How to Design Public Transit

I don't know why people don't understand this already but here is how to design a public transit system for any city over 1 million people.

1) Force individuals to make economic choices in which cars do not constitute the free option. If you want to drive into the area covered by transit, you pay. And you pay more than you would for the equivalent journey using the public system. So 4 people can make a trip in a car for the same price as 4 people making trips using transit but it is 4x as expensive for 1 person. This does not include gas or parking as expenses. You pay a user fee for the roads. Fees are structured by time of day and day of week and bills are either delivered to you or you can set up an account and have the fees removed from your bank account.

2) All modes of the system, including cars, must link up in nodes - this is simple to the point of being obvious. However, plan the location of nodes carefully; locating a node will instantly increase the value of the land around it. Montparnasse - Bienvenüe station in Paris is the basis for my understanding of the geography of France.

3) Keep most of the street for slow moving traffic. Subways or monorails (Lord knows I love a good monorail) or other forms of fast transit should have their own level so as not to screw with pedestrians and bikes. Sidewalk widths should be a matter of careful calibration not application of some "one case fits all rule". The Right to the Street is real for people (as in people walking or standing not people driving). A lot of people like biking. I don't. I don't like bikers either. In a system dominated by cars they sneak up on you in the right turn lane and scare the crap out of you. Keep cars and bikes separate as much as possible.

4) Retrofitting costs a fortune. Manhattan's subways were originally owned by private companies and some cars still can't run on some lines because of track differences. Do whatever the Chinese are doing. This isn't because the Chinese are always right but because they are building subways at a rate the rest of the world cannot compete with and they are going to set the standard for dimensions forever and ever.

5) This is the important bit! Don't try to figure out the lowest possible level of service that people won't complain about and then deliver it in the shittiest way possible. Instead imagine the transit system you would have if Jesus Christ in all his glory parted a cloud and said, "I love public transit more than the meek, the peace-makers, and those who hunger for righteousness combined!" Then do not charge passengers based on the cost of running the system. The system is there for the good of the city - like potable water and the fire department. Taxes pay for the system, users contribute with user fees. But the fee is like a contribution. Expecting the users to pay for a transit system is like expecting the visitors to pay for your national art gallery. If that was all the money your art gallery had, you would be displaying shit your kids drew in school.
So after you've got the system (mixes of every type or modality you want) that you think Jesus would approve of then trim the very fattest bit. Just a little nip. Like you are cooking - no fat means no flavour, too much and you die of a heart attack.

6) Continue to make adjustments and put as much new money improving your transit system each year as you do your roads - including snow removal and all that shit. And by "transit system" I don't mean buying a new bus! That's cheating. You have to buy new equipment all the time. Buying a new snow plough doesn't come from the highway budget. You know you have succeeded when normal people say, "oh fuck I don't want to take the car!" even when it will be faster and the same price to do so.

Note: There will always be a problem with what I call the "Lazy as Hell Complication". This is when taking transit involves walking five minutes to get to a stop (where a super-fast and incredibly comfortable vehicle will be waiting to whisk you away to your destination for a very very low price) but the user still complains because five minutes is too long to spend walking. If you live in a country where temperature reach such extremes that 5 minutes exposure could kill a person, then you have a problem. Otherwise, you don't.