"Why can't we do that here?"

[Reed John]

"Why can't we do that here?"

(To Reed) A friend from the UK who is very interested in Andy Warhol wondered about taking Amtrak to Pittsburgh to visit the Warhol museum and was shocked to learn that it takes all day to get there. Just across one state!

That's about 300 miles, about the distance from London to Hadrian's Wall. How long would that take by train in the UK?

[Jimmy Bignutz]

"Why can't we do that here?"

About four hours.

[Reed John]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Well, the train from Philly to Pittsburgh would take about 7.5, but it's not express. It would take about 5 hours by car.

I imagine the London-Edinburgh one doesn't make many stops.

There's always been talk about building highspeed rail across Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, but it's not going to happen anytime soon, not because it's not technically feasible, but because not enough people want to go from Philly to Pittsburgh (or vice-versa) to justify the expense of building it.

[Femme Folle]

"Why can't we do that here?"

We queue for buses in NYC (at least on the M42--I don't use many other buses in the city).

And believe me, if you jump the queue, someone (like me) will put you in your place.

Reminds of a story. One day I was waiting for the bus with a bunch of elderly people. Everyone was patiently waiting in an orderly line when this guy appears out of nowhere and tries to board in front of one of the elderly ladies. I told him where the end of the line was and pointed to it, since he seemed to be rather thick. He looked at me and laughed--a really stupid inbred mouth-breather kind of laugh. I said, "I'm not joking. Go to the end of the line." He didn't do it, so I said, "Look, don't be a dick, all these people have been waiting before you got here. Go to the end of the line." Then he just turned the other direction and walked across 8th Avenue. Result.

Don't mess with me. I am the defender of the elderly.

[Femme Folle]

"Why can't we do that here?"

It was about six hours from King's X to Queen Street in Glasgow. I can't imagine it would be two hours less from London to Edinburgh. Is it?

[Incandenza]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Femme Folle wrote:

We queue for buses in NYC (at least on the M42--I don't use many other buses in the city).

And believe me, if you jump the queue, someone (like me) will put you in your place.

There is one really busy bus stop in Downtown LA that I used to go past where I think there was actually a queue. Sometimes there was even a guy from the building the stop is in front of that would be there marshalling people and telling bus drivers to move after everyone got on board.

We went to the Getty Center yesterday, and to get there after parking or showing up on the bus, you take a tram up the mountain. We left when the museum was closing, so the line for the trams down was huge. The system works out well logistically, because the tram doors open on one side so people can exit, and then the doors on the other side open so people can get on. We got on after waiting about 15 minutes, when all of a sudden some people from the other side ran on through the doors on the other side of the car--basically, cutting in line. I said--and I'm surprised I did, because I'd much rather seethe quietly than say something and risk a confrontation--"you can't wait in line like everyone else?" The people ignored me, and started to sit down. Thankfully an employee came rushing into the car and ordered them to get off. "What line, we didn't see a line," was the guy's pathetic excuse, but he knew he and his friends were busted. I was really happy that someone did something and made them get off.

[Sam]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Have a public transport system which actually works, and isn't fucking extortionately priced. Specifically, whose idea was it to have trains and buses in the Bristol area stopping at around 10:30 or 11 on Friday and Saturday nights, and allow the taxi companies to charge me thirty-five bloody pounds to get home (a 15-20 minute train journey, if the trains were running)?

Seriously, it's easy to suspect you're being ripped off in Britain but by and large, we earn more than other countries so it evens out. But every time I travel abroad I'm staggered at how much better and more affordable the transport is. Well alright, not in Cuba. But every other time.

[Reed John]

"Why can't we do that here?"

If you want public transit to be cheaper and/or better, then there needs to be more money from the general public coffers going to transit.

[Sam]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Yeah - it'd be worth it. First Great Western have raised prices above inflation for something like the last four years consecutively, even though industry reports have shown their service getting no better. Their executives have also been getting above-inflation payrises and bonuses. Apparently they earn them.

[linus]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

(To Reed) A friend from the UK who is very interested in Andy Warhol wondered about taking Amtrak to Pittsburgh to visit the Warhol museum and was shocked to learn that it takes all day to get there. Just across one state!

That's about 300 miles, about the distance from London to Hadrian's Wall. How long would that take by train in the UK?

In France, under two hours.

WornOldMotorbike wrote:

A genuine big-city transit system (see London, Paris, and any place with the vision to build a monorail or have car-free zones).

Montreal comes very close to that.

My wish for the San Francisco Bay Area:
high-density residential zones instead of wide areas of suburbia smack in the middle of the inner bay, which would go a long way towards revitalizing neighborhoods and lowering the cost of housing (see Montreal)

For Montreal:
Abolish the provincial monopoly on wine and liquor distribution, which results in wine prices up to 250% higher than those from south of the border, with less variety.

