We have too many cars
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2024
- Our dependence on cars is harming us. Why did we give up public transportation for individual cars?
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The fact that Puerto Rico is super car-dependent completely debunks the notion that national population density has anything to do with car-centrism. Car centrism is ALWAYS a deliberate policy choice. The US is not "too big" for public transportation, we just have bad land use policy.
US too big? I have a solution for that: divide the country in, let's say, 50 smaller countries. Oh wait.
That said, it's just an excuse. The US used to have the greatest rail network in the world. Both intercity and intracity level.
People argue that the US is not dense enough like Europe is. Bonkers. Plenty of European cities less dense have public transportation. Its entirely on policy and urban planning. The US cant plan.
It has always been an issue of economics and land use that causes car dependency. You could have the greatest urban planning in the world, but if walmart by the interstate has the cheapest prices such that downtown retail cannot survive, your town or city will not be walkable.
You should see Southeast Asia 😂a dumpster fire
Same can be said of the Hawaiian islands.
“A question whether the car really represents freedom if we’re forced to use it.” Exactly!
Who exactly is forcing you? 🤡
La mala planificación vial en PR
I mean what else are you going to do I’m 28 and finally learning how to drive after riding shotgun for so long I’m freakin stoked. Once I get my license my life is totally going to change for the better. I think it’s hilarious the algorithm is recommending me all this anti car content
@@miguelbruno-vd8yz The illusion of choice:
Train: non-existent
Metro: one line, doesn't connect nearly the whole city
Bus: far away most of the time, stuck in traffic
Bike: dangerous, easily stolen, weather dependent
Walk: really slow, dangerous, weather dependent
While other options might exist to a point, cars are the only viable option for the vast amount of residents - essentially forcing you to use a car.
When I say "dangerous" I'm not saying PR is unsafe, I'm just saying you're very likely to get hit by a driver if the infrastructure isn't great (which it isn't, but could be!)
thanks for sharing your thoughts, @@miguelbruno-vd8yz ! - by: mico st⭐ar holo, a man
No one ever gets stuck in traffic. They are the traffic.
Cops should give people tickets for being the traffick.
Not always true. If there's an accident on an adjacent highway, and all those people from that highway commute are redirected over onto my highway, they're the heavy traffic. I'm the normal traffic flow.
Breaking Bad? 😅
I think you people are just addicted to bad zoning and putting all the work places in a big city which forces everyone from the suburbs to drive to the city, and thats why you have so much traffic
stop with this hate boner for cars and address the real issue....
@@josephvanname3377 as if that would do anything than piss people off.
Hallo, I’m from The Netherlands and enjoyed your video. I’m 70 years now, and joined the actions against cars in the city center when I was 17. And look where The Netherlands are now!
And I know you are going to change things faster, because you’re better in knowing what to do. Our actions were a kind of stupid and naïve but in the end they worked nevertheless.
I never had a car, because I don’t like being in a car. I love to take public transport, and became very good in planning my journeys using it. And I agree for 100% with Ivonne Belén that you walk a lot by taking the bus.
And that’s also great for your mental health. For me the walk from work to the busstation was also switching in my head to free time. You can’t do that in a car, because you have to pay attention. The walk from the busstop to home was like meditating.
We don't want to sit with crazy, lunatic, left wing people in public transport.
We love our cars and we will drive them where we want.
As a Mexican I noticed this when I went to PR. The part I am from in Mexico has plenty of issues but there are so many bus options that you can live without a car
ooooooo
🍆🍑
Same. One of the things that struck me the most was how much less public transportations options are here in the US
Mexico is very car centric yet still has European style cities. more urban channels should talk about it
Are there any infrastructural projects that are focused on pedestrianization or TOD's like Promenades, Parks and Squares where people gather for events or incredible nightlife.
Every time I go back to PR to visit my parents, I am amazed at how many cars are parked around the neighborhood. It's somewhat difficult to find a parking spot even in a residential area. 💀
More than one family sometimes two or three family living in a house and most of the members have cars. The system and roads were designed for single family homes .
Person driving car surprised that there are other cars making their life hard.
@@SL420- Not really. I lived there for 18 years, it hasn't changed. I was just making an anecdotal comment that proves one of the points of the video.
💩
It's telling that the PR Governor says everyone needs luxury cars to communicate the country's prosperity, as if there is nothing that exists between worn out "sh*tboxes" and luxury vehicles everyone is upside down and paying a thousand or more a month to take care of.
And who cares if it looks like people are wealthy and doing well, if they actually materially are not?
@@alexandraw6264you just understood SUVs and big trucks.
Selling more expensive cars means hacienda gets more tax revenues flowing their way. Most new Ford 150 trucks because of there high prices tend to pay a $300 fee if financed by a private bank. If financed by a cooperative then they tend not to have to pay. But all must pay the import tax which is thousands of dollars for a new car.
I would be happy with just the inclusion of busses around the island. The problem is that for the political class, PR is only the metro area and the rest of the island apparently doesn’t exist.
Una colaboración de Bianca y Notjustbikes estaría cabrona.
Ooo Bicycles
jeje creo que TH-cam me trajo aqui' por ver videos de Not Just Bikes ;-)
Está difícil, el tipo de NotJustBikes nunca ha hecho nada fuera de Europa o Norteamérica... Un pelín clasista lamentablemente
Not Just Bikes has no skin in the game. He solved his issues by running away to Amsterdam.
No. Not Just Bikes se queda mucho. RM Transit sería mejor para un collab.
In Madrid, the Metro system is so advanced, it is mind boggling. If you miss your train, you don't fret because there will be another coming within 3-5 minutes. People walk to take the Metro and are healthier. In fact, the only fat people I saw while visiting Madrid recently were American tourists. The US can only dream of such a system because the fossil fuel and car industries have policy makers in their pockets. Capitalism is one of the most corrupt forms of government in the world.
