经济学人:城市公共交通脱离正轨(1)

 Urban transport: Off the rails 城市交通：脱离正轨

Public transport is ailing¹ in the rich world. It should co-opt the competition 发达国家的公共交通发展情况不容乐观，应当引入竞争机制

To those who have to squeeze onto the number 25 bus in London, or the A train in New York, 对于那些不得不挤上伦敦25路公共汽车或纽约A号火车的人来说，

the change might not be noticeable. 公共交通的变化可能并不明显。

But public transport is becoming less busy in those cities, and in others besides. 但是在伦敦、纽约这样的城市，公共交通越来越没那么拥挤了。

Passenger numbers are flat or falling in almost every American metropolis³, and in some Canadian and European ones, too. That is despite healthy growth in urban populations and employment. 在美国、加拿大以及欧洲，尽管城市人口和就业在不断增长，但是几乎每座大城市的乘客数量都不再增长或已在下降。

Nose-to-armpit travellers may be even more surprised to hear that the emptying of public transport is a problem. 公共交通系统因为乘客太少而成为问题，天天被挤扁了的旅客们知道这一点可能会倍感惊讶。

Although transport agencies blame their unpopularity on things like roadworks and broken signals, 尽管交通运输机构将其不受欢迎的原因归咎于道路施工和信号故障，

it seems more likely that they are being outcompeted. 但公共交通似乎更有可能在竞争中败下阵来。

App-based taxi services like Uber and Lyft are more comfortable and convenient than trains or buses. “优步”和“来福车”等基于应用程序的出租车服务比火车或公交车更舒适、更方便。

Cycling is nicer than it was, and rental⁴ bikes are more widely available. 单车服务比以前更好，租自行车也更普遍。

Cars are cheap to buy, thanks to cut-rate loans, and ever cheaper to run. 低息贷款使得购车门槛降低，同时汽车的使用成本也比过去低廉。

Online shopping, home working and office-sharing mean more people can avoid travelling altogether. 网络购物、在家办公以及共享办公室意味着更多人能避免在同一时间点出行。

The competition is only likely to grow. 竞争只会越来越激烈。

More than one laboratory is churning out new transport technologies and applications. 很多实验室正在全力研发新的运输技术和应用程序。

Silicon⁵ Valley invented Uber and, more recently, apps that let people rent electric scooters and then abandon them on the pavement. 创造优步的硅谷最近发明的应用让人们可以租用电动车，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. 中国创造了共享单车和电池驱动的“电动自行车”，这两种自行车都在迅速普及。

Some inventions will fail, or will be regulated out of existence 某些发明要么失败，要么被禁止

(at one point, Segways were the future). （曾经一度，电动代步车“赛格威”就代表着未来的发展趋势）。

But new ideas, including driverless taxis, are coming around the corner. 然而，包括无人驾驶出租车在内的一些新模式即将出现。

Mass transport is much less nimble. 公共交通缺乏敏捷灵巧性。

As New York's Second Avenue subway, London's Crossrail and Amsterdam's North-South metro² line have shown, 纽约的第二大道地铁、伦敦的横贯城铁、阿姆斯特丹南北地铁线已经表明，

building new train lines is now incredibly complicated and expensive. 现在修建新轨道交通线非常复杂，且造价高昂。

 

1 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

2 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

3 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

4 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

5 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。