So far, the Maryland half of my public transportation experiment has been a complete disaster.
- They wouldn’t sell me a weekly pass on the train, so I had to waste $5 on a daily pass I didn’t need.
- They didn’t sell a weekday only pass at the Gaithersburg train station, so I had to pay en extra $15 to get a seven day pass.
- The Metro Red Line in DC was running very slow today because of track maintenance. This caused me to miss my bus and most of my meeting, and had to take a taxi. $17 lost
- Some kid stepped out in front of a Marc train this afternoon, and the trains home were halted for three hours. Had to take another taxi – $20
I lost $57 today and countless hours. I could have rented a car on Relay Rides for $20 and not wasted any time. Unless there was an accident on the freeway.
So far, Maryland public transportation gets the big thumbs down.
Socialized transportation is on par with socialized climate science!
You get what you pay for.
Everybody expects CHEAP and EFFICIENT public transport and from my experience (in the UK), you can’t have both.
NB by “efficient” I mean public transport that works, not that in the most cost effective.
Here in the US AMTRAK long haul is neither cheap nor efficient. It is in fact a perfect micro example of socialism in action. The people that work there seem to think it exists solely for their own employment.
It does exist solely for their employment thanks to the unions.
When a college student I checked out train vs plane as a method for getting from the Midwest to the east coast and back again. In cost airplanes won hands down.
Run by Democrats… Used by Democrats who don’t have jobs… Not important if it runs late.
Stalin’s agents do as well here as they did in the old USSR.
I ride the MARC every day(Penn Line) . Most days i arrive at my destination within 5 minutes of the appointed time. Driving in and out of DC ALWAYS takes longer and times are unpredictable.
That said, there are no minor disruptions on the MARC train. They fail big or not at all. I’ve been 3 hours late on a 25 minute train ride
I commuted 80 miles per day for over 17 years, and was never late. Never had to share a seat or car, always got to pick the radio station, and never met anyone who was rude, loud, or smelly. But then I was my own engineer, conductor, and passenger.
I live 7 miles as the crow flies from the terminal I work out of and I like it! Yea I know I’m going there to drive anyway but that just isn’t the same thing. Especially in the winter when the roads get slick driving my 3/4 ton PU truck back and forth to work.