Edit: Yes, I know capitalism isn't a form of government, it's an economic system, however, corporations and the rich have politicians in their pockets and thus complete control of the system via lobbyists. There is no true Democracy under this repressive regime where the rich get richer, the poor get homeless, and the middle class (the only people that pay taxes because the rich have their loopholes and the poor can't) is being pushed to the brink.
That's the basic standard for metros. There's even a lot of bus lines in Toronto like that. Things are amazing in Madrid, but for many more reasons than just having a metro. :)
Spain is literally a capitalist country as well. That’s why it’s not consumed in poverty like Cuba or Venezuela. Please don’t spread ignorance. The problem with the US is that they’ve made bribes legal in the form of lobbying, so oligarchs and huge companies pay for politicians’ influence. Oligarchy is the problem, not capitalism.
Capitalism isn't a form of government. It's an element of the economy and it comes in many different degrees. Even China has an economy dependent on capitalism, but capitalism has less influence on policy there than it does in the USA. All modern day economies are mixed economies - some have more free market elements and some have more socialistic elements, some are more public-controlled and some are more private-controlled. It's the ratio of the mix that differentiates them.
I loved riding the Madrid metro when growing up and visiting Spain. I loved the sights and sounds, the architecture, the artwork and billboards inside the stations. It's expanded a lot since I last visited years ago. What I like about the current metro is that almost every area of Madrid has a metro station nearby. Even areas kind of on the outskirts of Madrid that are mostly apartment complexes.
I live not too far from Los Angeles and I am kind of surprised how far behind its subway is compared to Madrid and also that there isn't much lines going around Los Angeles. Just recently a couple of new stations opened up in downtown which lacks subway stops. In a few years, there will finally be a couple of subway stops in Beverly Hills, which I think should have been there years ago. To its credit, Los Angeles metro does go to cities outside of Los Angeles.
@@extrapolate capitalism and communism are not neat boxes, it's an infinitely divisible spectrum. Both extremes are bad (capitalism let completely loose, and complete socialism without a market economy at all) but the right way is something in between
This is a subject that I’m obsessed with. I’m so glad you covered it! It’s ridiculous that a small island like our Puerto Rico is so car-dependent. Other big Latin American cities are way ahead of us in this. I’m convinced if more Puerto Ricans travel around Europe and Latin America instead of the awful disconnected suburban nightmare of Florida and the US, they would realize how bad we have it. Our cities and towns were built originally as dense, walkable communities. It’s sad that we abandoned our own heritage and adopted the American suburban sprawl that is so linked to bad health and depression.
Excellent video. I live in Birmingham, UK, a very different city from San Juan in many ways. But what's striking is how parallel the problem of car-centric planning is, and how much it entrenches inequality into the built and natural environment. Around the world, reclaiming public space from private cars is one of the greatest challenges of this century, as this video so effectively demonstrates. Thanks for posting!
Very well worded. Do you happen to work in planning/engineering?
This is what the government of Puerto Rico should be concentrating on. All proceeds from the public transportation can go to fixing and improving the state of PR. Interest on these new cars are horrible. We are constantly bombarded with new cars like if there was a shorted of cars! Social media and TV commercials of selling cars is terrible as these commercials make it look so stylish and look like the "IN THING" to drive in a new car. Bring the railroads and busses back to Puerto Rico and make new jobs!!!!!
That really isn’t a concern for PR gov. They just want cushy jobs. More so than most other corrupt governments. It’s such an a extreme apathy towards anything that it boggles the mind. It is *genuinely* hopeless
"Esta isla tiene demasiados carros y con gente que no sabe conducir" proverbio de Dios
Nooo, no la gente aquí en pr Conduce bastante bien. Ve a la república Dominicana y veras lo que es manejar malo.
I’m surprised PR has so many cars! Surprised they didn’t build a train system for such a densely populated area.
Because they told us trains were the past, and cars were the future, and to modernize we needed cars and pavement. Totally a lie!😢
They told us the same thing in the Bronx let's start getting rid of the EL's
They had a train, they destroyed it.
Puerto Rico was much less densely populated at the time, and every one lived and worked in their neighborhood, so you didn’t have to go far. To say “they destroyed it” is as ignorant as saying that they should have known better 80 years ago.
I will agree there are to many cars, and traffic can be a nightmare, but not every one can live in Old San Juan where you can walk to the neighborhood market and 2 pharmacies and True Value Hardware within 15 minutes.
@@georgehillyer7959 False. Please, try to thibk outside the metro area, not every town and city in Puerto Rico works the same. Also, Puerto Rico started to have actual roads before the USA started to do then, like PR-1 which had a different name under the Spanish colonization. Many haciendas and workers benefited from the different train systems, for example, in the mid 1800s there was something called Tranvía de Sangre, working from the Mayagüez Port and the commercial places near it. There's a website about the railroad history of Puerto Rico, which talks about how it was, the system in each area and town, and even happenings around and about it.
Excellent report. As a Bronx-born and raised "New Yorican", I've only been to my family's homeland once, but it was in 2005 on a 7-day Caribbean cruise out of Miami and I'm hesitant to travel to Puerto Rico especially after my mom passed away in 2019 (just before the Pandemic began). Just as important as building low and middle income housing for puertorriqueños en la isla, and make the island's bus system more user-friendly so that more people can use it, expanding el Tren Urbano (the Urban Train) to Carolina [there were plans to also expand the Tren Urbano to Old San Juan y el aeropuerto] is the most significant step in building confidence island-wide.
Problem with that so called Tren Urbano is that those outside of the capital are helping pay, via gasoline taxes, for something they will not use. Plus, that Tren ubrano is a money loser. Even though it does not make money and loses millions, last month the US agreed to send to the PR. transportation dept. $30 million to fix problems. The money would be better spent on new buses and bus routes but it can only be used on the train which they want to extend.
