Raise the Hammer

wow, frank, i just don't know where to begin! you suggest that "buses also cause as much damge to the road as 35-100 cars." well, which is it? that is a wide range. or do you suggest that a bus with twice as many people on it causes twice as much damage to a road?
the principle mechanism for road failure is the weight of a vehicle comprimising the asphalt layer through distortion of the gravel road base. thus, the heavier a vehicle, the more damage it does to a road. the relationship is, of course, not entirely linear because there are upper and lower limits, ie, something that weighs to little will never damage a road, and something that weighs too much will cause immediate failure. however, bith cars and busses and heavy trucks fall within these limits.

so, getting back to your assertion, for argument sake we will assume that the average passenger vehicle weighs around 3,000 pounds, give or take. plus possible passengers and payload capacity of 500 pounds. 3500 pounds. in order for a bus to do the same amount of damage to a road you suggest that it weighs between 125,500 and 350,000 pounds?!? that is with passengers of course. in reality a bus weighs between 25,000 and 30,000 pounds average with a maximum grvw of around 40,000lbs. in other words the most a bus can weigh fully loaded is around 13 times more than the average car and not the 35-100 times you pin your arguement on. there in lies the beauty and efficiency of public transit. buses carry 5 fold more weight of passenger than a private automobile per pound of machine by design. even if people all used their cars to their peak of efficiency which they don't and very few can, it still wouldn't be close to the savings a bus offers.

as to your comments about subsidies for trains, what world do you live in? the major problem with trains is that they are slower than trucks not faster. and i don't have any numbers but the idea of passenger trains using tracks and subsidizing rail maintainance is just plain wrong. the amount of passenger rail by revenue in this country is a drop in the bucket compared with freight. it is true that Via uses CN and CP lines and pays a fee but by that arguement bus riders also subsidize road construction because they pay fares, part of which is used to buy deisel which is taxed, part of which is used to build and maintain roads. we could make lengthy relationships between a ham sandwich and afghan opium production as well but really, what would be the point?.

replying to these inane posts makes me want to see how much more damage a bus causes by testing it with my head!