The major cities of the United States should really look to other countries for examples on improving public transportation. Most of the U.S. has had the luxury of lots of open space for the last 200+ years, so only a few areas have really had a concern with serious traffic congestion. And as one of the wealthiest nations of the world, there has been an excess of inexensive cars. For other countries, population density and limited ability to afford cars meant there was a greater need for public transportation. They have many years more experience at it then the U.S.
I lived in German for about 4 years and I was thoroughly impressed by their public transportation network. By bike, bus and train I was able to get just about anywhere, from big cities all the way down to small farm villages. In Heidelberg, many people commuted by train from the "country" into down-town where they had their bike to get to work or around down-town. As I recall, there were several hundred bike chained up in a large plaza in front of the train station. For 3 of the 4 years I lived there, I commuted to work by bike (between 6-12 miles per day). They have bike trails or dedicated bike lanes all througout most of the major cities and the motorist were very alert and conciderate of the bikers.
I very much agree with Zach regarding the train system design in the Chicago area. In order to be an effective system, there have to be cross-line so that someone does not have to go into a hub just to turn around and come back out again to get where you really want to go. The problem is that funding is most likely being taken for the never-ending expansion and repair of the roads. Kind of a vicious cycle that is... expand the public transportation in an effort to reduce road use, but can't afford to because demand of public is for improved roads.
Ultimately, I think it is going to require a serious change in the city management. There are many benefits of having walkers and bicyclists making up the majority of down-town traffic instead of cars, such as reduced pollution, less frequent and much more minor street repairs, and safety of pedestrians from motorists. They just need to get past the idea that roads are the answer and start seriously encouraging the public to leave the car at home.
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"No one gave us a guidebook for managing a planet. We're writing it ourselves now, from hard experience." - Earth by David Brin
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