You don't know what you're missing, what are you afraid of? Go!!!
you should go, i spent a month there in Aquadilla and it was literal paradise, that side of the island is so chill, i spent every day drinking booze and relaxing at crash boat. surfin the waves
Same thing has happened in my home country El Salvador. People drive for two hours just to move 20 km, it's crazy!!!!
Thank you for bringing light to this problem in Latin America
gotta say I love your videos it shows the real Puerto Rico I've been saying for years Puerto Rico could be a Paradise if not for the Corruption of the main Politicians who are not here to help the Citizens but to create chaos so that the Citizens think we need them keep up the good work 😎
Wow, I did not know that the American car-centric development virus was in Puerto Rico. Very educational, but very sad to see a place with such natural beauty ruined like this.
It has left its marks everywhere, even in bicycle havens like the Netherlands. The US during the post war economic boom was really trying their best to globally promote car usage to boost their domestic industries.
In certain islands in Japan has been colonized by cars thanks to US bases being on those same islands .
Also Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, are swamped with cars. Not necessary, because the island fits in the borders of Amsterdam, the Dutch capital with 900,000 inhabitants. If 90 % of the Nassau people would bike, it would improve air quality, health and wealth.
Why call a virus a modern marvel invention? You lets call the cell phone a virus as everyone has their heads buried in their phones and are lacking social skills
@@jaristoppelenburg if people in Netherlands the heaven paradise for bikes and walking has many cars then cars really are a good thing why else would europe have it if it is portrayed as heaven on earth. Netherlands is the New Jerusalem coming down to reign the world.
This is becoming more and more relevant in El Salvador as well. With the terrain it’s had to see a vast rail network though.
The right of way is there. And tracks too. Why not reopen the commuter train to Apopá?
I know right! Wish El Salvador and Puerto Rico urban planning moves towards Japan's urban planning. There needs to be a more efficient way to transport people just like the Japanese figured out! I am always amazed,when I visit Japan,how efficient and walk-able that country is.
@@LaYziELoC7Not happening ever. PR government is hilariously corrupt and inept, and the people just don’t care. It feels like everyone has given up on anything ever getting better here
I relate to Señora Ivonne’s love of public transportation. I love riding public transit, even though the vast majority of people here would never consider anything but driving. There are a few things turning around here - we actually have a decent commuter rail here, in spite of the massive suburban sprawl. I hope that Puerto Rico is able to slowly turn around the damage that’s been done by developers and car manufacturers.
Gracias por tu trabajo de investigación y documentación de lo que ocurre en nuestro país, ¡mucho éxito mija!
. Ustedes mismos tienen la culpa. M
@@andrewc5476 Que?
@@janpena550 Que ustedes tienen la culpa por el problema de tráfico en tu país.
Videos like these should be made worldwide.
Thank you!
As a Puerto Rican living in PA. The amount of traffic and micro aggressive drivers gets to my head I sold our car and are now taking the bus. It is more relaxing but the meetings for public transit are always having a summary of yeah we need better roads and economy. This is not the case the true issue is Having more highways and roads will only lead to more congestion. I have taken The trains and public buses and even though it's filthier apparently I get such relief I can do everything by bus and Uber and Save around 600 a month YES!! 600$ Only spend 50 a month on Uber just because of little getaways as we call it.And 40 a month for bus pass. it is so great not having to drive and just take trains and buses trust me. Back to the issue the USA does seem to take notice but some states like the Fake economic boosts that car dealers provide. But remember folks you never truly own your car unless you pay it off. Basically it's fake money being lended. I hope in the next 5 years we see a really great improvement but only some states have taking this matter more seriously.
The biggest rip off of the last 100 years, the car cult.
GRACIAS POR SER LA VOZ DEL PUEBLO !!!! 🇵🇷
another thing i don't hear brought up enough is employeers
in my experience employers like to have a monopoly on their employees time, they don't like being told "no i can't make it today" even with completely valid reasons like appointments with a doctor or DMV. If they say "be here in five minutes" and you say "the bus dosen't show up for at least an hour" they would likely just fire you and replace you with a car driver who can come running whenever they snap their fingers
This is something I tell my friends and family so much about. We're forced to depend on cars because no policies have been made to make public transportation more accesible. Even just adding a bus only lane on many major streets will drastically reduce wait time for people using public transport. Not to mention that some of the major highway lanes could be turned into railways to bring back the train that was so prevalent in the 1950s. It's such a saddening view to see my beloved homeland reduced to an even more impoverished state just because the people at the top benefit from all the bribes that the fossil fuel industry offers them.
Cars were chosen, no conspiracy.. Our grandparents choose cars in 1950s by buttload.. they hated cold bus or tram they could miss or slip on ice and break leg. Most of US in 1950 had winter, Cali and Florida werent big yet, you try wallking w kids mile in snow daily you morons... Try it.. til 2000 govt kept building roads which allowed 300% pop rise while sucky Europe only grew 50% and mostly kept in cramped centers.. even in frigging europe there is 800 cars per 1000 adults yet this fact is rarely mentioned, 80% of french workers drive to work!!!! And Italian workers. And Finns.... . Sigh... Industry changed in 1950 and people gotta commute farther and not just downtown, people and corps specialized and no big factories with 10k workers, transit never would work with modern workforce... but post 2000 half the states stopped adding roads for green wussies so their kids gotta move to texas for jobs what NIMBYism. Literally not enough roads destroys family closeness, kids for job leave mom and grow apart... since Texas didn't stop roadbuildin and it's grown 300% since 1970, while MN just 40%, cars frigging work, 300%!!!! Gas anf license and car sales tax pays for roads fully... Cars save 1 hour a day so 250 hours a year which at $30/hr wage is $7500 so lets person work or play more so $7000 car is easily worth it.... 80% of Italians drive to work. And Finns. Google statista com French Italy Finnish way of commuting... Cars work. Transit moves just 10% of Finns.. . . . It's hilarious how lies work with us morons, we are morons.. all I've said its true but I expect you to keep thinking it's a car conspiracy, in US, in Italy, in Finland...
