Unfortunately, mass transit systems only work well in compact, densely populated urban areas like those in the Northeast, or in countries like Japan. I grew up in South Philly, and the mass transit was efficient because the city is deigned like a gigantic grid, making the system simple and user friendly. You can get to any point in the city by taking one north/south bus and then transferring to one east/west bus. Also, the city is so compact that once you got off the bus you could easily walk to your destination. However, while the mass transit system in Philly may have been efficient, you spent your life living like a sardine in a dirty, claustrophobia inducing, congested maze of asphalt and concrete with very little that is green; and I would certainly not describe it as being “healthy”. Many people do not want to live like that; which is precisely why I moved to Florida, and why for decades there has been a mass exodus from the inner cities to the suburbs, as well as from the rustbelt to the sunbelt as a whole. The problem is as population density decreases and things become more spread out and less designed like a grid (which is more desirable to many), mass transit become nearly impossible to implement efficiently as it becomes increasingly non linear, confusing, and complicated. (This is particularly unfortunate for our elderly population who would benefit most from mass transit). So, basically, to escape the horrors of the city, you are condemned to the automobile as the only efficient means of transportation and, conversely, to have an efficient mass transit system you are condemned to living in an asphalt jungle. Like most things, it is a two edged sword.
