Larry Roll K3LT wrote:


Jim:

Most EU countries are much better suited for mass transit (meaning light rail
systems) than is the U.S. as a whole. Sure, they're good in big cities, but
the
USA has too many wide open spaces and too much suburban sprawl -- making
long commutes necessary for the majority of the workforce. This means we're
going to be dependent on personal, self-driven vehicles for a long time to
come. Moreover, I don't think that adapting our public transit systems to be
as accessible and accommodating to the majority of commuters as those in the EU
would cost far more than they are spending. Remember, they had a headstart on
their transit systems, dating back to the pre-war era. They also have a higher
level of cultural acceptence of mass transit -- many EU families have never
owned an automobile, simply because there was no need (not to mention the
prohibitive cost).

The long distances which must be travelled by most Americans to get to work and
go about their daily duties would make EU-style gasoline prices impossible for
the average person to afford. Our economy depends on cheap, abundant energy,
available at present-day market rates (or lower) basically in perpetuity. The
liberal, socialist Democrats think we need to change that and have EU-type
energy prices, but they hate this country anyway, and want us to be subjugated
to the EU. These treasonous wackos won't be happy until we revert to a totally
agrarian society. They are the enemies of the freedom that America stands for,
and must be treated as such.

Europe will always be different from the U.S., and considering their
geopolitical realities, it is just the way it should be. However, since most
of the EU nations would fit inside a couple of our states, America must be
different. We must consume a larger share of the world's energy simply because
we have a lot further to go in order to make our own individual social and
economic contributions. I agree that mass transit should be exploited to the
greatest extent possible, but it will never replace the need for individual,
personal mobility -- meaning the private automobile, in all of it's forms.

73 de Larry, K3LT

The U.S. does need to develope better mass transit in large
metropolitian areas. When I lived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas area,
the two cities were always complaining about the heavy commute traffic
and how they were not using the available mass transit system. The would
encourage people to car pool or use what mass transit was available, all
the while they were expanding the freeway system to accomodate more
vehicles. If you want people to use mass transit you have to 1) build a
good mass transit system, and 2) don't build massive freeway systems
that make it easier for people to drive their vehicles to work than ride
mass transit.