entremet
Member
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-their-cars?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business
It also said that those who come into work via rideshares, mass transit, and bikes are more energized and refreshed.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
We Are Subsidizing Rich Suburbanites to Clog Cities With Their Cars
- Thread starter entremet
- Start date
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-their-cars?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business
It also said that those who come into work via rideshares, mass transit, and bikes are more energized and refreshed.
hydrophilic attack
Member
american cities are so badly designed with their focus on car commuting
My fiancée started a new job this year where, instead of working downtown where she could take a 25-minute train every day, she'd have to drive for an hour. It took about two months before we decided that we'll be moving further east to take advantage of a different train that goes in that direction. It's just too big of a quality of life hit. Driving fucking blows, and doing it for an hour each way, sometimes more, really takes its toll on you after a while.
Skellig Gra
Member
That's only because our public transit sucks. If it was quick and efficient you wouldn't mind at all.
.la1n
Member
I used public transit for years until I moved where it wasn't an option. Driving to and from work is the bane of my existence.
Karsticles
Member
Outside of all the weirdos, I liked Chicago's elevated train system quite a bit and preferred it to driving. But I also prefer to take a train across the country instead of driving or flying, so maybe I'm the odd one here.
yankeehater
Member
I have an hour commute to work each way every day. It does indeed suck. *I keep trying to find a school closer to me but no luck so far.
Nope. I have a free pass to use the buses in my town. I'd just rather drive. I had enough of buses in school.
entremet
Member
Most were designed with the automobile in mind. It just doesn't scale well in high-density areas.
European cities were pre-automobile, so narrower streets, denser urban planning, and so on.
djplaeskool
Member
Improve public transit a little
then maybe.
Until then, no way in hell.
My actual commute (after having moved to be closer to my office):
vs
Fuck MARTA (Atlanta)
a lot
Until then, no way in hell.
My actual commute (after having moved to be closer to my office):
vs
Fuck MARTA (Atlanta)
Chmpocalypse
Blizzard
Sounds like a short commute compared to SoCal. I've been doing an hour one way for most of my time living in this state (almost 20 years now). Gives me more time for singing practice, so I don't even mind it anymore. : )
Other way for me. I love having 30-60min each day to read rather than having to focus on the road.
Youd understand if having a car wasnt an option for you. Or if you have to work in a place like DC where theres no free parking and a fuckload of traffic, its just not worth driving
Phrozenflame500
Member
Definitely in denser urban areas, combined with more investment into public transit.
kind of a chicken and egg problem. if more non-poor white people started using public transit, the quality would probably improve dramatically
You can read and browse gaf while you drive. It's not hard. If you get desperate, there's always books on tape.
Improve public transit a littlethen maybe.a lot
Until then, no way in hell.
My actual commute (after having moved to be closer to my office):
vs
Fuck MARTA (Atlanta)
The idea here is that ending subsidies which discourage improvements is one small step towards those improvements.
Honestly even in NY having a car outside of Manhattan is more convenient than not, because getting to another borough without going into the city first is difficult and time-consuming.
entremet
Member
Read and browse GAF while you drive? I'm guessing you have tons of traffic to deal with lol.
AbortedWalrusFetus
Member
I really sincerely hope you are not doing this.
travisbickle
Member
Yeah, you shouldn't do that.
CloudyTuba
Member
It's horrible. Public transportation exists mostly as a last resort here rather than a primary means. Everyone has to own a car and know how to drive. I've never lived any other way but I hate it. Such a waste. The infrastructure is so bad that it's not practical to use for most people unless they want to wake up at 3am for a 3 hour bus ride every day.
I'm going to be travelling around the London area soon where I hear a lot of people don't even know how to drive. I'd be in heaven if I was ever in the position to sell my car and go without. I've never enjoyed driving.
According to google maps, if I took public transportation home, it would take 3 hours and 10 minutes and would involved 40 minutes of walking.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Our reliance on cars is making us fatter too 
That's cuz American public transport sucks ass compared to Asia and Europe.
That's cuz American public transport sucks ass compared to Asia and Europe.
Gentleman Jack
Member
My drive to work is >1hr and I have to pay for parking.
Taking transit to work would take ~90 minutes and adds a 15 minute walk from the station to my office.
Urban design and rent spikes have fucked modern urban life. Rather, they've made the fucked state the status quo and everyone eventually resigns themselves to the notion that this is an intractable problem.
Taking transit to work would take ~90 minutes and adds a 15 minute walk from the station to my office.
Urban design and rent spikes have fucked modern urban life. Rather, they've made the fucked state the status quo and everyone eventually resigns themselves to the notion that this is an intractable problem.
theepicoftyler
Member
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
That's so irresponsible! Besides, I don't have time to read and browse gaf while I'm driving since I'm already too preoccupied with drinking.
Maintenance
Member
AbortedWalrusFetus
Member
So glad I don't live in a city with terrible transit infrastructure. Taking mass transit is so much more relaxing. I do it whenever I can.
One of these they will fix right?Improve public transit a littlethen maybe.a lot
Until then, no way in hell.
