Is a City Bus System Alway a Good Thing?

Because North American cities are pretty much designed with the car in mind. And that has shaped everything. And once you have lots of parking, and you need a car (really) to do your shopping at the huge out of town superstores, then why leave it at home (with the running costs being so low) to wait in the cold for the bus? The flip side is that without a system in place, people will never use it. Personally I am not a big fan of buses, I think real mass transit makes a lot more sense - but then many people rely on them. So - bottom line, people prefer the ease of their own car, and the cost isn't prohibitive for the vast majority of people. They could probably save money with picking up people from bus stops with minicabs, but that would probably be seen as sending the wrong message...

Hello ParaTed2k, It depends on where you live. In developing countries where majority of people do not own a private vehicle, a city bus system is certainly always a good thing. It provides cheaper means to arrive at workplace or schools, universities and contribute very positively to overall economy of the country. “those many busses covering those well designed routes are almost always completely empty.” I can clearly see that in that situation, it may not be a good thing or the best thing. But, what I know is that when a city council approves such a system, it is after detailed study and consideration of “benefit to cost ratio (BCR)” in benefit-cost analysis. City planners gather data and based on various factors, this public program is adopted. It is possible that in your city, this analysis was faulty. Even in places, in developed countries (e.g. France), where majority do own a private vehicle; it still can be a very good thing especially in peak hours. It reduces overall cost of travel as well as gas consumption in the city, reduces load on roads and saves a lot of time. In my city here (Nantes), there are two types of public transport systems, Trams and Buses. Trams run on electricity generated by Nuclear power plant and buses run on Natural Gas. Trams can almost always be seen to be very cost effective, moving the bulk. Buses can be seen almost empty (6, 7 passengers at a given time) in some hours but they are packed in rush hours. Buses normally run between 6am to 8-9pm with rush hours from 7-9am, 11:30am-1:30pm and then 4-7pm. So the most effective usage is for 7 hours out of 14-15 hours. Other than peak hours, their timing is widened. But, even in slack hours, if they are replaced by private vehicles and taxis, not only the overall gasoline consumption but the load on roads will increase. Plus, they are not non-profit organization.

Your city leaders obviously are very forward looking excellant long term planners. Knowing what the economy has in store for us as to gasoline prices, and the desirability in the very near future for everyone to use public transportation, your wonderful city has gotten ahead of the curve by setting up a wonderful 'peoples' transportation system. Lucky you! So, don't despair. It won't be long and those busses will be full because ordinary people won't be able to afford to drive their cars!

Where is Sheboygan? Here in India, the majority of the population is absolutely dependent on the public transport system with most buses overflowing with passengers most part of the day. Metro cities are a bit better in the sense that they have more buses and more rich people who can afford the car so you can ride a bus in the city but that is never comfortable. The situation is worse in the districts where the distances are vast and buses few to carry passengers to and fro. Why in India, you will see passengers hitching a ride on the roof of the buses too!

do you drive a car? as a person that totally relies on the bus system in my city, i am happy that it runs all day long (during non rush hours it runs about every 20 min - depending on the route). i work part time (from 9am - 1 pm) and need to catch the bus home, plus if i have to go shopping or see the drs, i take the bus (and more often than not, its about half full.)

There is hardly anyone on the city bus because the city bus sucks! lol. I have used city buses before, but only when I did not have my own car for whatever reason and had to use the city bus. Probably that's the way it is with a lot of people; they only use the city bus if they do not own a car or can not drive for whatever reason. The city bus is good for something; it comes in handy if you do not have a car or can not drive and need to get across town. But in this day and age, most people probably do have their own vehicles and of course having your own vehicle and being able to take off the second you are ready, rather than waiting on some bus, beats riding the city bus any day! hehehe

I like the bus system in our city. Well, I don't really live in your country but I can relate to this topic. The bus system should be designed properly so as to serve the people well and good. They should add more buses to places with more people and minimize the buses in places where lesser people live and go. The government officials should watch closely this matter.