Comments on: Back from the USA: Thoughts on public transport

By: henry

henry — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:06:18 +0000

Hi Meagan,
My family gets around just fine with a 10 month old in a stroller. A bigger stroller will be tight or not fit in the older trams but there aren’t many of these on the popular routes any more. Trains are no problem at all and you probably won’t ride a bus. Metro routes are limited and the elevators and escalators in every station are always in service. Nobody will ever ask you to fold up your stroller. I remember those signs in the NY subway and found it too crazy for words… and refused to do it. Nobody complained either. That’s the public transport story.

But you’ll probably stay in a fairly small area so you can walk and bike and hardly ever use public transport anyway. WorkCycles rents both city bikes with child seats and bakfietsen and we equip many a visiting family.

By: Meagan

Meagan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:19:35 +0000

Hi Henry,
I found your blog while searching for information on public transit in Amsterdam. I will be visiting Amsterdam with a 13month old and a stroller next month and have wondered whether the public transit system is accessible and easy to use with a child in a stroller. Incidentally, I lived in NYC for almost 7 years and agree, I found using the subway, tram and buses with a stroller in tow quite difficult.

Can you enlighten me? How is it traveling on buses, metro and trams with a child in a stroller (are strollers allowed, are their elevators down to metro stations, can strollers stay open on buses, etc.?)

Many thanks,
Meagan

By: Christian Ford

Christian Ford — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:01:47 +0000

Hi Henry—
As an envious fan of your Netherlandish lifestyle and a New Yorker, I have to agree with your assessment of the survival-of-the-fittest nature of the NYC subway’s (in)accessibility. However, the very impossibility of using the system with a stroller often provokes its own solution into existence. It goes like this: single parent with stroller comes to a halt at either the top or the bottom of the stairs. Anonymous passerby — typically w/o breaking stride or making eye contact — reaches out and grabs the front strut of the stroller and the whole conglomeration hustles to the other end of the stairs where — still w/o breaking stride — it decouples and the pieces go on their way.

I often wondered how the NYC subway could get away with being inaccessible to wheelchairs and the like, as accessibility is a requirement for some kinds of federal funding. Turns out that only the *system* has to be accessible, and by that standard, kneeling buses do the trick. Not in real life, but you get the idea.

By: Scott Mizée

Scott Mizée — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:48:02 +0000

Henry, I read your article in interest, in light of my own experience at Schiphol and at Portland’s airport, PDX. I have only been in Schiphol once, but my most vivid memory there is the man offering to sell me drugs while I was standing next to my wife in the terminal. I will try and pay much more attention to all the good things you spoke of next time I am there.

Regarding Portland, I found it interesting that there have been *several* times in the last year that I have had a very similar conversation to yours about PDX with co-workers and friends. Amongst those of us that have had to travel by air around the U.S. it is common to agree that PDX is our favorite airport in the country. –not just because it is home. The light rail line directly to the city is definitely one of our reasons. I also love the architectural scale and its “fit” in the Pacific Northwest. It DOES have a separated bicycle trail that allows you to travel to or from the airport on two wheels, however it is not the most direct route to the urban core and it may be more convenient to just take your bike on the light rail train.

I love PDX!

….oh and did I mention the free public WiFi?

By: Anon of Florida

Anon of Florida — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:25:09 +0000

In Miami, there are buses and buses and buses that arrive intermittently. There is a regional rail that extends from Miami to West Palm Beach, that theoretically runs on an hourly schedule but it suffers from frequent delays. The local rail runs on time, although it is currently impossible to get on directly from the airport, one must take a bus first.

The city is building a transit hub where the national rail, regional rail, local rail, and buses can congregate. Its located about a few miles to the east of the airport, and the locale is linked to the airport via a dedicated shuttle service. The city is also extending the local rail to reach this transit hub.

By: henry

henry — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:47:30 +0000

That was a television great, Mark, but I think you had to live in the NY Metro area for it to make any sense.

The dirty tactics of Schiphol doesn’t surprise me a bit. You should hear some of the things I do in my quest for world bakfiets domination

By: bicyclemark

bicyclemark — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:47:10 +0000

Welcome home Cotter… wasn’t that a show? welcome home at any rate..

Remind me to give you the lowdown on schiphol and how they got their land.. and how they build runways they dont need just to request funds and please some contractors.. best airport ever for the traveller… agreed.. but they’re up to some shaninigans behind the scenes. Still.. its true.. you get back to schiphol.. it feels good to be home. Greetings from istanbul.

By: henry

henry — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:13:23 +0000

Abigail, Sean,
For comparison sake: on-street car parking in Amsterdam costs between €2 and 5€ per hour and has been rising quickly in recent years. There is no free on-street parking in the city except for in the farthest reaches of Amsterdam North across the Ij river, accessible only by ferry.

What hasn’t kept up though are the costs of parking permits for residents. Though these are very difficult to obtain (waiting lists of several years for some neighborhoods) they’re fairly cheap. So basically if you’re “grandfathered in” you can park a car cheaply in the city.

Sean, Of course I realize my suggestions are politically impossible in 2009 but hypothetically speaking they’re approximately what’s needed. It’s very unfortunate that New York is moving away from what will actually provide the most benefit for the people. I suppose as other cities improve their public infrastructure people and businesses will see them as better values and move away from NY. My suspicion is that a city with a narrow demographic such as only young working people, only wealthy or poor etc is simply a less dynamic, interesting and pleasant place to live and work.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:59:21 +0000

Henry,

As a New Yorker, I thank you for your suggestions. They’re good ones, but unlikely to happen anytime soon. In fact, the city is moving in the opposite direction.

The transit system is trying to close a huge budget gap. At the end of May, subway and bus fares will increase about 25%. In addition, there will be service cuts: several subway and about 35 bus lines will be eliminated; train frequency will be reduced; and some workers will be made redundant (laid off). Sadly, your experience with trying to find a station attendant to open a gate will likely become more common.

Some of this could have been avoided if politicians agreed to a proposed $2 toll for cars entering Manhattan via the three “free” bridges. Consensus couldn’t be achieved though. It didn’t happen.

The Mayor’s 2008 plan for congestion pricing would have helped close the gap too and fund transit. That didn’t happen either. The proposal was suffocated in the state assembly, with the leader refusing to bring it up for a vote.

Oddly, I haven’t heard anything about raising the price of parking.

By: Abigail

Abigail — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:50:46 +0000

SF already charges a lot for parking! I just don’t think a lot of it is public parking, is the problem.