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I was gonna say they already make a vehicle for the low-income. It's called a bus.
but I decided that was mean, so I won't say it.
You might be surprised who all rides a bus, takes mass transit.
I work with 2 nurses at my facility, both paid well, $20+ an hour, and they hear enough horror stories at work with people having expensive repair bills to deal with, and neither of them have any desire to own and maintain a car. They both are just a block away from a bus stop, they bus to work, and once a month, they may rent a car for heavier purchases, or getting out of town. And they're happy-happy-happy!
And to lure these 2 into car ownership, they'd want guarantees that if the car breaks down, it's not going to cost them a small fortune to have it repaired.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tijlover
You might be surprised who all rides a bus, takes mass transit.
I work with 2 nurses at my facility, both paid well, $20+ an hour, and they hear enough horror stories at work with people having expensive repair bills to deal with, and neither of them have any desire to own and maintain a car. They both are just a block away from a bus stop, they bus to work, and once a month, they may rent a car for heavier purchases, or getting out of town. And they're happy-happy-happy!
And to lure these 2 into car ownership, they'd want guarantees that if the car breaks down, it's not going to cost them a small fortune to have it repaired.
My experience is that many commuters making 6 figures+ in our area where the median income is $160k, home price $900k have 2-3 cars, including Teslas and even an occasional Ferrari but still prefer to take the bus to work in Seattle. We just downsized from 3 to 2 cars and I take the bus most days. It's just more relaxing than fighting bumper-to-bumper traffic, it's not a financial thing. These express bus lines do not have any homeless or apparently poor riders, they go directly from downtown to the suburban eastside cities. Most of us have to drive 2-6 miles to the transit center to catch the bus, they don't have many local routes in our area.
There's this whole concept called "used cars". Maybe worth looking into that...
Yes, older cars might work. But the computerized cars have been around a long time, now. So any car that pre-dates that would require a lot of money in maintenance and repairs to keep running, plus a gas guzzler.
Yes, older cars might work. But the computerized cars have been around a long time, now. So any car that pre-dates that would require a lot of money in maintenance and repairs to keep running, plus a gas guzzler.
Why get that old? I find cheap used cars for friends all the time. Last one was an $800 2004 Nissan Sentra that needed a (good used) EVAP switch/canister. $12 got the car repaired to pass the emissions test, and good used tires got it to pass the safety inspection. Under a grand and my friend has a reliable daily driver that gets great fuel economy. This is the kind of used car the poorer working class have ALWAYS had, from the jalopy era to now. Easy enough to work on, cheap enough to get parts for, modern enough to be safe and economical.
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