There are a lot of ways to interpret that information, but one of the key takeaways for me is that our mass transit networks aren't even adequate enough to lure people out of cars in spite of astronomically bad traffic.
LrFox -- NO -- You are missing the essential nugget -- For a given
"Level of Discomfort" in traveling from place to place -- many people would prefer to be their own masters than just to be a "prole"
That's why the automobile has blown away all the other mechanized transport planet-wide
The key is how to define the
"Level of Discomfort" -- it is obviously a complex construct as some value privacy over efficiency, some value convenience over economy, etc.
However -- I'll give you an example based on my own experience today
I was given the opportunity to attend a private tour of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with some members of the Museum of Science Volunteers Association Board of Directors
The requirement which I needed to not violate was to be at the entrance of the ISG Museum at 11:00 AM precisely [well it turned out not to matter as much as I had been told as we waited for a late comer -- but that could not be known in advance.
My options:
- A -- Drive to the MOS and Park -- take the Green Line from Science Park to MFA and walk -- that was my original plan -- estimated total time 1 hr 30 min -- need to depart no later than 9:30 AM -- low risk low cost
- B -- Drive to Alewife and look for a parking spot -- take the Red Line to Park then change to the Green Line and once on the Green Line -- E branch -- follow A -- estimated total time 1 hr [assuming that there was a parking space] -- medium risk, medium cost
- C -- Drive to the MFA and park in the lot or the garage at the Members Rate then walk approximately same amount as A or B -- estimated total time 30 to 45 minutes -- low risk -- maximum cost
- D -- Drive to the MFA area and search for parking on the street then walk some distance possibly more than for A, B, or C -- estimated total time 30 to 45 minutes -- medium risk -- medium cost
- D* -- the same as D and if failing to find parking -- drive back to the MFA and execute C -- estimated total time 30 minutes to 1 hour -- medium risk -- medium to high cost
My original idea was
Plan A - -max travel via the T combined with driving to the MOS -- required the earliest departure from my house
However -- I was late in getting started --- couldn't leave the house until 9:50 AM so
Plan A was no longer an option
Given the state of reconstruction of Alewife and the need to change at Park -- I reassessed the time risk component of
Plan B and abandoned the T all together
I went for
Plan D knowing I could still bail to
D*
Traffic in Cambridge before I got to Storrow Dr -- increased the risk of
D-D* and I thought of executing
Plan C
I ended up circling the MFA 2 times before a finding a spot on the street near the old Forsythe Building --Therefore successfully executing
Plan D
Total cost [there was even time on the meter] was $3 and a bit longer walk -- arriving just at 11:03 AM -- however as it turned out I could have arrived at 11:20 as did our latest attendee
So -- While I had the intention of the
Green T combined with [low cost parking at the MOS where I volunteer] -- ended up with the reliable automobile solution -- as it offered the highest degree of adaptability
Note that even in the case of taking the Red Line from Alewife - - I could not chance taking a bus to Alewife despite the fact that it stops at the bottom of my hill --- due to the extra time it would impose and more importantly the increased time risk
That in a Nutshell is why a lot of people drive, or take an Uber / Taxi/Limo or have a friend drive them to/from Logan -- lowered risk of "
We're sorry that the X-Line is currently experiencing delays due to XXXYYYZZZ"] and increased sense of control / flexibility that you have being able to reroute at the last moment. Note that for ordinary commuting -- many of the same people would take the T -- at least most of the time