What can be done to make more Americans use public transport?

i've yet to figure why ya bash us americans all the time?? 's fer public transport - many 'f us live in less populated areas'n yerself. heck, there aint e'en a taxi cab in these parts.

It's not just America there are places in the Uk where it would take hours to get from A to B by bus, but only 15 minutes by car, not everywhere is big cities with great transport links.

Americans will not give up their cars period. I actually love the transport system here though. Dont drive.

My city simply doesn't have much public transportation. We have a short bus that makes a circuit around some of the local attractions. That's it. I think a big deterrent in some of the areas that do have public transit like buses is simply the fact that they're unreliable. I can't tell you how many posts I've seen from a friend who relies on taking the bus to work commenting on how late it is, that the bus he was on broke down, that it simply drove past without stopping where it was supposed to... It sure makes me not want to take the bus in his area. Not to mention the fact that temperatures in that area routinely get up to 120 F in the summer... waiting for the bus in that heat is probably absolutely miserable. I'd love to see more public transportation options become available in my area, but there isn't demand for it because everyone owns cars out of necessity. The area isn't even well suited to bicycling, since drivers are so intolerant of cyclists on the road.

You get it wrong, some American cities are so vast that being without a car is impossible. Not only, but there are many rural areas where you can find a big farm and nothing else. Do you believe that someone would take care to create a public transport for two houses and ten people? Surely not!

Don't forget that having the ability to construct the rail lines and the routes are needed as well. Look at the various countries of Europe, and especially Japan during World War 2. Because of all the destruction it was much easier to build in areas that were congested before, and to build rail lines that would have been choked by civilization. In America, the citiies and towns are in place, which eliminates the ability to build long lines to the most populated areas, unless eminent domain is put in place and they seize all sorts of property to build it. I would love a high speed trail system to get from place to place, but I would have to travel hours by car to get to any place that offers it. This isn't Europe where you can get from country to country in a day, this is a place where getting across one state can take 8 hours of driving. Flying connects one place to the next easily, but it keeps getting more expensive with worsening conditions. You ask why we don't use mass transportation, but what you should be asking is if we'd use it if we could build an efficient system without destroying our infrastructure and rebuilding. Even underground tunneling projects in different cities have met unexpected hurdles that stop the project (such as the borer running into a buried locomotive engine). And of course, who wants to travel hours and hours to their destination under ground?

First of all, we could build more public transport. We could raise fuel prices to where people couldn't afford to drive too but there would be an uprising.

What can be done to make more Americans use public transport? Well for starters, government officials in charge of transportation could ensure that reliable public transportation exists! They don't have it in Austin, Texas. Yeah that's right! I'm calling out the ATX folks in charge of public transport. Transportation in this city sucks!!!

The Toronto area (Canada) and the Greater Toronto Area have a wonderful public transport system and we do use it daily.

Donald Trump, if voted president, promised to add more c-trains like those bullet trains in Japan! So, vote for Donald.

I wish my part of the world had better ways for the people to get around. Especially in the winter. It sure would be nice if someone got tour trips going so that folks could get rides to the bigger world on the other side of the mountains. Money. It takes money.

I used to take the train when I would live in Nyc but I wasnt a fan of public transportation

I don't live in America but I have been in Japan. Maybe do like they did and make it easier for people to use public transportation. Japan has one of the best and easiest transportation networks there is.

Convenience is a big part of the deal. In California, we had a huge public transportation system that took people everywhere. It was called the Red Car and was electric. The system was purchased in the 1950's by oil and car manufacturing interest,s and the cars dropped into the Santa Monica Bay. Now, the public transportation system in California can take a few people to a few places. I tried, but could not find a way to get from home to work, so I commuted and hour each way for years.

America is usually the country that does most of the campaigning for environmental conservation, yet the biggest culprit. It is so standard for Americans to have 2 cars per family that it is often viewed as a basic essential. No president would ever dream of raising the taxes on gasoline in order to reduce consumption, because he would find himself out of office in a very short time.

I think you have analyzed the situation very well. Especially in more western locations we do not have much public transport, or as dense a population. Our self image of being independent and self reliant makes us cling to our cars.

It is also on the city management to be able to provide the essential public transportation at where it is needed most. I had the experience of seeing many a times how bus stops could be placed at inconvenient and inaccessible places for the commuters. Traffic congestion is another consideration where it is very rampant with big cities where car population can be quite considerable and it would be not only inconvenient to travel by bus but uncomfortable to dangerous to commute on this mode of transportation. Then there is the network and routing issues where commuters would find it more challenging than convenient to travel on.

We, non-americans know that in your country, cars and other vehicles are not expensive. An average american can afford to buy one because it is one of your most important item in every household. In our country, having cars and vehicles is already very luxurious. An average filipino can not afford to buy their own cars.

Americans sound like people here, if we're to go off your analysis. Nobody wants to go on public transport because it gives the impression you've fallen on hard times. Granted, the public transport here is in all likelihood, far worse than in the US. People always seem shocked that I don't drive, as almost everyone owns a car, and it's a lot easier to just drive as we don't really have a proper transport system. Although the UK public transport system is poor, we still got around just fine. Eventually LOL

We don;t have any system as this here. It's either walking for hours, biking for hours, or driving for 20 minutes. I will walk, or bike where I can during the summer months. But in -50C I don't plan on walking it.