23rd April 2004, 4:19 AM
OB1 Wrote:No, it would not be advantageous for everyone, or for every town in America. However, most of the places I've been to in Virginia desperately need a good tram or bus system. Ah, I forgot the exact name of the town where my sister lives, but you cannot go anywhere in that town without a car. You can't even hop on a bus to go to the mall. It's that bad.
I wasn't aware there were many towns in America that you could get around without a car.
Quote:Buying large amounts of groceries is a valid point, but how often do you buy $80 worth of groceries? In Croatia we'd just have to walk a block to get to the nearest grocery store and get some bread and cheese or whatever to last us a few days. That would be impossible here in Fort Collins since there are only huge super markets every few miles rather than small stores every few blocks. So you would need a car to buy groceries. But for everything else, going to work and school, a nice tram system makes a huge difference. Don't knock it 'til you've experienced it.
If you have a family, especially with children, $80 is a conservative estimate for a weekly trip.
Also, I took a bus to school for ten years. If anything, that soured my opinion for public transportation.
Here in Richmond, they set up a bus between the city and Chesterfield County, where I live. They called it the Chesterfield Link, and it was designed to bring Chesterfield residents into the city to increase business. What it ended up doing was bringing the scum from inside the murder capital of America out into the suburbs. Link was scrapped, and then brought back. Dunno what's going on with it now.
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