Submitted by jim karlock on Thu, 08/24/2006 - 4:16am.
Roland Chlapowski: Mass transit has been around a long time, until much of it was dismantled by auto companies decades ago. JK: I can’t believe you actually repeated this thoroughly debunked lie.
Stop and think. Did GM buy Portland’s streetcars or Rose City Transit? ....... NO.
So how did the car companies shut down Portland’s streetcars?
The simple fact is that Portland had a private transit system until the city council refused to grant a fare increase, resulting in Rose City Transit going out of business. I am amazed that “Roger Rabbit” still remains the primary historical reference for the history of the streetcar. Here is a link to a well written report on the matter (choose either PDF ro HTM versions):
The only way that the auto companies dismantled Portland’s mass transit was by providing a product that people liked better. It is called freedom, a concept often forgotten in that planners paradise, Portland.
Roland Chlapowski: We are still nowhere close to having the sort of rail connectivity and density that we once had. JK: Look at the carrying capacity of rails, especially streetcars, and the cost. They cost too much and do too little. BTW next time you see Chris, get him to cough up cost per passenger mile of the streetcar. Be sure to include capital costs. When you do that with MAX, you get a cost around that of taxi fare.
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Roland Chlapowski: Mass
Roland Chlapowski: Mass transit has been around a long time, until much of it was dismantled by auto companies decades ago.
JK: I can’t believe you actually repeated this thoroughly debunked lie.
Stop and think. Did GM buy Portland’s streetcars or Rose City Transit? ....... NO.
So how did the car companies shut down Portland’s streetcars?
The simple fact is that Portland had a private transit system until the city council refused to grant a fare increase, resulting in Rose City Transit going out of business. I am amazed that “Roger Rabbit” still remains the primary historical reference for the history of the streetcar. Here is a link to a well written report on the matter (choose either PDF ro HTM versions):
http://www.lava.net/cslater/TQOrigin.pdf
http://www.lava.net/cslater/TQold.HTM
The only way that the auto companies dismantled Portland’s mass transit was by providing a product that people liked better. It is called freedom, a concept often forgotten in that planners paradise, Portland.
Roland Chlapowski: We are still nowhere close to having the sort of rail connectivity and density that we once had.
JK: Look at the carrying capacity of rails, especially streetcars, and the cost. They cost too much and do too little. BTW next time you see Chris, get him to cough up cost per passenger mile of the streetcar. Be sure to include capital costs. When you do that with MAX, you get a cost around that of taxi fare.
Thanks
JK