I missed this Krugman post from a couple days back comparing Atlanta, Boston, and Toronto -- three similarly sized, North American cities -- in terms of transit. Turns out if you build a workable transit infrastructure, more people use it. This isn't a surprise for someone who's moved from California to DC. Back when I lived in Irvine, and there was no subway, I didn't take the subway. Now that I have the option to take the subway, I tend to forego my car. I'm more likely to bike somewhere if I can think of a path that includes bike lanes, or at least wide enough lanes that I don't feel crammed in by cars. And so on, and so forth. Driving is often a drag. Given a viable alternative, I'll happily choose the competitor. There's this tendency to ascribe Americans' low use of public transit to some sort of cultural preference, as if it's been a choice. But in many cases, it's simply been a case of shitty, or inadequate, public transit options. If Irvine had had a real system of subways or light rail, I would've much preferred taking that to the Spectrum than having my parents drop me off. But I didn't have the option. When I lived in LA, I would've done ANYTHING to avoid the freeways. People who move to DC or New York or Toronto don't start taking subways because they adopt a new culture on day two. It's because they suddenly have the option to take subways.
