New York faces all-day rush hour by 2030 (AP/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

NEW YORK (AP) -- By the year 2030, New York City could have so many people straining its infrastructure that it won't have enough electricity or housing to meet demand, and rush hour traffic will last all day.

The city of 8.2 million people must start planning and building now for the expected growth of 1 million more over the next 25 years, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a panel of experts warned.

"We now have the freedom to take on the obstacles looming in the city's future and to begin clearing them away before they become rooted in place," Bloomberg said Tuesday.

Some of the findings presented Tuesday by a team of city planners, academics, scientists and environmentalists who have spent the past year studying the city's infrastructure and assessing its viability to cope include:

• In 25 years, rails and roads will be "crammed beyond capacity" and won't be able to accommodate the swarm of commuters during what is now considered normal rush hour. Lawmakers must act now to not only expand the road network but also to update the subway system, which was built starting in 1901 and still uses signal and switch technology developed before the 1940s.
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/13/nyc.population.ap/index.html

You can thank Robert Moses for the condition of the rail and subway systems. Read Robert A. Caro's "The Power Broker" for a real :wow: exposé of how NYC (and its imitators) got locked into auto-centric city planning at the expense of viable mass transit.

[Selatius]

1. If you need help planning a city with advanced mass transit, talk to the city planners of Paris

They know what the hell they're doing in cities like Paris, and unlike the Americans, they labeled money from special interests as nothing short of bribery, not "campaign contributions." You'd go to jail if you did stuff like that in many countries in Western Europe.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Tokyo could provide ideas as well

Subway trains run every three minutes during rush hour, the subways are clean and safe, and they've built three entire new lines since I first went to Japan almost 30 years ago.

[Swamp Rat]

8. Yes, New York City needs to expand its subway service, but they should also

look into instituting light rail above ground and limit automobile traffic.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Frankly, I'd ban all private autos from Manhattan

London has done this de facto with its congestion charge, and I can't imagine what the traffic was like before that, considering that it's bumper to bumper just with taxis and buses.

[longship]

3. You ought to try the Riverside Freeway in SoCal.

The 91. It's the worst freeway in LA area. It can jam up any time of any day. There are diamond lanes, but they are privately owned and operated and cost $$$ to drive on. We call them the "Republican Lanes".

One time my wife and I were stuck on the 91 at 11 PM--and I mean *really* stuck, it took over an hour to drive between exits. The car next to us had a poor woman who just couldn't wait any longer. She opened her door and stood between the lanes and let the pee trickle down her legs. She was so embarrassed. We felt so sorry for her.

That's the 91.

[Selatius]

5. Does Los Angeles have anything resembling mass transit at all?

What about people too poor to afford the car notes, the auto insurance, or the maintenance costs associated with owning a car? This is why so many people died when Katrina struck. There was no mass transit, and they were too poor to afford a car.

[GRLMGC]

6. yeah

The bus system goes anywhere. It's just unpleasant but plenty of people depend on it. My grandmother doesn't have a driver's license and takes the bus everywhere.

[Selatius]

7. That's it? No light-rail?

[GRLMGC]

10. There are a few lines

but they don't serve every area. There's the red line which is a subway line. It mostly serves the Downtown area, Hollywood, and a small part of the Valley. They were going to expand it to the Westside but there were different problems that thwarted that. There's public transport in Los Angeles. Its just that it sucks. If you need to get around, you will find a way to do it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. The bus system is surprisingly good

Much better than the system in Minneapolis, for example.

However, it has a "low class" reputation.

[GRLMGC]

14. They've upgraded the buses, I've noticed

I hope they expand public transportation in LA because as much as I like living here, the traffic is just awful.

[longship]

9. Metrolink.

However, it's not cheap. It costs $13.25 round trip between Upland (near me) to LA Union Station.

Seniors fare is $6.75. Weekend fare is $10.00. Youth weekend fare is $6.75.

Metrolink calculates the driving cost of the 36 miles at $40.46.

[GRLMGC]

11. I took that this summer

It was expensive but it was nice not having to deal with the stress of a traffic jam.

[Solo_in_MD]

4. And this is a bad thing?

Acutally NYC is growing and needs more infrastructure and support services. If its just not avaiable, it will be interesting to see what happens.

[Subdivisions]

16. "it will be interesting to see what happens" ...

Indeed.

[blues90]

15. What a sorry situation

LA CA has a huge problem being so spread out and the mass transit system ends with basically short runs and the buses only add to the street congestion even thought they are needed , Here they did have a good system many years ago but thanks to GM that is old history .

There is no good solution other than slow down on population growth , someday this will be the big issue that really stands out .

No one building or planning cities looked far enough into the future as if they could anyway .

[kineneb]

17. new solution for commute

Leave your car parked in traffic, with installed sleeping quarters, kitchenette, and porta-potty. All the comforts of home... because it is home. Just set up next to where you work (if you do) and you are set.

If traffic doesn't move, this may be the solution to homelessness...

Sorry, all in jest. :)

[Subdivisions]

18. Further evidence that this civilization is about to reach

critical mass.

Add Global Warming and N1H5 and you got a hat-trick.