People didn't switch to cars because of bribes , lots of cities built things like mono rails but they all failed .
People have no interest in transport where you're forced to socialise with people you look down on and have nothing in common with.
People have different values in life .
The person who sees themself as a traveller will think interacting with strangers is wonderful.
People who don't see themselves like that will get angry that their home town is being used as a bus station to move a bunch of travel zombies around and will buy a car to avoid them
@@raven-sf3di .. in 1930 the husband lived under 2 miles from work or the work was downtown along a bus line. 1970 usually husband was 8 miles from work and not downtown, and 2nd worker now the wife whose work was diff location. Peoples way of working changed, for tech and social reasons, so travel changed to cars. Even in France or Finland about 80% of workers drive to work, despite trying transit don't work well when woorker and job are in separate suburbs ..
Dude the car companies bought the rail cars and took them out, so they could sell us cars, so we buy gasoline. Now the same is happening with electricity.. Tesla is an electric company.
Any proof that the oil companies are bribing politicians to not have buses? 🤣
I hate driving now. I used to love driving, speeding, long road trips even working on cars. Now I hate it, after 20-30min driving puts me to sleep after that fighting traffic and staying awake just multiply the misery of driving
Sounds like you still love driving, but hate urban development of your town
This is what I call a perfect video. Starting with the thumbnail, the text, music, all of it. It's not overdone and amped up. It's just right.
¡Que vídeo tan EXCELENTE!
Bianca tú y tu equipo de trabajo hacen una labor GENIAL con los temas que traen y como los abordan. Le dan un ambiente moderno y fresco a los temas de Puerto Rico.
Gracias por tu trabajo.
The production quality on this video is out of this world. Love all the interviews, too. Just great storytelling.
Another thing I have always agreed upon. Bringing back public transportation enmass.
Driving unfortunately is what people today equate with freedom. That is not in fact actually the case. Urban sprawl and decaying cities are no solution to modern day survival problems. Going off grid or in prepped communities is also running away from the problem. In fact we have a collective mental health problem directly associated with the difficulties surrounding survival and purposeful living.
"Without vision, a people perish!"
- Julius Ceasar.
get the guide here! graulau.gumroad.com/l/transitguide
Justo lo que necesitaba!! 🙏🙏 Gracias
Thank you for the guide. It'll be very useful for me in the future.
Este link funciona. El de la descripción no. Me gusta Santurce pq casi todo está a walking distance. Pero aquí en PR no conviene más tren como el que tenemos… si fuesen a hacer algo así debería ser subterráneo. Pero de donde se saca el dinero?
@@melisaortiz8066 el transporte público no es barato objetivamente, pero sí comparado con las autovías ->
la mayoría de las que hay hoy día se pueden estrechar o eliminar, porque no solo son caras de construir, sino también carísimas de mantener y ampliar
Is there an e mail so I can send you a topic that maybe you can do some digging for us? Hawaii connection...
Consider building subways, elevated rail, and loop lines, a la Tokyo's Yamanote Line.
subways & elevated tracks are extremely expensive, difficult to build & hard to justify anywhere that isn't very densely populated
this is one of the main issues of our current train, along with the short span of the route & (as mentioned in the video) the lack of affordable housing, public & commercial spaces near the stations
Travellers and public transportation advocates in PR must to this day be galled knowing that at one time there was a rail line that encircled the island; discontinued due to greed/profit-based decisions made in a *private* corporate boardroom. While it's sadly not surprising that the needs of the people would be disregarded it that environment, that the government would sell off the rights of way is particularly disappointing. Once the tracks are pulled up and the ROW sold off, it is very challenging to recover and reutilize them as a public resource. Here in the northeast of the continental US, this same problem has become widespread- I imagine much to the delight of the auto and petro industries. Consequences of making bottom line based choices reflecting contemporary conditions without an eye toward the future...
@@Andythecreatureelevated rail could be done, as it can be built to disrupt the surface as little as possible, seen here in the Bayamon stretch of Tren Urbano, as well as the recently opened HART train in Hawaii
@@AndythecreatureIt isn’t impossible. It’s expensive, but it is logistically possible. The problem is the cancerous apathy in the island, and especially the government.
@@noidsuperif the island keeps declining in population and Puerto Ricans are moving to the mainland, what is the point of a railway system? Who will be paying the taxes for the maintenance and employees of the railway system? From an economic standpoint, it wouldn’t make sense as of yet. Taiwan could do such a thing because they have a huge population and they have the labor and money to do it. Taiwan got one of the best public transportation systems in Asia.
Visited San Juan earlier this month and was surprised to learn there was a subway. We stayed in Condado so it was not convenient but I was able to do a bike tour and there were some nice bike lanes in that area. Hope infrastructure on the island continues to get better for residents and visitors
A big misconception. I thought the same during my first visit to PR. That cute little bike lane in Old San Juan is for tourists.....I'm sure a few locals use it but it isn't designed to serve Puerto Ricans. And the entire rest of the island has zero bike lanes.
@@discocycle really appreciate your insight here. We took a trip to Ron del Barrilito distillery andwe could see how bad the auto traffic was from San Juan to Bayamon
@@marcchristopher856 yeah. It's really bad. PR seems amazing when you just stay in San Juan and then it really sucks when you actually live there 😔 Puerto Ricans deserve better
yea once you leave that tiny little metro its gone, i stayed on the west side of the island, there is NOTHING as far as public transit goes on the west side.
A train around Puerto Rico??? Bestill my PR loving autistic heart!
Really want to see society back on trains, streetcars, biking, and walking to commute.
I feel like we really went backwards when we built sprawled out suburbs and dependency to cars. Sure it’s nice in the beginning because everything is new, but over time the upkeep is costly and the infrastructure becomes ugly and outdated, and the roads become cracked.
