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**JulieSmithdccd** · 02-06-2007, 04:27 PM

The problem with mass transit is that it only really works well with a hub and spoke organization, and with the ability to get riders really close to their end destination on at least one end of the trip. This is why it works in NY metro, and fails miserably in someplace like LA.

It needs to be re-thought.

How does NYCitself work? When you are in manhattan and close by, you have pretty good interconnectivity. It just fails miserably once you get outside of that and I think that is where we need to rethink the system.

Hub and spoke is fine when you have only one place to get to, but most areas are not like that (as you have said). Even NYC could stand more of a spider-web approach to mass transit (being able to get from Queens to Brooklyn w/o having to go through midtown).

We need to start thinking of mass transit as more of a network than a hub. Granted that some preference has to be given to higest traffic, but the more we can get from A to whatever letter we want w/o getting in the car, the more you will see people taking mass transit to go to the mall if they just want to go there to browse. (I know it would be that way for the teen-scene).

The hard part is, it is MUCH harder to design one of these systems than a hub system. A hum grows almost by itself. A web or network needs planning and management, and once you get government in on something complex like that, forget it.

02-06-2007, 04:27 PM	#16
JulieSmithdccd Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 592 Senior Member	The problem with mass transit is that it only really works well with a hub and spoke organization, and with the ability to get riders really close to their end destination on at least one end of the trip. This is why it works in NY metro, and fails miserably in someplace like LA. It needs to be re-thought. How does NYCitself work? When you are in manhattan and close by, you have pretty good interconnectivity. It just fails miserably once you get outside of that and I think that is where we need to rethink the system. Hub and spoke is fine when you have only one place to get to, but most areas are not like that (as you have said). Even NYC could stand more of a spider-web approach to mass transit (being able to get from Queens to Brooklyn w/o having to go through midtown). We need to start thinking of mass transit as more of a network than a hub. Granted that some preference has to be given to higest traffic, but the more we can get from A to whatever letter we want w/o getting in the car, the more you will see people taking mass transit to go to the mall if they just want to go there to browse. (I know it would be that way for the teen-scene). The hard part is, it is MUCH harder to design one of these systems than a hub system. A hum grows almost by itself. A web or network needs planning and management, and once you get government in on something complex like that, forget it.
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