Beijing's subway: A lesson for San Francisco
Beijing's subway is a little grimy, the air conditioning is fairly weak, and during rush hours it's like being packed into canned ham.
But it's far superior to the public transportation options in San Francisco and San Jose, the so-called hubs of the tech world.
Unlike in San Francisco, the trains show up on time. Every two to three minutes a new car shows up during rush hours. On a Sunday, you might wait five minutes. It doesn't go everywhere, but the line is being expanded. All the station signs are also in English, and you can get directions in English too.
Public transportation in Asia remains, in my mind, one of the technological wonders of the world. In Japan, the express train ride into town is worth the flight to Tokyo. There's no haggling with the SuperShuttle attendant--you simply buy a $19 ticket and take one of the options leaving every 10 minutes. In town, it takes foreigners about 10 minutes to acclimate to the JR Yamanote line. You see the same thing in South Korea. A cab ride might take 40 minutes, but in a few minutes by train you can get to your destination. Both places also have trains that crisscross the entire city. With global warming increasing, public transportation is going to increase in importance.
Talking on cell phones is also forbidden on public transportation in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul, something you don't experience in San Francisco. And Americans wonder why we are falling behind.
have visited I had found public transportation to be quite
functional.
liberated without a car. You could jump on a convenient & on-time
train and be anywhere in the country in short order, while relaxing.
Almost nowhere in the country could you find a place that was
more than a 20 minute walk from a train station, and the system
was reliable and very easy to learn.
The trains and buses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and to some extent in Malaysia and some of the other "less developed" countries can put any American city to shame. If you are really averse to trains, cabs are frequent and reasonably priced, the fares are nowhere as exorbitant as in the west. You'll be surprised at the decent cabs available in a "backward" country like Indonesia.
England, specially London and thereabouts, is extremely well connected by trains and buses (hey, I can hop on to the Eurostar and get into Europe from Waterloo station), as is New York, and a handful of other cities, but most other cities and towns in the "first world countries" are designed to promote wasteful use of cars and burn more fuel, there's not even an attempt to entice people to use public transport.
Chris
Sydney, Australia
1. The bullet train does not run between Narita and Tokyo, that train is the Narita Express. The Bullet Train runs between Tokyo and Osaka.
2. Beijing trains do not run as promplty as you describe-- many parts of the city experience delays (outside the white-bread section).
3. 'no wonder America is falling behind'? What, did you just finish watching "Rising Sun" with Wesley Snipes or something? The 80s called, they want their xenophobic tripe back.
I cannot believe what CNET will allow to pass for 'news' lately.
Also, a significant difference in some of the Asian cities is their willingness to crowd public transportation to ridiculous levels. In particular, Tokyo and Seoul have metro employees whose job is to literally push additional passengers onto already over-crowded trains. And there is no limit to the number of people that can be crowded unto a bus. In Seoul, I have ridden at the bottom of the steps, inches from the front window, on more than one occasion.
Your facts are poor and misrepresent the reality of the situation. It's not a story, but rather a mis-informed, less-than-amateur, blog entry. And to believe I followed this link was giving top-billing on my cnet Pageflakes box.
strawman.
2/He didn't claim there was s subway from Incheon airport.
3/The Soeul subway is not crowded all the time.
4/I have never seen such a disgusting subway/light rail system as
New Yorks.
If you haven't been living in Toronto, let me tell you more: The public transportation is one system called TTC. One ticket goes from point A to point B within the city with logical transfers between train, light transit, buses and streetcars. Almost all buses and streetcars connect to a subway station; that means you don't have to walk on street level to connect your trip. Schedules are accurate, and you can call a phone number to check arrival time of a bus stop(the number is stop-specific. Isn't that a much better lesson for San Francisco? And this is not a new system....it's been around for decades.
from one of Tokyo's airports. This is not so.
Tokyo's domestic airport (Haneda) is within the city and is
connected by ordinary commuter trains.
Tokyo's international airport (Narita) is in the neighbouring
prefecture and is connected by two train services neither of
which are bullet train services. On each service there are 2-3
trains per hour, not every 10 minutes. The trains operate at
speeds around 80-100 kph and it takes about 60-90 minutes to
reach the airport. Adding the travel time from one's starting
point within Tokyo to the few stations from which the airport
services leave, most people will need 2 hours at least to reach
the airport, those living in the West of Tokyo need 3 hours.
Tokyo International Airport is definitely not an airport that is
easy or pleasant to reach. Most international hubs in Europe
have express train connections through which airports are
reachable within 15-25 minutes from the city centre. Compared
to that, getting to and from Narita Airport is a hassle.
March, an observation ... { and you could tack this onto
discussions of fuel pricing, too } ... CARS ARE IN ! Everywhere
we traveled, there were trucks & buses of various ages, not just
new. Same with peddle / small engine power. But, there were
virtually No Old Cars ! My best guess is that virtually none of the
cars are over 4 years old. And with all the other construction
boom going on, Freeways in the American and German sense
are springing up by the Km. << the highway safety posters at
the rest stops do not attempt in the Western sensibilities of how
to present the dangers of tailgating. >>
What was real interesting though, whoever has the Buick
Franchise must be pulling in $cads of Waun ! Unlike the US
where the brand / make / model is considered stodgy, there
seems to be a fairly equal numbers to the Japanese brands, and
far out numbering the American brands.
As China's economy gets more open and grows, for better / for
worse, the middle class will want to drive their own vehicle. Call
it status; call it luxury; call it "self determination" ... more cars
will be rolling on the highways, byways and streets throughout
China.
Just remember, centralized governments connected to lower
standards of living, tend to run the trains on time. It is said that
Mussolini made the trains run on time ! No BS scheduling tricks
such as AMTRAK uses on both the Eastern Seaboard and the
West Coast.
Examine if you will, one of the reasons Public Transport issues
get passed by voters { West Coast situation, at least } ... put the
trains out / subways / light rail / buses ... and my neighbor will
use them, and get His car off the road AND out of MY WAY !
But, what the heck. The Shanghai Maglev Train to the Pudong
International Airport is fun ! 22 miles is 7:13 minutes is a hoot !
Even if the Chinese admit that is will never be self supporting by
the ticket machine. We'll see how they do with the planned
Hangzhou Maglev ?
- Totally Agree Bay Area Public Transit is Awful
- by dmj23 May 29, 2007 11:19 AM PDT
- I'm not sure you need to look even as far as Beijing, but it certainly points to the fact that public transit in the Bay Area for an area as populous as it is just doesn't cut it.
- Reply to this comment
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- Dirty is not acceptable
- by bob donut May 29, 2007 11:46 AM PDT
- Don't trade or think about trading the cleanliness of public transit or any public area for that matter. Besides the obvious aesthectic appeal, a dirty or poorly lighted area is a sign to miscreants that it's not being patrolled or maintained, and this lends to crime.
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(23 Comments)The only thing public transit in the Bay Area is good for is getting to Market St. Try getting from Silicon Valley to San Francisco and having to transfer 3 times and you'll see.
I'd readily trade the ultra-polished, far too air conditioned and clean San Francisco system for a dirty, yet fast and cheap option.