[sustran] [NewMobilityCafe] "Driven to despair" - PBS Exposes the Joys of Transit

[Eric Britton]

Thanks Streetsblog.com for the heads-up.

 

This is a very interesting take on transport in the US, which I think
provides at least a modicum of hope for a different and more reasonable
future. We have long believed that it will be pocketbook issues which sooner
or later will drive us to more sustainable transportation and most
sustainable lives.  It might be wonderful if we changed because we were
noble and thought ahead, but if we change in the right direction simply
because we have to, well that's progress too.

 

Eric Britton

 

PS. For their 26 minute video, click directly to
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/440/video.html 

 <http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Streetsblog/~3/417175390/> PBS Exposes the
Joys of Transit - http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/ 

 

With gas prices spiking and home values crumbling, the American dream of
commuting to work from the fringes of suburbia has become an American
nightmare. Many are facing a hard choice: Paying for gas or paying the
mortgage. How did it come to this? It's not just about America's financial
crisis; it's also about big problems with our national infrastructure.
Overstressed highways and too few public transportation options are wreaking
havoc on people's lives and hitting the brakes on our already-stretched
economy. This week, NOW on PBS takes a close-up look at our inadequate
transportation network and visits some people paying a high price-in both
dollars and quality of life-just to get to work. Do we have the means to
modernize both our infrastructure and our lifestyles? 

 

Posted: 10 Oct 2008 04:08 PM CDT

 
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/driven-to-despair/watch-fu
ll-report/103/> now_train_still.jpg
NOW host David Brancaccio does an interview on the LA Metro.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/driven-to-despair/watch-fu
ll-report/103/> Click through for the full video.

The
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/driven-to-despair/overview
/6/> latest episode of NOW is surely the most effective takedown of
car-dependent planning ever broadcast in news magazine format. Adhering to
the familiar contours of pocketbook journalism, "Driven to Despair" starts
with a sympathetic portrayal of the Schleighs, a family who moved to a
southern California exurb seven years ago. With their adjustable rate
mortgage about to reset and gas prices already busting the family budget,
they need a way out.

What follows can be fairly described as a 25-minute ode to the time- and
money-saving benefits of transit, complete with
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/driven-to-despair/timeline
-of-los-angeles-transit/101/> a brief history of the Los Angeles streetcar
system and a rueful suggestion that the Presidential candidates should
address transportation more forcefully.

Watching the Schleighs and their neighbors react to the idea of riding a
train to work -- sneering, in one case -- it's all too apparent why someone
running for national office would skirt the issue. But you also realize that
if a national pol were to finally go out on that limb, he or she may find
voters more receptive to the idea of better trains and buses than feared.

"Driven to Despair" will be broadcast on PBS affiliates tonight (check local
listings). It's the first part in a NOW series on infrastructure called "
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/> Blueprint America."
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/