Alex Palmer's Natural History Notes and Thoughts

If you're traveling around town, which would be your preferred mode of travel, train or bus?  Chances are, you would choose a train.  Why is that?  Trains are easy and fun to ride, and they're quick.  They also cost less than driving, and of course using public transportation in general can reduce carbon emissions and smog, helping to improve local air quality and climate.   Why would you NOT choose a bus?  Well for one thing buses are susceptible to getting caught in traffic jams, whereas trains are free of that burden.  On top of that, buses also make frequent stops - sometimes every few blocks - which can make travel painfully slow.  For example, during rush-hour traffic in the Washington, DC metro area, buses can sometimes run 45-minutes to an hour behind schedule because of traffic and frequent stops, even though they might only be traveling a few miles or less.   So would the solution to this problem be to build new light rails or subways?  Perhaps, but this can be