The automobile is a blight on my beautiful city, Chicago.

[Union Yes]

Urban auto traffic jams are an eyesore. That air chokes and burns the lungs when breathing that toxic shit. Cars make the air smell like exhaust.

I'm only referring to Chicago city limits. Perhaps, other large cities as well. I know alot of New Yawkers would like to see their borough car-free. DC is said to have a long known disdain for cars.

It's time to invest in transit systems worthy of our large American cities.

It's time to envision car-free urban centers, like the city of Chicago.

Side note..

We wonder why people in our cities are becoming fatter and fatter and fatter...

I wonder what effects that breathing car exhaust has on things like human fertility, cancer, etc.


New ideas solve old problems.

[spoony]

1. Part of the "transit system" is a prime offender

Sitting behind a bus is far worse than sitting behind a car, unless it's the most egregious of clunkers. And you'd also still have trucking traffic, another rather smelly sort of vehicle. You can't move merchandise on a subway.

[Hello_Kitty]

3. You can move it on rail, though.

Much of the truck traffic here in AZ is due to our lack of rail. Also, don't forget that every bus you sit behind is several cars that are not on the road.

[spoony]

4. But within cities, it has to get from the railyard to the shops.

And here's an article I found on buses and trucks:
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/vehicle_impacts/diesel/rolling-smokestacks-cleaning.html




"The figures below illustrate just how much difference these technologies can make. They show how many cars-worth of emissions a model year 2000 transit or school bus would produce, if powered by various technologies."

We need to clean that sulfur up before buses become helpful at anything other than reducing congestion.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. At least all of those metropolitan areas have public transit. I live in Phoenix.

Phoenix got a limited light rail system approved 6 years ago. It's going well but we still have nothing connecting our major cities.

[napi21]

5. The auto MADE the State of Ill. Chicago included! You already have

the Ell! If you hate living in a city so much, MOVE! Go find yourself some place in a little town or a real rural area where there are NONE of the advantages of the city.

[KharmaTrain]

6. The El Only Reaches The City...

I'd love to be able to hop a CTA or RTA train to get in and out of the city like my parents did 60 years ago but the closest "heavy rail" (Metra) is 10 miles and the CTA is close to 20...and I'm in a rather built-up area...many others are further. The L system hasn't been expanded in over 20 years and the current system is smaller than it once was. Proposals come and go...there are the NIMBY types who don't want those noisy trains in their neighborhood or communities competiting to get a piece of any federal pie to expand rapid transit that ends up in court.

It was the train that made Chicago...and for those who are fortunate to live close by, one can get by just fine without a car, but that's far fewer than it should be. There are hundreds of miles of under-used or abandoned commercial rail lines that can be upgraded for light rail and, sadly, most times there is money available, it's spent on upgrades to the airports (cause so many congresscritters complained about their long lay-overs at O'Hare) or to rebuild crumbling roads. There's more money in politicians pockets for road construction jobs than building rails as well.

The CTA rail system (better known as the "L") never expanded with the metropolitan area.

[liberal N proud]

7. This country needs a nation wide effort to transform transit

What this nation needs is:

1. Light rail within the major metropolitan areas that connect all the suburbs with the city center.

2. Trains that stop in every community, in every county, in every state that connect the cities.

3. High Speed rail that connects the City Centers with NO stops.

These trains need to be set up correctly so as to provide trains that move people the greatest distance most efficiently.
For example, the high speed rail needs to have the first train make no stops between the first and last points on the system with a second train leaving shortly after that only stops at the next to last point and so forth. Once all the stops between the first and last points have had a direct train, the cycle would start again.

Until we connect everyone with the light rain and rural trains, no one in those areas will allow High Speed to be developed.

[mikeSchmuckabee]

8. Move

That stench ain't just from autos.

I suggest the long valley of california, You have your choice of almonds or manure.

[stray cat]

9. The buildings and people in Chicago ruin the beauty of the pure state of IL as well?

plains of grass is what we really want. Many in IL may think all of Chicago ruins that part of the state