Mastodawn

𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇Aug 25, 2023

Walt Disney World has significantly better transit than most cities in the US.

Its 12-train-set monorail, 325 buses would make it the 16th most ridden transit system in the nation.

America's fantasy world, it turns out, is a place you can get around without getting into a car. 🧵

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SLCW💥Aug 26, 2023

@straphanger It has to do with motivations and resources. Disney is a commercial enterprise with a direct profit motive for providing excellent transportation services. Public transportation, on the other hand, is publicly funded and built to operate as cheaply as possible without a profit motive. Those differences result in vastly different executions.

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Magnus Ahltorp Aug 26, 2023

@slcw @straphanger If you have income from both ticket sales and taxes you have more resources than if you only have ticket sales. The difference is the total lack of will from politicians of slightly inconveniencing car drivers, even when it ultimately makes car driving better (fewer cars on the road).

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SLCW💥

@ahltorp @straphanger Ticket sales and taxes applied to the public transit barely break even. It's definitely not a money maker for the state or local municipality. A company like Disney, on the other hand, can afford to build and operate a superior system because of the value it adds to their primary profit driver. The dynamics are just completely different from a public transit system. Public transit could be excellent if not for the politicians who view it as a begrudging expense.

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Magnus Ahltorp Aug 26, 2023

@slcw @straphanger Those dynamics apply to municipalities as well. Fewer cars on the roads means less costs for roads. Less sprawl means less costs for plumbing. More density means more taxes per area.