[skepticATX]

Indeed. Too much land in Texas is privately owned, and there is not majority support for this type of thing. It is easy to think otherwise if you generally stick to the big cities here.

TxDOT is also actively making the problem worse by widening I-35 through Austin, which will result in a decade of construction. They could support alternative transit if they chose to, but it will never happen.

Even in cities with majority support for this type of thing, we can't get it done. See: Austin's Project Connect failure.

The problem is that most Americans have never lived in an area that is not car dependent and experienced the benefits. Their biggest exposure has likely been on a trip to Europe/Asia (and they wonder why the area they visited is so much nicer than their home city, never quite making the connection!).

[Shawnj2]

One strategy that might actually work is what Brightline is doing- they want to build high speed rail between LA and Las Vegas by putting their rail line in the median of I-15 so they don’t need to acquire any additional land since the DOT already owns it.

[Mountain_Skies]

Why is the conclusion always "Americans are just ignorant of what's good for them" instead of acknowledging different people have different preferences in life?

[skepticATX]

It is fine to have different preferences, but American city design has contributed to multiple negative externalities such as the obesity epidemic, lack of social connection, environmental damage, etc. Some preferences can be better, for a commonly accepted definition of better, than others.

Also, American cities bar NYC, DC, and a few others do not allow for people to have preferences; you are forced to live a car-centric lifestyle whether you want to or not.

[lokar]

People choose with their feet (wheels?). Americans are much more likely to move around, more so for big city dwellers.

[some_random]

Because sometime in the mid-00s (last I checked, I wasn't paying much attention before then) anti-americanism became extremely popular among US liberals (where a sizable portion of HN culture comes from). Usually portraying Americans as fat, stupid, violent, extremely religious, etc. It's come and gone in the years since, right now it's not a huge influence on public culture probably at least partially because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but obviously it still has a lot of pull with people who strongly disagree with the prevailing US approach to transit.

[lokar]

I live near Los Angeles and talk to people there. As an outsider the situation seems crazy and impossible. They complain a bit, but they brag more. It works for them, somehow. It’s not for me, but that’s fine.