public transit for outer suburban and rural areas is also a major economic loser. the ridership is too low to basically fund the service and it must be run at massive losses.
this same problem is affecting rural healthcare and other community resources. most rural people are far better off commuting 2hrs+ to a urban hospital that is better staffed.
mondoman712@lemmy.ml 5 days ago
If people use public transport instead of driving, there would need to be many many more services and it suddenly becomes a lot more convenient, even outside cities.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Even if all people outside the city centers would suddenly switch to public transport, if you wanted to bring the density anywhere near to be convenient, it would be economical suicide. Public transport is only economical in very dense population centers.
mondoman712@lemmy.ml 5 days ago
That’s true now because 1. Most people in these areas drive and 2. Roads and driving are heavily subsidised. You’re not going to have the same service in small towns as in big cities, but you could certainly provide something useful.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Of course they drive. We are “well connected” here, which means there is a bus every hour most of the day.
You’ll need roads for the buses, too, unless you have flying ones, and a bus has several thousand times the wear and tear on roads as a car. And: public transport is heavily subsided, while fuel for cars is already heavily taxed. In fact, those taxes would easily cover road building and maintenance here is those taxes would not just vanish in the common budget.