Transit ridership fell in 31 of 35 major metropolitan areas in the United States last year, including the seven cities that serve the majority of riders, with losses largely stemming from buses but punctuated by reliability issues on systems such as Metro, according to an annual overview of public transit usage. (WP, 3/24/18)
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US Transit Ridership decline 2014-17 (APTA) |
When Lyndon B. Johnson was President, America still dreamed big: Civil rights, ending poverty and subways for American cities. Washington got its beautifully designed "Great Society Subway"system, San Francisco got BART, two of the at the time most advanced, comfortable and spacious metro systems in the world. The Washington Metro opened in 1976 with a network that expanded to six lines, 91 stations, and 117 miles.of
route. In spite of Washington's much smaller size, its Metro is now #3 right behind New York and Chicago. back then, as crumbs off the table, Baltimore and Atlanta each got a subway, too, and the Baltimore subway sure isn't shabby either. Huge stations, big trains and fast service, however just one line and barely 50,000 riders a day. Atlanta has two lines with 213,000 daily riders.
Boy, have times changed since 1976! The Great Society" largess wasn't sustained when Nixon, Ford and eventually Reagan recasted government as a necessary evil that has to be shrunk not as something that should strive for excellence. The dominance of cars has continued and transit ridership of the fabled DC Metro system has fallen....
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