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What city has the best Transportation System?

  • New York City Metro Area, USA

    Votes: 94 8.6%
  • Chicago, USA

    Votes: 19 1.7%
  • Washington D.C, USA

    Votes: 11 1.0%
  • Los Angeles, USA

    Votes: 9 0.8%
  • Seattle, USA

    Votes: 2 0.2%
  • Atlanta, USA

    Votes: 7 0.6%
  • Dallas Fort Worth Metro, USA

    Votes: 13 1.2%
  • Toronto, Canada

    Votes: 18 1.6%
  • Berlin, Germany

    Votes: 52 4.7%
  • Frankfurt, Germany

    Votes: 15 1.4%
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Votes: 21 1.9%
  • Vienna, Austria

    Votes: 45 4.1%
  • London, UK

    Votes: 119 10.9%
  • Edinburgh, Scotland

    Votes: 2 0.2%
  • Moscow, Russia

    Votes: 28 2.6%
  • Dublin, Ireland

    Votes: 2 0.2%
  • Paris, France

    Votes: 82 7.5%
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Votes: 18 1.6%
  • Tokyo/Osaka, Japan

    Votes: 175 16.0%
  • Hong Kong/Shenzhen, China

    Votes: 55 5.0%
  • Bejing, China

    Votes: 1 0.1%
  • Shanghai, China

    Votes: 22 2.0%
  • Singapore, Singapore

    Votes: 29 2.6%
  • Barcelona, Spain

    Votes: 9 0.8%
  • Madrid, Spain

    Votes: 107 9.8%
  • Mumbai/New Delhi, India

    Votes: 11 1.0%
  • Melbourne, Australia

    Votes: 8 0.7%
  • Sydney, Austrailia

    Votes: 4 0.4%
  • Seol, South Korea

    Votes: 12 1.1%
  • Others

    Votes: 105 9.6%

What City in the World has the best Transportation System?

208K views 438 replies 172 participants last post by  floor23 
#1 · (Edited)
Criteria for voting consists on:
-Cost
-Efficency
-Easy to use?
-Clean/Modern?
-Size of system
-Ridership
-Speed, is it easy to get from place to place?
 
#178 ·
^^ Beijing and Shanghai will have the most extensive metro systems - but an extensive metro system does not equal an extensive and effective transit system. For large cities like that you need to combine rapid with slow transit and thus the success of the system may be hampered.

Consider Tokyo a better example as it runs a dense metro primarily in the CBD with different grade (local, rapid, etc) , highly frequent commuter trains too. Cities that combine different transit systems will ultimately have more success than those which focus on one alone.
 
#179 ·
I think that's the reason why I originally voted for Paris, although that was also because I thought I should choose a city I've actually been to.

Paris has many different trains systems (Trams, Metro, RER, commuter trains, inter-city trains) that give it a big advantage. Hong Kong and Japan also seem to pull this off effectively, though I haven't been to either city.
 
#180 ·
^those metro systems in beijing and shanghai are building/planning to have regional lines as well. the intercity rail lines have various terminals, serving far-off commuters. it doesn't make sense for them to NOT do that.

IF things go according to plan, there is little doubt in my mind that these cities will have incredibly functioning systems. of course, there are always potential pitfalls. if things fall apart economically the transport plans could never be completed. or, more nefariously, if the land speculators and developers lobby/bribe their way through, china could end up with vast swaths of car-dependent sprawl. but as of now, high-density development with extensive PT investment is the way to go.
 
#181 ·
Zurich is really impressive.

Regarding the service-fare-relationship, I don't know any city which could beat Barcelona or Madrid. By far. At least in Europe.
 
#184 ·
Vienna should be in the lead!
 
#202 ·
^^ I know what you mean, friends from the US have told me that the urban transportation is weak there.

Regarding Vienna's transportation system, I think it's one of the best worldwide.


Vienna has a great transport network.

Heavy rail






Tram




Another Tram map

 
#190 · (Edited)
Thanks. At least there's the promise that things are getting better with rail electrification and so forth.

Anyway, back to the general topic the extension of RER E in Paris should relieve a couple of its most significant bottlenecks (access to La Defense from RER A and Metro 1). The orbital Metro Line also sounds like a great project.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=31747814&postcount=325 <--- RER E extension
http://translate.google.com/transla...ess&hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&rls=en&hs=rWT <--- Orbital Rail (english translation of French wikipedia page... damn I need to learn french)
 
#192 ·
No system comes close to moving the number of people around as Tokyo. It's a fine tuned, highly sophisticated, multi-pronged, seamless, transit system serving 35 million residents.

