[andrewxdiamond]

Ironically, if everyone used buses, they would be much easier to keep timely. They would also receive enough funding and political focus to be kept clean and high quality.

But our ruthlessly individual mindset here in the states blocks us from reaching many of these higher level goals.

[Ericson2314]

That's true, but we must work with the hand we're dealt.

1. We do not have the political power to ban the cars to clear the traffic until people already ride transit.

2. People will not ride in sufficient numbers unless it dodges traffic.

So yes, there is nothing materially wrong with surface-level transit, but we can't make that work until the cars are already gone...so we are stuck building more tunnels, viaducts, etc.

Light rail right like this fundamental is a salve, or yet another feel-good government service for the poor. But it doesn't help us change mass culture, nor can it easily be reformed into something that does.

Now, I should concede Pre-metro / Stadtbahn is not dead end, and allows for an incrementalist approach that is not just slapping band-aids. But you still need to put the urban core underground to have a beachhead, and to my knowledge only San Francisco of North American cities has a light rail that does that.