I don't know whether the writer is from the D.C. Metro area or was here in 1976 when Metrorail first went into operation. Metrorail resulted in many more commuters using public transportation. At its height before it started crashing from mismanagement and the pandemic, it was handling far more customers than it had imagined it would at the beginning. One of the problems with Metro is that it was built to fail. The designers assumed it would attract a much lower percentage of commuting traffic than it did. As a result, a number of stations, particularly multi-line stations in the downtown area, came to operate at far greater than designed capacity. Furthermore, the system was not designed to enable capacity to be increased without enormous cost and disruptions. The planning and management problems of Metro does not alter the fact that good public transportation can keep vehicle use relatively low. In cities across the world (including NYC in the U.S.), robust public transportation systems have resulted in many people who could afford private vehicles to choose not to use them. In Copenhagen, the extensive system of bike trails and lanes has been a major contributor to non-reliance on vehicles.
I don't know whether the writer is from the D.C. Metro area or was here in 1976 when Metrorail first went into operation. Metrorail resulted in many more commuters using public transportation. At its height before it started crashing from mismanagement and the pandemic, it was handling far more customers than it had imagined it would at the beginning. One of the problems with Metro is that it was built to fail. The designers assumed it would attract a much lower percentage of commuting traffic than it did. As a result, a number of stations, particularly multi-line stations in the downtown area, came to operate at far greater than designed capacity. Furthermore, the system was not designed to enable capacity to be increased without enormous cost and disruptions. The planning and management problems of Metro does not alter the fact that good public transportation can keep vehicle use relatively low. In cities across the world (including NYC in the U.S.), robust public transportation systems have resulted in many people who could afford private vehicles to choose not to use them. In Copenhagen, the extensive system of bike trails and lanes has been a major contributor to non-reliance on vehicles.