It's got to be Tokyo.
 
#194 ·
What about cleanliness, coverage, usability and efficiency?

If a small system provides excellent city wide coverage for a compact city, I think it's just as good as a large system covering a large city. An extensive system does not always equal an effective or efficient system.


Hong Kong


source: http://johomaps.com/as/hongkong/hkmetro_ch.html


source: http://flickr.com/photos/iliveinphilippines/3218889787/





Usability: Station announcements in 3 languages - Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Fully bilingual signage. Animated station lights in train.




source: http://flickr.com/photos/gunzel412/sets/72157612686210331/



Octopus Card contact-less smart card launched in September 1997
, home of the world's first major public transport system using this technology. According to Octopus Cards Limited, operator of the Octopus card system, there are more than 17 million cards in circulation, more than twice the population of Hong Kong. The cards are used by 95 percent of the population of Hong Kong aged 16 to 65, generating over 10 million daily transactions worth a total of about HK$29 billion (US$3.7 billion) a year.






Hong Kong Trams... regardless of distance the fare is $0.25 USD for adults and $0.13 USD for children / seniors. Average frequency during peak hours: 90 seconds.




Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok




source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/2318282714_051fca966e_b.jpg
 
#203 ·
To give another example of why Auckland's transport system is one of the worst in the world, I am looking into moving from where I live at the moment in Sandringham (about a 20 min bus ride from the city) to Herne Bay (about a 10-15 min bus ride to the city). However, my job is still in Avondale (about a 30-35 min bus ride from the city).

According the wises website, it's a 8.5km drive that should take around 12 minutes. Perhaps a little longer in the morning peak, although it is counter-flow. http://www.wises.co.nz/d/33/Auckland/Ponsonby/Wanganui+Avenue/Auckland/Owairaka/Bollard+Avenue/

Now let's look at public transport options. To get to work by 8.30am the best option that gets suggested to me is a 1 hr 49 min walk! Next best option is a 1 hour and 2 min trip that would include two different buses. http://www2.maxx.co.nz/fullEnquiry....es=-1&WalkSpeed=NORMAL&Submit.x=44&Submit.y=8

I think that is a clear example of why Auckland's public transport system is quite possibly the worst in the world for a city its size.
 
#207 ·
Whilst Melbourne has a OK-ish rail network (overcrowded and constantly delayed) it's tram network really saves the city from complete implosion. It's always frequent (about 4 or 5 minutes in peak,goes to 12 or 13 minutes off peak and maybe 15 minutes on Sundays) and generally clean. Many parts aren't grade separated though, so trams can get stuck in traffic but generally not for long. The map can be quite confusing as all the lines are the same colour, but Melburnians seem to be born with the map tattooed on the back of their heads.



A map from 1998, showing some of the lines separated (about 10 or so lines use St. Kilda Rd & Swanston st, so they're just shown as being the same colour rather than making the streets really huge on the map)

 
#210 ·
Well, when exactly did you learn about the island? That name (Porto Rico) hasn't been used since 1917. And you're not the first so I'm not angry or anything would like to know where everyone reads all this. I mean the name existed for some 20 years of our history and then it was gone. Pssh. :lol:

Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States (Australia is a different kind of commonwealth). We're some form of a free associated state and for many years the government has tried to hold a referendum to make the final decision. The people almost always pick to stay as we are, but the time will come when we have to make a decision.

We must abide by all federal laws and our government works like any other state, as in it can govern itself, with the main difference is that we have a bicameral system. We will be hosting the Central American Games and we have our own Olympics team.

Puerto Rico ranks 27th in terms of population in the US, making us one of the most dense islands in the world.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population

Puerto Rico used to have a great national train system and extensive tram lines in many major cities, but it was all destroyed during the car era in the US (in the 1950s). The boom in suburbs, cars, it's all led to sprawl throughout the whole island and our highways are heavily congested. We need public transportation desperately and at least the governemnt seems to be paying attention, but they could always do a better job. :)
 
#212 ·
Ahh, ok. So you're basically what the British would call a 'Dependent Territory' like the Jersey Islands or the Falkland Islands. That makes more sense.

And excuse my spelling of Puerto Rico - I wasn't sure how to spell it when I was writing it. You never really hear much about PR on this side of the world, as it's not in our sphere of influence (most of our news is about Asia, Oceania or Europe, there's not many Americans here and we don't have a lot to do with the Americas). I'd just assumed that PR was its own country, as it didn't have a place in the '50 states'.
 
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