"JJ" wrote in message
...
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.


I tired mass transit when I first started working downtown. Nothing
convenient, friendly, safe, or good about it at all. It was scarey because
of the drivers, inconvenient because I had to work my schedule around
theirs, unfriendly people getting on and off knocking others with their
asses or briefcases, and I'll never do it again.

Kim W5TIT