Google
Facebook
Twitter
CrunchBase
LinkedInPublic Transportation
*Hey everyone, thanks for the comments, I’ll look into the suggestions
Throughout the past summer, I was able to experience a huge range of public transportation. I spent time this summer in Chicago, Taipei, Hong Kong, and the Bay Area. Each of these areas is a big metropolitan area, and therefore, each has a public transit system to move the city’s people around. They all work in the same format–a rail system that runs both above as well as belowground.
Chicago is served by the “L” (also known colloquially as the El), a system that has been running since 1892.
The El has eight lines, which center around the Loop, a stretch of track that circles what people typically view as the center of Chicago’s history. There are currently four types of what is known as “rolling stock”, or the cars that make the El, though there have been thirteen types of cars used for the El, including wooden and steel trains. A new type of car is being ordered, and it will begin being put into circulation in 2010, although several prototypes have already been received. The El has 106.1 miles of track.
The Bay Area has BART, short for Bay Area Rapid Transit. It was opened in 1972, and therefore it is much newer than the El.
BART, unlike the rail systems in Chicago, Hong Kong, and Taipei doesn’t have a main “center”. It does, however, have several interchange stations where BART riders can transfer to Caltrain, the train line connecting San Jose to San Francisco. These stations link the five lines. BART, like the current El, has four types of rolling stock. From my reading, it appears that none of the BART trains have been retired, though they have been refurbished. BART has just a little bit less track than the El, measuring at 104 miles.
Taipei’s rail system is known as the Taipei Rapid Transit System, somehow abbreviated to MRT. Begun in 1996, it serves Taipei City.
The MRT is centered around the appropriately named Taipei Main Station. Seven lines connect different areas of Taipei. One attraction of the MRT is that many of the stations have underground stores connected to them. The MRT has six types of trains, four of which use the typical railed systems, while two use the VAL system, which uses rubber tires. The lines that run above ground use this system, as the VAL system is much quieter. The MRT has 47.6 miles of track.
And finally we get to my favorite–Hong Kong’s MTR, short for Mass Transit Railway. It began operation in 1979, serving all of Hong Kong.
There are eleven lines that travel around Hong Kong Mainland, Kowloon, the New Territories, and Shenzhen. These lines are focused around several interchange stops, with the bigger lines going through to the Central Stop in Hong Kong island. Like Taiwan’s MRT, a lot of infrastructure is built underground. The MTR operates six types of rolling stock. The MTR operates on 108 miles of track.
From my experience, it seems like the MTR is the best at the whole public transit system. Second is the MRT, then the BART and El both share third. I feel like Asian countries are so much more time conscious, and require the efficiency that the MRT and MTR provide. In the US, people focus mostly on cars and get around on their own. Thus, less money is budgeted for the public transportation systems. But if this is the problem, how can it be fixed/remedied by American public transit corporations? Honestly, it feels like only a complete makeover will truly work. I find that this is true for many American companies. Airlines, in particular, need some advice from their Asian counterparts.
*Sorry about this ridiculously long post. I was looking stuff up on wikipedia and I was having so much fun that i had to just keep writing and writing. Oh well, hopefully it was somewhat useful!
Comments
2 Responses to “Public Transportation”
Leave a Reply
[...] Public transportation is nice. You don’t need to concentrate on the road, or even getting there. You can sleep! All for the low, low price of 2-10 dollars. But isn’t that the price of 1-2 gallons of gas? So I’m not really saving money am I? [...]
Great info, thanks for useful article. I’m waiting for more
[Reply]