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Urban transport: Off the rails
城市交通：脫離正軌
Public transport is ailing in the rich world. It should co-opt the competition
發達國家的公共交通發展情況不容樂觀，應當引入競爭機制
To those who have to squeeze onto the number 25 bus in London, or the A train in New York,
對于那些不得不擠上倫敦25路公共汽車或紐約A號火車的人來說，
the change might not be noticeable.
公共交通的變化可能并不明顯。
But public transport is becoming less busy in those cities, and in others besides.
但是在倫敦、紐約這樣的城市，公共交通越來越沒那么擁擠了。
Passenger numbers are flat or falling in almost every American metropolis, and in some Canadian and European ones, too. That is despite healthy growth in urban populations and employment.
在美國、加拿大以及歐洲，盡管城市人口和就業在不斷增長，但是幾乎每座大城市的乘客數量都不再增長或已在下降。
Nose-to-armpit travellers may be even more surprised to hear that the emptying of public transport is a problem.
公共交通系統因為乘客太少而成為問題，天天被擠扁了的旅客們知道這一點可能會倍感驚訝。
Although transport agencies blame their unpopularity on things like roadworks and broken signals,
盡管交通運輸機構將其不受歡迎的原因歸咎于道路施工和信號故障，
it seems more likely that they are being outcompeted.
但公共交通似乎更有可能在競爭中敗下陣來。
App-based taxi services like Uber and Lyft are more comfortable and convenient than trains or buses.
“優步”和“來福車”等基于應用程序的出租車服務比火車或公交車更舒適、更方便。
Cycling is nicer than it was, and rental bikes are more widely available.
單車服務比以前更好，租自行車也更普遍。
Cars are cheap to buy, thanks to cut-rate loans, and ever cheaper to run.
低息貸款使得購車門檻降低，同時汽車的使用成本也比過去低廉。
Online shopping, home working and office-sharing mean more people can avoid travelling altogether.
網絡購物、在家辦公以及共享辦公室意味著更多人能避免在同一時間點出行。
The competition is only likely to grow.
競爭只會越來越激烈。
More than one laboratory is churning out new transport technologies and applications.
很多實驗室正在全力研發新的運輸技術和應用程序。
Silicon Valley invented Uber and, more recently, apps that let people rent electric scooters and then abandon them on the pavement.
創造優步的硅谷最近發明的應用讓人們可以租用電動車，用完后放在人行道上即可。
China created dockless bicycles and battery-powered "e-bikes", both of which are spreading.
中國創造了共享單車和電池驅動的“電動自行車”，這兩種自行車都在迅速普及。
Some inventions will fail, or will be regulated out of existence
某些發明要么失敗，要么被禁止
(at one point, Segways were the future).
（曾經一度，電動代步車“賽格威”就代表著未來的發展趨勢）。
But new ideas, including driverless taxis, are coming around the corner.
然而，包括無人駕駛出租車在內的一些新模式即將出現。
Mass transport is much less nimble.
公共交通缺乏敏捷靈巧性。
As New York's Second Avenue subway, London's Crossrail and Amsterdam's North-South metro line have shown,
紐約的第二大道地鐵、倫敦的橫貫城鐵、阿姆斯特丹南北地鐵線已經表明，
building new train lines is now incredibly complicated and expensive.
現在修建新軌道交通線非常復雜，且造價高昂。
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