Kerry or Bush and why?

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally Posted by opps12

I love the point of public transportation, we americans love our cars too much, and we have to stop complaining about gas prices, in europe they pay three times as much, and isn't it surprising that public transportation there is more common? I think not.

I am a car nut from Indiana. I have three cars, while I only need one, but, I "love" public transportation. A week ago today I returned from New York City, home of one of the few good urban transit systems in the US. It was great. You could get from our hotel to the site of the NYC regional in 10 minutes or so. You could get from the regional site to Times Square in maybe 15 minutes. It's efficient. You don't have to find a place to park a car, and you don't have to deal with traffic.

As far as Europe having public transportation because they have high gas prices, it is kind of the other way around. They have high gas taxes, and thus high gas prices, in part, to help subsidize public transit. The end result is, in many ways, a good thing. There are good alternatives to driving in all major cities, and there are good alternatives to driving between cities. It even makes driving more pleasant, because there is less traffic than there would be without good public transit.

I like cars, and I like driving, but I don't like driving in larges cities, and I don't like driving anywhere that you are stopped or creeping along in traffic most of the time. Good public transit is GOOD for car nuts.