My actual commute (after having moved to be closer to my office):
vs
Fuck MARTA (Atlanta)
djplaeskool
Member
This sounds similar to the issue I have in Atlanta. I moved just within the border to Gwinnett County, which has reliably shut down all attempts to improve transit interconnection between it and the city proper due to "the MARTA element" (read: dear god keep the poor black people away). I actually have to walk back into Fulton county to catch an in-network bus to even get the ball rolling.
I just don't fucking get it.
entremet
Member
Uber/Lyft for that. But owning a car in the Boroughs is still a pain in the ass too. Alternate side of the street parking, looking for parking, expensive garage fees, etc.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
The Albatross
Member
In hundreds of years, if we ever get rid of cars as we know them now or evolve to something different, we'll think about how weird it was to fill most of our cities with enormous asphalt parking lots. Unlike things of the past like large fields for farming, which eventually become over grown and nature reclaims them, parking lots will have more staying power. I think if we could transport some person from the future to the past they might marvel at how much space we reserve (often by building codes) for parking our cars.
When you walk around in your average city (so, no, not dense urban metropolis' that have reasonable public transportation options) look around and think about how much room is used for putting a car while it does nothing all day.
It's because public transit in the US sucks. While I commute to work every day and generally don't mind it, I would prefer to take public transportation where I can sit there and read or use my computer or something than have to drive in every day. It's just too much of an inconvenience for me. I already lose 2 hours a day on my commute, and if I took public transit (which would be kinda available to me), I'd lose close to 3 hours, and I'd still have to drive to the train station because my city doesn't run bus routes out near my house.
While it's eroded a bit, one thing that a majority of Americans consistently agree on is funding for public education. You can run a "For the Children, For the Schools!" campaign in every city in all 50 states and it'll win out. While Charter schools (which are still technically public education) have been on the rise over the last 20 years, Private and Parochial schools have generally become less common, and most people still poll highly in favor of supporting local schools. You'll always have loud voices complaining against public schools somewhere, but for the most part, an overwhelming majority support taxes for public schools, even if they groan about real estate tax.
Where you see disagreement, obviously, is on curriculum, but luckily most curriculums aren't up to the public, but by nationally reviewed boards and committees.
When you walk around in your average city (so, no, not dense urban metropolis' that have reasonable public transportation options) look around and think about how much room is used for putting a car while it does nothing all day.
It's because public transit in the US sucks. While I commute to work every day and generally don't mind it, I would prefer to take public transportation where I can sit there and read or use my computer or something than have to drive in every day. It's just too much of an inconvenience for me. I already lose 2 hours a day on my commute, and if I took public transit (which would be kinda available to me), I'd lose close to 3 hours, and I'd still have to drive to the train station because my city doesn't run bus routes out near my house.
I wonder what they think of public education too
While it's eroded a bit, one thing that a majority of Americans consistently agree on is funding for public education. You can run a "For the Children, For the Schools!" campaign in every city in all 50 states and it'll win out. While Charter schools (which are still technically public education) have been on the rise over the last 20 years, Private and Parochial schools have generally become less common, and most people still poll highly in favor of supporting local schools. You'll always have loud voices complaining against public schools somewhere, but for the most part, an overwhelming majority support taxes for public schools, even if they groan about real estate tax.
Where you see disagreement, obviously, is on curriculum, but luckily most curriculums aren't up to the public, but by nationally reviewed boards and committees.
First reply nails it.
Our reliance on cars is making us fatter too
That's cuz American public transport sucks ass compared to Asia and Europe.
Yeah, I've realized that's a bad idea, which is why I've switched to books on tape.
thechristoph
Sir!
No. Suburban Atlanta is so full of NIMBYs that Marta will never be able to meaningfully expand. There are buses, but they extend commute time rather than decrease it.
Got lots of that here as our first LRT is nearing completion.
Sunster
Member
yep. these are the people who destroyed an extensive upgrade to my city's public transit that would have created a light rail and tripled bus coverage. but no. 1 penny added to the sales tax was too much to bear.
I'm the complete opposite. I can't stand driving.
This is the real crux of the problem.
Public transportation in my town sucks... except unsurprisingly around the area where our main college is (with all the rich white students). Unsurprisingly, it's not good anywhere else, including the historically black college and the community college. Things that were a 10-15 minute drive could take over an hour by bus IF you didn't miss your connection, god forbid if you did.
If rich white people didn't feel so entitled to their cars as a status symbol in the US, maybe we could make public transportation usable or something.
It was that exact mentality that got free bus passes taken away from all the colleges that weren't (surprise!!) the main college. That really fucking hurt me as a minimum wage worker that had to take buses everywhere. It's like the kids with a car thought it would lower tuition or something LOL
Where I am and with my job situation, alternate street parking isn't a real problem, so no garage fees and similar. And it makes it far easier to get to stuff close by (East NY, for instance) that are not at all well-served by metro. Lyft is "cheap" but it's still more expensive than gas and operating costs.
Plus, all this stuff leaves aside the fact that if I want to leave the city, I have a lot more flexibility. I can take the train (expensive) or bus (less expensive), but I have far more mobility and options with a car.