Do people who study transit have a death spiral construct, when a city's transit gets dysfunctional, so people stop relying on it, so it gets budget shortfalls, so service gets worse, so more people bail... etc.? Is there theory for how to fix this? (Massive injections of cash?) Asking for a Chicago
@paulgowder at least from the bike-urban advocacy end of the internet, a big policy point is to ban parking minimums.
Widely available parking destroys urban spaces, but more importantly, if transit is the most convenient mode, people are more likely to take it.
@thedansimonson @paulgowder That works especially well for the disabled and/or elderly.
@thedansimonson @paulgowder Nothing more bracing than a wheelchair ride to the El in the middle of winter. Or waiting for a bus. I know, they should just ride a bike, right?
@twitskeptic @paulgowder that’s a condemnation of under investment in the El. It was built in the 1890s. I suspect a number of non-ADA compliant features were grandfathered in.
But I’m open to ideas. If it gets cars off the road, that opens up room for disabled people. Forcing everyone into the same mode does not. If we just made more or all parking necessitate a Disabled Parking Permit, that would be good.
@twitskeptic @paulgowder it’s car infrastructure that puts elderly and disabled people in the very predicament of having to stretch their already strained resources in owning and maintaining a car