Great video highlighting all of the issues and the advocates, also fantastic production quality!
One other thing to note is that San Juan's Metro system was supposed to be larger than it is now, hopefully along with building more density around the stations the rest of the system can get built out to what was originally planned (or close to it).
A lot of the tunnels for the Carolina stretch of it are built, but they're bare, no power, rails or station hardware in them.
Yessss!
Thank you for doing this and educating us about Puerto Rico’s transportation system.
Buen reportaje.
I love seeing the growing number of channels talking about the miserable reality of car centric design.
Not just the cost savings, but when using public transit you also walk more instead of sitting down. In the US we've become a nation that sits down at work for 8 hours, sits down in their car fto commute for 1 or 2 hours, and then sits on the couch at home. 65 year old retirees are obese and unable to move healthy because our sedentary lifestyle has destroyed our bones, muscles, health etc. Meanwhile in places with well developed urban infrastructure and public transit people are walking and walking and walking and reach age 75+ and STILL can walk around the city as able-bodied individuals. Just looking at my grandpa that immigrated to the USA to work as a child, and my grandmother in Spain the difference is astounding. My grandpa can barely walk meanwhile my grandma dances, works on her gardens all day, goes for jogs, hikes. It's horrible what car-dependent suburban living has done to create a lazy group of sedentary people. Wall-e was a warning, not something we should become.
Exactly! I came from a third world country and the elders there are more healthier than average retired Americans.
What a great story. I especially love a story with a tangible next step for the individual watching. Looking forward to using the transportation guide! Thank you!!
Muchísimas gracias por arrojar luz sobre esta cuestión.
Se trata de un problema importante también en Estados Unidos, por lo que cambiar la situación de Puerto Rico requerirá un movimiento social de abajo arriba.
Que que que
I remember the first time I saw early construction of the train station, and once opened I could go back and forth from home to High School and beyond especially if you have a bicycle. It’s superb and you get there faster than anything. Love the train.
Even Car Rental is difficult in PR for those who want to be back to visit the island. I don't know why municipal towns removed more and more School Buses and Public Transportations by the turn of the 21st centuries
This is beautiful! En PR me movía en bicicleta, no tenía auto, vivía en Río Piedras y trabajaba en Bayamón, por 10 años estuve haciéndolo. y aún sigo,
Wepa! I live in Rincón and also only move around locally using my bike. I have a car but only use it to travel longer distances to other parts of the island.
I feel like Puerto Rico is one you don't hear very much about when it comes to this history. This was some great info
It’s also a safety issue cause pedestrians in Puerto Rico often get killed trying to get to work
I the early part of the 20th century many people had a habit of going to work on a train, trolley car, bus or other form of mass transit, even though they could afford a car.
they didn't own a car.
Trolley cars, buses and trains were purchased by companies that were bought by the industry that sells cars and things that cars use. They were managed in such a way that the managers ran them into the ground. When people did not have good mass-transit available to them, they felt they needed to buy a car.
Thank you for sharing such a well investigated and developed story. I wish more people from our island would watch this to be informed about how crucial a strong public transportation infrastructure is.
Love to see the anti car-dependency movement spreading around the world. And this is coming from a guy living in London, Canada! 😅
the worst london
@@limbiateshitposter London's getting so much better! NJB shows the worst of it but rarely shows the good stuff.
Celebrate where you live!
Be wary on how harsh anti car-dependency rhetoric so that it does not sound like anti-automobile and cause many people to turn against the movement. Unlike NotJustBikes, Strong Towns understands that it is not about getting rid of the automobile.
@@theonlylolking yep, it's about freedom of choice. And for that to be a thing, safe infrastructure has to be on place.
I’ve tried to get into it myself. If the place is close, I’ll go on bike. Well, that is if my mom let me. She’s scared of cycling on the road , and maybe rightfully so, which I think is another factor.
Another thing about Puerto Rico: it's infested with American pickup 🛻 culture as well. Last time I went I counted and 1 in 5 cars on the highway were pick up trucks.
I've been in Spain for a couple of years now and I haven't seen a single pick up truck. People who need the extra space for work use vans instead.
I don't know if Pick up trucs pay more in tolls or taxes in Puerto Rico, but they should, as the weight of the vehicle greatly impacts the amount of wear and tear of the roads.
99.9% of people who drive trucks, don’t actually need trucks. Trucks are for pulling trailers only
I am Belgian and we have a dense train network which allows us to go almost anywhere by train. Of course it is less flexible than a car and in general in takes a bit longer. Besides the trains, buses and trams, we also love to ride our bicycles, especially in Flanders (northern part of Belgium). As in the Netherlands we have a lot of bicycle infrastructure (not as good as in the Netherlands though) which makes it very practical and healthy to use the bike. On top of that it's cheap too ! It looks like Puerto Rico is having a bit the same disease as the USA : the addiction of the car. But if you raise the number of buses, and change one car lane into a bicycle cane (OMG I am swearing now 😉) you can already change a lot !
The lack of public transit in PR is probably the #1 reason I may never visit this beautiful island. Thank God we still have extensive public transportation throughout most of our great Mexican nation.
You don’t got money for a rental? Lol
@@C1K450 Lol try driving in Jamaica then
Ur gonna be in a crash within an hour 101%
@@C1K450And you wonder why the world hates you arrogant people
@@C1K450he night or not , still he don't wanna drive around , he's a tourist visiting , wouldn't wanna spend all of the time sight seeing to traffic
@@tinienteabanil2922 I've been to PR twice and rented a car each time. No problems at all. Besides, I could drive all over the island with the rental car and see all the sights on my own schedule. A bus would take days due to all the stops.