Shorter, milder winters. Oh wait, that one is being taken care of...

For Paris:
A half decent coach. Fire Domenech already.
What else... Maybe people should chill out a bit.

[Spearmint Rhino]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

(To Reed) A friend from the UK who is very interested in Andy Warhol wondered about taking Amtrak to Pittsburgh to visit the Warhol museum and was shocked to learn that it takes all day to get there. Just across one state!

That's about 300 miles, about the distance from London to Hadrian's Wall. How long would that take by train in the UK?

1500 service from London Kings Cross to Newcastle: 2h38.

[NHH]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Whereas in France that'd take about 90 mins

[Otto Katz]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Oslo:

1. A congestion charge to reduce traffic.

2. Better and cheaper public transport, increased capacity in tandem with # 1 above.

3. A comprehensive network of cycle lanes, giving bicycles priority and making it less a game of life and death to cycle to work. This city is not very bicycle friendly. Why can't we be more like Copenhagen or Amsterdam in that respect?

4. Wine sold in supermarkets instead of just the state wine monopoly.

5. The kind of pub culture you have in Britain, with plenty of pubs that serve a wide variety of excellent beer and food at affordable prices.

6. Quality newpapers. Like The Guardian or New York Times.

1-4 are actually doable. The last two are but a dream.

[Ginger Yellow]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Proper high speed rail
Widespread air conditioning, or at least buildings/vehicles designed to cope with hot weather
Lucky Charms
Construction projects that don't go over an already extraordinarily expensive budget
Sensible libel law
A written constitution

[ursus arctos]

"Why can't we do that here?"

New Yorkers queue for buses.

I like Matej's list quite a bit, though Heliotrope's point about distance is something we think about a lot when considering "going home".

On the other hand, the "whole month of August off" concept is becoming an urban legend, even here.

[Stumpy Pepys]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Living in a city that's consistently in the top 10 for quality of life, I shouldn't complain too much. However, I'd like to see:

* Helpful staff in shops, who sometimes go out of their way for their customers. And helpful civil servants, while we're at it
* A wide variety of produce in supermarkets
* A flexible, innovative banking system

Compared to my former life in London though, I think I'm nitpicking.

[Wyatt Earp]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Ground admission: turning up on the spur of the moment to an important cricket or football match and just getting let in, because that's how it works. They manage it in Spain. (Not so much with the cricket, obv.)

Pub grub: more pubs offering something less poncey than gastropub nonsense, but better than Brake Brothers slop. A bit like tapas in Spain or gutburgerlich cooking in Germany.

Proper free dental care.

More sport on free-to-air.

It being clear how much indirect tax you're paying on each purchase.

[Andy C]

"Why can't we do that here?"

I wouldn't like to adopt the US practice where sticker prices don't include sales tax, though. I like to know what I'm paying - the breakdown of that cost is of secondary importance to me.

[Ginger Yellow]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Yeah, that bugs the hell out of me. Something's priced $19.99, I try to pay with a $20 and I can't. I suppose if you live in the US you just get used to doing the mental arithmetic, but it's very confusing for the rest of us.

[Mumpo]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Cheap petrol. A proper network of bicycle lanes throughout large cities, that aren't just the last foot and a half of the road before the kerbside painted pink. The same fares across all rail networks. A more centrally placed capital city.

[Guest]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Sorry to disappoint you Anglophiles, but queueing for buses has pretty much broken down, in London at least.

[DCI Harry Batt]

"Why can't we do that here?"

It's a bit more complicated than that, The Horse. There are some places where you queue, some where you don't, and some where you sort of do a bit. Knowing which one of those places you're in can be tricky, mind.

Is there somewhere where cars aren't considered first, before every other mode of transport? If so, I'd like to bring that over here, please.

[Jimmy Bignutz]

"Why can't we do that here?"

Switzerland, I think.

[Wyatt Earp]

"Why can't we do that here?"

They're huge perks of living in Europe, without a doubt: old towns, and ease of travel to other countries.

Travelling with work to places like Champaign-Urbana, and chatting to people working in the hotels and stuff (more than fellow academics, who tend to have been to places), you meet loads of people whose life's ambition is, let's say, to go to Paris; a place that's now a few hours away from where I live by train. We forget how lucky we are in those respects.

[Guest]

"Why can't we do that here?"

It would be insane to queue at a bus stop where 8 or 9 buses stop. At Waterloo station there is always a very long very orderly queue in the morning because they have a lot of stops and people usually can get any of the buses that come to their stop.