Rail transit works in very high density cities like New York, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco, but is entirely unsuited for suburban cities, where the most effective form of mass public transit is buses, and the continued suburban strategy of “build it and they will come” is just a waste of good money better directed towards buses.
Troubled RT seeks new ways to draw riders, funds
By Tony Bizjak - tbizjak@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Monday, November 19, 2007
Ridership is down. The budget's running on fumes. Complaints are piling up about bad behavior on trains. And the boss just left town.
Sacramento County's principal public transportation agency, Regional Transit, finds itself in an ironic predicament as a difficult 2007 comes to a close: The region is growing, but RT is shrinking. Today, only 4 percent of local commuters use transit.
"It's so frustrating," said board member Roberta MacGlashan, a county supervisor. "All we've been able to do is cut."
Now, amid questions about RT's relevancy, agency officials are launching an effort to boost the profile of public transportation and – against odds – entice the next generation of commuters to leave the car at home.
