I’m not sure I do. To me, it’s like saying “I love electricity!” Well, yeah, doesn’t everyone?
This guy, former chief planner for Vancouver, BC, and now a consultant, has some important points here, most of which should be familiar to folks who follow Jarrett Walker’s Human Transit.
I guess Brent Toderian has never ridden a CTA train that reeks of urine or has had to avoid making eye contact with anyone that has clearly been featured on peopleofthecta.com, but perhaps transit in Vancouver is remarkably cleaner, more reliable, and more efficient than any I have ever been on.
While “loving” transit would be a stretch, I miss having that option; in Oklahoma, public transportation is just not a viable option. (I rode CART to the Sooner Mall a few times when I was a freshman without a car…making a 10 minute drive a 45+ minute bus ride.) However, there is something magical about taking a quick snooze or reading a book while commuting.
Didn’t the new CTA cars come through without cushioned seat for the aroma-related problem you mention? So yeah, ick.
Vancouver’s SkyTrain is automated so they can afford to run really short headways over their whole span of service, like every ten minutes or something, plus the system is only 25 years old versus the 120 of the CTA. So yeah, he may have a skewed view!