This might be an incredibly stupid question, but have park and ride schemes ever been tried in the US? I remember that being a novelty in towns in the rural U.K. county I grew up in during the 90s. Still an established thing. You drive from your rural town/village to a parking lot outside the city, and there’s an express bus service that stops you off in a pedestrianised center.
As I say this, I can’t actually fathom any American I know ever wanting to do such a sensible thing. :grillman:
RTA in Cleveland Ohio has park and ride stations. Mostly for buses, but a few of them are at metro rail stations as well.
They used to be popular in the 2000's, I'd see tons of cars parked at the one near where I lived. They used larger coach buses with roomier seating as opposed to their standard buses.
Unfortunately RTA's funding gets smaller every year because the State of Ohio hates the idea of public transportation, so local transit authorities must rely on county taxes as their primary funding source. In a county that's shrinking in population, their tax revenue shrinks as well. The park and ride services were one of the big things that got cut back. They're still there, but they're not the same as they were 10 to 20 years ago.
That’s a shame that they’re cutting them back. I know the right thing to do long-term is to have wider reach of buses and trains so that even driving to the outskirts of a city isn’t needed, but in the interim, it seems like a great way of building nicer city centers and accommodating those outside of them.
They technically exist but Americans have a very real anxiety about public spaces and especially public transportation. It's a real thing, I live in the city and people ask me all the time about how dangerous the subway is and then don't believe me when I say it's fine.
My Dad used to take them in the 80s and 90s when he worked downtown. They built HOV lanes so the buses bypassed all the traffic. He didn't use them every day, but he did use them.
Yes but the parking should really just be mid-density mixed use development with maybe a parking garage nearby for commuters and visitors to use if you ask me
This might be an incredibly stupid question, but have park and ride schemes ever been tried in the US? I remember that being a novelty in towns in the rural U.K. county I grew up in during the 90s. Still an established thing. You drive from your rural town/village to a parking lot outside the city, and there’s an express bus service that stops you off in a pedestrianised center.
As I say this, I can’t actually fathom any American I know ever wanting to do such a sensible thing. :grillman:
RTA in Cleveland Ohio has park and ride stations. Mostly for buses, but a few of them are at metro rail stations as well.
They used to be popular in the 2000's, I'd see tons of cars parked at the one near where I lived. They used larger coach buses with roomier seating as opposed to their standard buses.
Unfortunately RTA's funding gets smaller every year because the State of Ohio hates the idea of public transportation, so local transit authorities must rely on county taxes as their primary funding source. In a county that's shrinking in population, their tax revenue shrinks as well. The park and ride services were one of the big things that got cut back. They're still there, but they're not the same as they were 10 to 20 years ago.
That’s a shame that they’re cutting them back. I know the right thing to do long-term is to have wider reach of buses and trains so that even driving to the outskirts of a city isn’t needed, but in the interim, it seems like a great way of building nicer city centers and accommodating those outside of them.
They technically exist but Americans have a very real anxiety about public spaces and especially public transportation. It's a real thing, I live in the city and people ask me all the time about how dangerous the subway is and then don't believe me when I say it's fine.
My Dad used to take them in the 80s and 90s when he worked downtown. They built HOV lanes so the buses bypassed all the traffic. He didn't use them every day, but he did use them.
Yes but the parking should really just be mid-density mixed use development with maybe a parking garage nearby for commuters and visitors to use if you ask me
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