[seanmcdirmid]

Have you ever been outside the USA? Transit obviously can and does work in the vast majority of the world.

We can’t really win the battle with roads. For one thing, we are running out of places to put new roads in big cities, so bandwidth is already pretty constrained. For another, single occupancy vehicles aren’t very energy efficient, nor can they be.

[burfog]

We can live in small cities. There, roads work fine.

The energy efficiency issue isn't so clear. Single-occupancy vehicles don't run empty, at least until self-driving makes it possible. In typical systems, trains are pretty empty.

[seanmcdirmid]

I haven’t sat on an empty train in a big city in a long time. If it’s a small city without a lot of economic activity, it makes sense that your trains would run empty.

[burfog]

Small cities don't have trains.

Maybe you consider Boston to be a small city? They have some pretty empty trains, particularly the commuter rail. (yes it leaves the city, but that is the whole point of something that we aren't calling a subway)

[seanmcdirmid]

That’s funny, since the last time I was on a commuter train was in Boston from Wesley to downtown. It was pretty packed as well.

[masonic]

  I haven’t sat on an empty train in a big city in a long time

Come check out San Jose's VTA.