Estudié la universidad en Mayagüez y no entendía porqué me gustaba tanto ese lugar hasta que eventualmente me mudé a Barcelona: se puede vivir sin carro y en el pueblo tienes todo lo que necesitas a una distancia corta. Supermercado, bares, restaurantes, médicos, farmacias, ferreterías y todo en el mismo entorno en que uno vive.
Creo que en muy pocos lugares en PR se puede vivir así. En Mayagüez por que es el casco histórico es además un "college town". Y es una pena que los cascos históricos de los otros pueblos estén abandonados.
THANK you for making this video! My family lives right by one of the metro stations on the island and I'm here right now visiting. I live in and attend school in NYC atm, and am always appalled by how the metro system here on the island is so OBVIOUSLY held back by corrupt bureocracy.. The potential of human capital here is uncanny. P.R. people are the loveliest human beings to have ever existed. This island is an absolute diamond in the rough, and SHOULD be the most advanced city in the world. The negligence by the U.S. is wild, and the atrocities committed here are some of the worst in history around the world. Thank you!🙏
I grew on the west coast, about 30 miles south of seattle. In my younger days we walked everywhere. After some time I moved back to the south but eventually made my way back to the west coast. The transit system was very good. The buses would connect so you could travel between cities and it didn't take much time. Unfortunately, that started changing and it made people have to buy their own vehicle. Lucky for me, I lived around the corner from work, so I walked. Being able to walk to work was my exercise, it took me 12-15 minutes to get there. Once again, I am in the south and the bus system here isn't as good, so people here have their own vehicle and I am not able to walk like I used to.
I'm so glad that more and more people are realizing the magnitude of this issue. I feel like we're finally waking up.
the "issiue" is bad zoning and putting all the work places in a big city which forces everyone from the suburbs to drive to the city, and thats why you have so much traffic
stop with this hate boner for cars and address the real issue....
@@faustinpippin9208 I'm sorry, but from a practical point of view it's just straight up impossible for all people to live close to their jobs. It's just not gonna work. People need transportation and it's better that this transportation is both environmentally-friendly and efficient.
As for bad zoning, that is 100% caused by cars. Before cars people tended to live in walkable dense neighborhoods with good public transportation. The car lobby pushed for suburbs so that they could sell even more cars.
@@joseguerreiro5943 what? you didnt understood anything of what I just said
you just played the standard:
"car bad, car did all the bad stuff"
playlist from the urbanist youtubuers....
YES!!! And that’s not even mentioning the terrible quality of the roads which damages the cars and we constantly have to pay for repairs, as well as the driving culture where a lot of people drive recklessly, causing tons of accidents that (besides the dangers) make even MORE traffic
The first thing I noticed when I was in Puerto rico was how many condo towers and denser forms of living yet it was still car dependent. San Juan would be absolutely perfect for proper and low cost bus rapid transit.
My brother and mother and I live in PR, we have discussed this several times, the best fix we have come up with is to have a rail line installed over the existing highway system, a raised platform could easily be built over the existing roads so no need to buy up land, and we could have an island wide rail system with stops in every town.
Bianca, excelente reportaje. Puerto Rico necesita más de esto de ver los problemas y sembrar esa semilla para pensar y crear cambios. Un abrazo fuerte. ❤
Vivo en Toronto desde hace año y medio y la verdad me ha aliviado tanto no tener que manejar mi carro por la caótica ciudad (porque lo es) sin embargo el transporte público a pesar de ser tan criticado, me salva la mayor parte del tiempo. Yo vengo de Guatemala y el tráfico en la capital es mucho peor que el que ven en este video pero el sentimiento es prácticamente el mismo: Una desesperación de ver perdidas nuestras horas día a día en un tráfico sin fin por culpa de un deficiente transporte público o inexistente.
In neighboring Dominican Republic we have a similar problem related to cars , but at least we arebuilding monorrail and expanding the metro
Thank you for your hard work making this guide for all to use. Not much is free these days but every little bit helps with kind people like you 😊
It hit me the other day that I literally make just enough money to pay for my bills and my car. Every dollar I make goes to that. So I’m basically making just enough money to pay for a car only so I can use it to get myself back to work again 😂
It’s absolutely horrible. I’m considering just selling my car and using that money to move to a city where I won’t need one.
took u that long to realize eh? i realized how stupid it was when i was 15 and my parents gave me a car, then told my i had to make monthly payments on it, so i had to get a job, just to pay for the fucking car, workin a job i dont want for a car i never even wanted in the first place.
also, now im ranting but i fucking hate driving, its stressful and tedious and annoying, i find my bicycle much more fun to hop on and explore the city with.
Great to see a new perspective in the urbanist discourse on TH-cam! While Puerto Rico's geographical situation is unique, so much of the problem stems from same car centric planning that dominates in the American sphere of influence.
Great video. Car companies and politicians trying to line their pockets have ruined so many cities. btw the way you say puerto rico is amazing
This is such a well made video. I can’t believe it doesn’t have millions of views. You deserve millions of subscribers
PR should show the world how it’s done; the island has, geographically, everything you need for an amazing transit network. I hope it happens
PR. is too mountainous for an amazing transit nework. Maybe, near the flat coast line you could try it but in the interior with the many mountains the following is the reality (the first 1 min. 55 sec.) - th-cam.com/video/r0WY4iFkjoU/w-d-xo.html
At least there are roads in the mountainous areas.
But there are so many mountains...
I personally think a car is absolutely part of living a free life. I go where I want, and stop where I want. During the covid closures, this proved even more so as people headed "out". Out to places they never drove to, stopped in corners to see the sunset, to have picnics and to climb mountains, where a bus could never take them. But I do understand now that there should be a balance in very dense urban areas. The traffic in those areas are unbearable. Find the balance without getting rid cars which ultimately allow us an opportunity to explore locations we never would have had an ability for.
It's not about banning cars, rather to provide more options to move around to the places people want or need to go to.
