Comments (7)

• Stephen W. Carson

  Very interesting. In briefly living in Manhattan I found the subway a very mixed experience. On the one hand, I loved being able to read or otherwise redeem the time while travelling. On the other hand, I found the subway system to be dirty to the point of disgusting, sometimes scary and unreliable (esp. at night when the dodgiest characters dominated the subway stations).

  The notion of having the good side without the bad side is intriguing.

  In regards to long-distance travel, I think it is a tragedy what happened to the U.S. rail system (definitely, I gather, courtesy of the U.S. gov't). My experience on trains in Europe was generally pretty great and I wish that we had a highly used, highly competitive passenger rail system in the U.S.

  Published: March 10, 2007 7:23 AM

• Dan Klein

  The Google shuttle practice gives a nice glimpse of what private initiative could do if Big G didn't outlaw commercial shuttle services. Last I heard in CA, the state PUC will consider licensing only services originating and terminating at airports can get licenses, and maybe subscription services. Why the restrictions? Not sure, I guess a combination of protecting bus system, protecting taxis, regulators not wanting many regulatees, and just general stupidity and inertia. Mostly the last, probably.

  Published: March 10, 2007 7:44 AM

• DavidB

  That company is looking more and more like a subtle cult if you ask me

  Published: March 10, 2007 11:26 AM

• Matthew Alexander

  In perfect contrast, see this article on Muni, San Francisco's government transit agency. The problem is indeed "government management and ownership."

  Published: March 10, 2007 11:50 AM

• Nick Bradley

  I'm from the Bay Area, and just take a look at BART to see the failure of public transportation. It goes about 55 miles an hour, has a ton of stops, and is quite expensive. You can drive somewhere faster (except at rush hour) for less than the cost of a fare, all while avoiding the homeless who ride the train all day.
  

  Published: March 10, 2007 7:40 PM

• David White

  Stephen,

  The lack of rail can be traced to the creation of the Interstate Highway System and its unintended consequences, which along with the demise of rail came the free ride out of the city and the suburban sprawl that followed it. If you couldn't afford a car, of course, you got left behind in what would soon become inner-city hell-holes.

  And remember that the Interstate Highway System was built primarily to faciliate troop movements during the cold war.

  But that's government for you, always creating problems that it must then fix, on and on and on.

  And don't get me started on foreign intervention.

  Published: March 11, 2007 10:31 AM

• Matt

  DavidB, just wait to Google buys Apple and forms Appoogle.

  Published: March 12, 2007 9:58 AM