Living in Miami, we are a car society out here, however, if you had to choose an option, where I live, we have something called the MetroRail which runs through certain neighborhoods in Miami Dade County. When gas hit $4/gal last summer, there were a slew of people who tried it out for the first time to take it from the 'burbs to downtown Miami, etc. I'd recommend it if you lived close enough to a rail station and worked near a station.

In Seattle, our city officials are pushing for more light rail options vs. buses. I'm a big fan of light rail and subways.

1) Light Rail carries more commuters then buses do.

2) Light rail stations are often desirable locations for commuters and spur local businesses in the area (Just look at the BART stations in San Francisco).

3) Once light rail is up and running, both infrastructure and train cars are more durable and less expensive to maintain than a fleet of buses and the roads they travel according to the Portland Tribune: "A rail car can last up to 60 years; a bus can last maybe a quarter of that. Every bus needs one driver, while one driver can pilot a train several cars long. That means a lower payroll. And electricity is cheaper than gas."

It's a shame that Seattle used to be a city that had light rail and trolleys back in the day. As a result, a majority of metro buses run on the old electrical lines so making a switch to light rail wouldn't be a major deal (i think).

Let's face it, in the city of Seattle you're going to need both -- light rail and buses -- to survive. Bus and light rail systems are both valuable in the proper context. The major advantage of light rail transit (or streetcars, like Portland’s) is its permanence -- like what Seattlesounders mentioned.

Light Rail tends to promote dense, sustainable development along the train routes. Bus transit lines don't inspire the same kind of investment from developers and businesses because many people dislike buses and - more importantly - bus routes can always be changed, the possibility of which often gives developers second thoughts. At the same time, buses can help feed transportation from the 'burbs to Rail Stations (Kent - Tacoma - Kirkland, etc) and help alleviate congestion on the highways. You see that with San Jose's Cal Train system feeding from the South Bay to San Francisco's BART system.

@ms.snarkalicious

Would you also not add that the reason for people not pushing for bus development is snob appeal? Mainly that buses serve poorer neighborhoods whereas rail developments go through denser, often more expensive neighborhoods? That and people don't want to associate with the crazies on buses (not like you don't get that on Rail cars but it's perceived as a 'nicer ride).

Mixed light rail, regional rail, buses and personal transportation is the right answer, generally speaking, because there are so many different levels of travel. We're never going to eliminate cars carrying one person to a destination, but we can substantially reduce the intra-local congestion while making the engines driving all the different modes of transportation cleaner. Overall, that's cleaner and cheaper than the eccentric travel that characterized the 20th century (one person per car going to the same places), which will still allow people to go where they need to go (sometimes in their own car by themselves).

@ RedLetterDuke

I've yet to meet anyone who's used a Van Car Pool. For those who live in the 'burbs in gated developments, I am positive those people would not be caught dead on a bus.

Will we see more mass transit options in your neighborhood? House passed The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. We'll wait to see if it passes the Senate but...The House-Senate conference recovery bill supplies $8.4 billion for transit projects, and an additional $8 billion for high-speed rail, according to Center for American Progress. Good news for the economy? It would put Americans back to work to the tune of nearly 20,000 jobs for every $1 billion invested in mass transit, analysts say.

Fact: Only 30 percent of Metro buses have air conditioning. Did I fail to mention that Seattle posted it's hottest temp on record, 102? Read it in the Seattle P-I. "King County Metro is warning people that their ride home could get uncomfortably hot." That's a score for light rail development...

According to the AP: Transportation and housing programs would get generous funding increases under legislation adopted by a Senate panel July 30."

We're looking at a $117 billion transportation and housing measure. The bill adds $480 million, or 26 percent to Obama's request for new or expanded grants to local governments for mass transit programs such as purchases of new cleaner-fueled buses.

How feasible or practical is it for someone to commute via bike? How many bike friendly cities are there in the US? Seattle can be considered one, same for Portland, but could you say the same for Chicago or LA?