Excellent video, Bianca. Excellent work. For the short term, I totally agree with the idea of pushing for more buses, routes, and frequency. For the long term, Tren urbano must expand. It is running poorly because Phase 1 was not even completed. It was not meant to be one route. Sadly, even the original route was not able to reach the final stop. It was originally designed to reach the Old San Juan. Such a loss for passengers not being able to continue the ride under Santurce. I regret so much this project did not move forward, for passengers now to be able to travel further to the Centro de Convenciones, Miramar, El Capitolio, and reach El Viejo San Juan. Why did we stopped there!? Please, we need to continue the same system, the same train, the same expansion to Caguas, Condado, Carolina. Powerful interests and Ideology are over common sense. To my understanding, Tren Urbano was originally designed over 50+ years ago. Public Transportation planning, design, and implementation should be one voice for the common good. It is a right for the whole society, no matter the race, social class or political party. Big Corp + Misinformation + Ideology is our problem, obstructing our quality of life, lacking public transportation is affecting everyone, polluting our environment, and only favoring the rich and the powerful interests of the car and related industries.
I'm so glad to see a video on car dependency focusing on Puerto Rico! We've built ourselves into a corner with our cities and roads trying to imitate the suburban style of the US. And the result is doubly worse; our roads are constantly poorly maintained and deteriorated, just about every major road is frequently congested and even in the urban core it's hard to move around anything other than a car. Personally I enjoy taking public transit, and it's a shame that what we have of it is so poorly taken care of. The buses, save for a few routes are incredibly unreliable and are mostly useful if you're taking your time and don't mind waiting up to 90 minutes per bus, as the drivers take their sweet time between rides, get stuck in traffic and there's no way to track them (The government couldn't afford the GPS system they used to have so it's been removed). The train works fairly well, but as said in the video it doesn't serve anyone who really needs it and the areas surrounding them are almost all abandoned. Even the stations themselves are falling apart. My dad has to go through a nearly 3 hour commute just to get to the train station, so that he can get to work. That says just how messed up our public transit and car dependency is. I've been staying in Illinois and while the suburban bus system (Pace) has its issues, it's way more reliable and takes you to lots of places. And don't even get me started on how amazing CTA is within the Chicago area, when I go visit it. Buses at every corner that arrive exactly as told and can be tracked, and the L is really fun to take, not to mention how much distance it covers. I know CTA, Pace and Metra aren't perfect, but coming from PR where you have the bare minimum of public transit they are a godsend.
I sadly don't see PR changing their situation anytime soon. Like all our issues, only a small few care and the vast majority either sees nothing wrong, doesn't care, or ends up leaving for a better quality of life. That said, the ATI, who manages the Tren Urbano is starting to do evaluations with public opinion for the extensions to the train that were promised years ago, so I encourage anyone in PR who reads this to look it up at DTOPs site and leave a message! I'm skeptical that anything will come of it, but it's worth a shot. Recently a bus route opened to Caguas, so maybe our public transit has a future?
Also, hints for anyone that may need to move around bus in PR: Certain routes are privately owned and are some of the more reliable routes, and they can even be tracked through an app called First Transit Puerto Rico! It's not much, but it's something if you happen to live near or need these routes sometime. There is also an app/website called TrenUrbanoApp that shows live train arrival times, as well as a map of every bus route. Google Maps also seems to have been updated recently with all transit routes in PR and a timetable that unfortunately can't be relied on, but it's an okay estimate for when a bus may arrive.
Time to end this long comment haha. Absolutely wonderful video, and thank you especially for the subtitles! I can finally show something about car dependency to my parents lol
Great reply!! The car dependency in Puerto Rico is really something very very sad, especially in combination with the high level of poverty. It's a damn shame that people should be forced to pay for and maintain a car 🚗 when so many people have such a low income.
Hi Bianca! Big Fan here of your content. I liked the video but I think there was one element missing from your investigation. It’s important to highlight that highway and road construction was funded via the US Federal Government. And given the colonial relationship with the US, and lack of counter imagination from previous political leaders, we got what we got. A carbon copy of US planning in a tropical setting. It’s important to note that the colonial relationship does not always lead to this. See Singapur, Hong Kong, etc. the dependence on the car in PR is yet another element people that argue for sovereignty should deeply think restructuring. It seems like a daunting task but in the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Maria, the question becomes one of what do you construct new vs what do you preserve. Anyway. It would be nice to see similar videos that explore colonialism and transportation…
Great report and such an important topic.
Amazing work as always! Years ago I lived in Perú for two years and I can count how many times I used a private car. Peru's public transportation system was not always the most pleasant but it was highly efficient and affordable. Between taxis, moto-taxis and buses, it provided options for all kind of situations. In 2 years I learned to get around a massive metropolis and enjoyed the experience. I started driving again when I returned to PR.
Thanks Bianca for making these videos.
Estender desde la estacion de bayamon, a levitown y le das acceso rapido al tren a una zona de alta densidad, volviendolos los principales usuarios y fuente de ingreso constante. Luego expandir de sagrada al aeropuerto, tal que puedas para irte de viaje parar en cualquier estacion en vez de pagar parking del aeropuerto. Y luego otra ruta a la isleta de SJ tal que tienes la rama de turismo.
Sedentarism is optional. I drive everyday and after work I go for a walk to exersice. Educate the people in being healthier and lets cut off on the fast food epidemic that is the real culprit of the overweight issues of today. But thats another topic.
That's another video to be made, but for most people, healthy eating is mot financially feasible.
@@LouisSubearthHonestly I've always found that to be misinformation. Plenty of cheap ways to eat healthier
Just because car-centric cities are not the only factor in determining people's activity levels doesn't mean it doesn't play a part. In car-centric cities, people have to go out of their way to exercise, which decreases the activity level in most people, in addition to them not getting the exercise of going to and from places.
