You and other liberal bloggers have been so helpful for my recovering doomer issues. I've been more hopeful since the start of the election. But I was wondering if you know of anything that could give me optimism about the state of public transportation in the US?
I keep hearing bad news after bad news and I struggle to keep from doom spiraling. I rely on public transportation, and when I think about how republicans are constantly trying to destroy it and how uncommitted didn't care at all i feel so angry.
I do have my bad days, too, but I try not to vent online about it because I know doomerism is contagious. And having been a history major helped because I have the perspective of knowing our country has been through worse. Also, setting aside a few hours a day when you're not online will help.
Public transportation is largely a states' issue, so there's not much I can say about it because it will come down to whether you live in a blue/purple/red state and what your state legislature looks like.
But just remember some day soon-ish, It's going to happen and one day we will have some form of federal power again.
Hey OP. Something else to keep in mind is narrative and perception - how doomer people want you to be about Public transit vs how the US actually is (politically/Legally, historically and geographically) about Public transit. A lot of the 'Public Transit Discussion' is undertaken by people who anoint themselves "Urbanists" and are either for lack of a better word 'guilty' americans who seek European approval, or Europeans who grew up in cities that mostly started as walking/Horse accessible and then either added transit on top of that (and rebuilt post WWII. The US Geography and cultural impetus is different. We have AMAZING freight rail relative to Europe for example ) US geography and culture most closely approximate "An Aerospace Republic" with larger distances and travel times even BEFORE the invention and widespread adoption of the automobile. (We actually have a shitload in common with say, Brazil relative to 'Europe' (Whatever that means) or even Canada) So you'll see people cooking their brains on r/FuckCars or Insert Cool Subreddit here and radicalizing each other while idolizing the Touristy/curated images European Cities and HIGHLY curated images of Chinese Future Cities (LEDs slapped on buildings, etc ignoring social/economic costs/building codes) And then they'll start yelling about gentricfiation or Waymos or how you need to be ok with people attacking you or peeing on transit because 'that's just city life' It's not sincere advocacy for better transit or walkable cities at that point, it's a tribe-fandom performing virtue to the in-group. I'm not saying don't be mad at the GOP or give up on agitating for better. I'm suggesting managing your expectations and reassessing how transit funding actually works to meet local needs and where it falls short and how existing systems can serve you and others or how you can adapt etc is probably the way to go here vs feeling sad or upset or guilty to the extent you don't do anything and just marinate. Understanding helps.
Sorry I forgot to mention, you're right when you point out that a lot of so called urbanists (especially on reddit) do this all or nothing thing were they trash even the small steps because they're not light rail. (nevermind that light rail is way too expensive for small cities that don't have the density of NYC or Philly, while BRT is more suited since it can change routes far easier and cheaper)
And exactly what you say that they act like any criticism of people being antisocial on public transit is being ableist or classist. Again I can't drive, I rely on public transportation. And i would like to not be yelled at by a homeless person while i'm on the bus. Why is the privilege of not being yelled at by people only for car owners?
