
We are seeking to get commuter rail service here, possibly as part of a Boston to Manchester service. We have always underfunded mass transit, and I really believe high energy prices are here for good. The failure of will in Washington on this issue is one of a long series of policy failures that have put us in a precarious situation.
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Why Jules would you degrade my substantive comments by asking the Mayor whether or not I liked Sen Baddour. I do not deal in personalities!
I am certainly NOT in favor of your idea of elevated trains or subway systems. thankfully the EL has been torn down!
I do strongly favor an expansion of rail along the lines advocated by Mayor Manzi.
I also favor expanding the times when commuter rail services our region…if we have reliable commuter rail running every 45 minutes to and from Boston from 6 AM to 2 AM we would see a dramatic increase in ridership..reduction in highway traffic and gas consumption.
You are probably not aware but I served for six (6) years as Chair of the Merrimack Valley Transit Authority and continue to be active in rail advocacy. In that capacity I worked successfully with the federal and state governments to bring rail service back to the Merrimack Valley.
Our region deserves a comprehensive approach to transportion modes.
As for Sen Baddour, who I have known for many years, I do expect that as the person in control of the money and with the most influence in the area of transportation, he would recognize that “all politics is local” and bring home more money to his district with all deliberate speed to enhance opportunities and solve issues which exist particulalry along the Rt 110, Rt 113 and Rt 93 quadrant.
Sen Jajuga who was only the Chair of Public Safety was very successful in getting highway and bridge money into the Merrimack Valley together with money to expand the MVRTA jurisdiction and modernize the fleet.
This has NOTHING to do with personalities Jules!
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Your Honor,
The congress has always gone for “energy policy” by sound bite. Something to sound good to the base. Also they are governing by “gotcha polictic”, the art of making the other guy look bad.
A great deal of what will keep prices high and us dependent upon foreign oil, is the Democrats subserience to their lawyer friends in the environmental lobby.
Republicans can’t take any solice in this as they did nothing when they had the power. Now they are brain dead. They have illed some horrible legislation, though.
Gas price’s main problem; uncontrolled speculation. There are laws governing the activity, but the oversite managers have ignored them and the congress just fiddled away.
Public transportation has required subsidies to function. That will put a crimp in it’s rebirth.
In short if we require the congress of the United States to help resolve the issues while they make war on provate industry and try to get Bush, forget it. They can make things worse, can’t make it better.
We need open drilling, shale oil developement, clean coal or coal to oil development inorder to become independent. We have more carbon energy resources hat Saudi Arabia has oil, but it’s tied up by the environmental lobby.
$4 and $5 per gallon gas will provide the incentive for development.
Alternative energy helps but will be a small part of the resolution.
We need much better leaders than we have, including our own legislative gang, Kerry et. al.
Jules
Jules
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So Jules republican logic is that while we are spending billions allegedly to protect our interest in oil production in Iraq and presumably heroin production in Afganistan, high oil prices and a record high infusion of drugs into America is actually good for our country!
The truth is that the only interest being protected is that of drug dealers and Halliburton!
The Repuiblicans this week stopped a reasonable windfall profits tax bill on the oil companies. Why exactly?
Why exactly are we not taking excess profits away from fat oil barrons and putting that money into refinery production and green initiatives?
The Republican pro-market view makes the rich richer and the poor poorer with nothing but negative for the USA.
We are supposed to be getting BinLaden in Afganistan, not supporting poppy production and then facilitating its transport into Europe and the USA.
Now tell me again Jules why the Republican position in support of shedding GI blood makes any sense at all?
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Wow Bob,
I see you have read the Democratic “little red book” too. I think you left out the phrase, “tax cut for the rich”.
Let me remind you that the congress of the Untied States has a Democratic majority.
I haven’t seen any anti Halliburton, Afgan drug , or drug dealer legislation being presented for considerations.
Now let me give you my take on this war.
We were attacked on our own soil at the loss of 3,000 innocent citizens. I assume you don’t remember so why don’t you Google 911.
The war is being prosecuted now is our response to that attack, kinda like Pearl Harbor.
This is a war on an asymmetric world wide culture of terrorism that encompasses the Middle East, Asia africa India, and Russia. The countries of Europe have large Muslim populations amongst whom live their own terror cells. There may be some here too.
A success in Iraq and Afghanistan (some degree of democratization) would seriously disrupt the terrorist operations.
Whether or not we are successful remains to be seen. Some notable things are happening.
That is why Republicans, at least the ones with courage of their convictions in tact, support the war and including me and John McCain.
You got to keep one thing in mind,Bob, the next attack on our soil could be nuclear.
That is how I see it.
Nobody has dealt successfully with drugs including Democrats all these long years. Not Jack Kennedy, that weasel Carter, or Bill Clinton. There is just too much money involved, and we have become a drug addicted nation (the demand). We have put our wealth and shed much of our blood fighting this insidious war to no avail. Do you blame the Republicans for that?
Now for oil. To begin with you ought to read Robert Kelly’s piece in the Trib.,”Why Gas Cost So Much”. He points out that there are many components in the price rise, the major cause being speculation (probably just Republicans doing that). Since we are in a great Global economy, and we haven’t succeeded in becoming energy independent under any party’s leadership. All we hear is the oft repeated mantra, “We have to become energy independent”. I have heard that for 30 years.
Since the Democrats love to punish (from the pandering section of the “little red book”), their only response to this crisis is to take a windfall tax away from the big bad oil companies. And since when is a windfall tax on any company “reasonable”. How do you get one more drop of oil by making war on the oil companies? They will pass the tax through to us as they do all taxes. We will pay more for gas. Of course the “little red book” probably doesn’t have solutions to problems except to tax and spend (I got that out of my little blue book).
Actually, a high fuel price is good as an incentive to develop alternative fuel sources.Many are beginning to make their way to the market (hybrid cars are in short supply due to demand).
It would be nice if the Democratic party would shed themselves of their environmental lawyer masters, and allow harvesting of any fossil fuel source, Anwar,oil shale, and coal conversion to name a few. Heck, Bob, we got more of that stuff than the Middle East sheiks have oil.
As far as the “rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer” are you talking about George Soros, Ted Kennedy, John “liveshot” Kerry, the destitute Hollywood crowd,or the ABA boys?
This is an American problem and needs the response of wise,thoughtful people whose incentive is not being voted back in the next election.
Jules
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PS, Bob,
I still think you don’t like Steve Baddour.
Jules
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Jeeze Bob,
My comment about putting a subway in Methuen was a joke.
I assume, though, Methuen was serviced by a trolley line some time ago.
Jules
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I’m not sure that Bob doesn’t LIKE Steve Baddour. But, I do think he wants to BE Steve Baddour.
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