@racool911 It is possible, however there's also a time factor. Like how taking the time to procure and prep meals with all other life responsibilities can be daunting if say you're living by yourself and you have long shifts at work or something. It's a multi sector problem.
In many parts of the US the train station is in the worst part of town and they aren't safe. The BART is a good example. People get assaulted and robbed. Even with cameras, no one seems to know who is doing it. One of life's mysteries.
I can't believe I've never looked at Puerto Rico on Google Maps before. I was surprised to see that the way it (mostly San Juan) has developed has basically followed the same pattern that the US has. Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised as it is part of the US. Highways everywhere, separation of residential and commercial use, and large retailers like Walmart and Costco with gigantic parking lots that centralize economic activity and drain wealth from residents. Very similar to Hawaii actually. The Suburban Experiment may work for wealthy people, at least for a while, but forcing it upon people who can't afford it just depresses upward mobility even more. What a sad, crazy thing we've done to our own people.
The answer and reason are the very effective lobbying pressure and campaign by the auto & oil industries. Plus, in the USA there is a perception that mass transit is a socialist solution vs a capitalist solution.
The obvious and less destructive to the economy, is the merge the best from the capitalist transportation ideology with the best with from the socialist mass transit ideology.
There are some stupid comments about that here... and that "roads are in the constitution"...
Yo quiero muchas cosas para el futuro de PR. Una de ellas es un futuro con transportacion acesible que ponga como prioridad a la comunidad
No lo podremos tener porque hay gente como esta chica q quiere q PR sea independiente. Mucha gente no piensa q la independencia no es para todo el mundo
Production quality of this video is impressive. This girl's going places.
Nice video. I was riding a city bike the other day through the city I'm in and I got upset at all the cars on the road. Seeing how bad it is in Puerto Rico truly makes me appreciate what I do have here 😊
El carro ha sido promovido porque se promueve el endeudamiento. Es el segundo préstamo más grande que hace la clase obrera y pobre después de la hipoteca.
I hate driving so much! The happiest time in my life was living on a college campus where I walked and biked to get around.
Yup lived just fine without a car for a decade in isolated college towns. Also has the benefit of better transit since they have to cater to poor students and limited campus parking. Now I live in the suburbs of a big metro and definitely less desirable and practical to walk and use transit, even with a tram stop in my city. Biking is only a thing for the homeless here.
It's a problem that is aggravated by multiple factors. I live in Mexico City, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, here people tend to associate owning a car with luxury when the reality is that it's just another way of traveling. We also have the problem of poor government expenditure to maintain and improve public transportation and we also have the problem of high crime rates, many people get robbed while using the bus or the subway to travel which adds a reason to try and get a car, if income allows it, people will just buy a car, many of those who travel by public means do so because they can't afford anything else. It's just not an economic and demographic issue but a cultural issue, we need a holistic evolution in security, government investment in infrastructure, demographic distribution, economics, mentality and education.
I had a roommate who used a little moped to get around. It was also for work, as he had a rear cargo box mounted on the back for Postmates and DoorDash orders.
Problem is that the streets were more favored for cars and the motorists were really abusive towards him, they would try to brake check or swerve into him, other times honking at him or throwing coins at him to try and make him crash. But he was able to endure and could park in more places than a car and used less gas to get around for his deliveries.
Moped are popular in the Netherlands too, if you do not want to cycle.
@@mardiffv.8775 Oh yeah, that’s what my cousin told me, and he lived over there for a year.
Because it makes the car companies more money
Because there are bigger profits in selling cars than selling transit. Its always money 💰💰💰
Yup!
I live in Los Angeles California it's very similar. Traffic and the necessity to own and maintain an automobile is oppressive on so many levels.
Another interesting things about a society that is built around the car, is that it creates isolation with it's residents. Because business and essential services were located at the town where the same people can maintain them, but with cars we are forced to used them in order to get to them, because the logic behind it is that everyone can get to it.
We should be really critical in the way we think about Technology because it affects the way we interact with one another.
I disagree. Driving is one of the last great pleasures we have left these days. I use to live in Seattle, where there is always crazy traffic, and they also have a good public transit system, but I never used it because I love driving and would much rather sit in traffic in my own vehicle than ride public transport.
I think driving is more stressful than anything for most people.
@noidsuper yeah I know a lot of people feel that way, but it's always been a pleasure escape for me. I used to actually hop in the car and just go drive when I was stressed, with no destination in mind and be gone for hours without ever actually stopping anywhere along the way. Not so much anymore though with the cost of gas these days lol. Also, anytime I went on a road trip with anyone, I always drove because I enjoyed driving so much.
I lived in Berlin Germany, and it was incredible to be able to use clean, dependable transit to get to within 300 feet of almost any point in the city, and the country through the rail system. That was freedom. Sadly many Americans, especially republicans think the car is freedom.
Sadly, Many Americans do not think Hitler was a National Socialist.
Can you get to with 300 feet of every part of your country on a train?
Also Democrats use cars, and Obama bailed out the car industry. I don't like blanket statements . For some people having a car is a freedom , for others it isn't. A family that has 5 kids, might not find it convenient to take a metro especially if those kids are in strollers.
@@imperialmotoring3789doesn't mean that you should use a car for all the times you can
@@grassytramtracks I use the "L" train when I go downtown. I bike to work often weather and energy leftover form work permitting. But that matters not. Let it be my choice, not the government's dictate.
If I want to get out of the city I drive. I have a car collection and the government is not taking my collection away. I do not want the government forcing anything upon me when it comes to transportation, healthcare, housing or education.
Just secure the border like is your MAIN duty government.
Fun fact, puerto rico once had the finest rail network with all the private operators that once had everything you could imagine and connections that made peak Philly rail transit look like it was bare bones.
As a Mexican tourist, I LOVE going to the States, but one of the things I miss the most is walking long distances :(
as an american tourist, from a city with ZERO public transit, i loved visiting mexico city and using the subway/metro!