1 When I saw ""Public Transportation" is out of date. It was a nice idea 20 or 30 years ago. It's nonfunctional and incredibly wasteful." I thought 'Typical American - won't use public transport because it's inconvenient, so the transport system doesn't get enough use to justify building up to a point that people will want to use it'. HOWEVER... when I saw the words "government has a monopoly" it all made sense - has there EVER been a government-run service that could beat a privately owned business for convenience, ease of use and overall cost? (I'm including taxes here - not just subsidized tickets). Of course not. Government-run 'businesses' have no competition that they have to win customers from, their employees have no targets to meet or incentives to meet them, and little prospect of reward for growing the business. "Public Transport" run by private companies can - and does (in Europe) - work very well, dramatically improving traffic congestion, giving an overall positive impact on the environment, and saving the users money. I didn't even learn to drive till I was 22 - I got around just fine by bus & train. I think that for public transport to work, three essential ingredients are required: 1) It should be run by private companies who do not have a monopoly on transportation in the region. 2) It can only work within concentrated populations - who could make a profit running a bus out to a few isolated farms a few times a day? 3) There should be effective rule of law in the region served - people should not be afraid to wait at a bus stop, and the bus drivers shouldn't expect to be robbed when entering the bad side of town.

2 Thanks so much for reading beyond the first lines, geekBrit, really! I am serious when I say that I would start up a bus service for paying customers as a private business, but I simply cannot. I've interviewed and surveyed people who I know would pay for it. But I can't compete with the government when they offer the same thing basically for free. And your point #2 is why public transportation is such an incredible failure in Charlotte, and in many other areas of the US. For those who haven't been here, the absolutely vastness of America is incredible. There is SO much space that people spread out. So most cities are spread out -- which makes effective public transportion impossible for the reasons you mention.