Is the car culture that bad of a thing? (Riverside: vehicle registration, insurance)

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Chatteress, I always thought that public transit was for people that couldn't afford cars. LOL

[King0fthehill]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Chatteress, I always thought that public transit was for people that couldn't afford cars. LOL

Sadly, it is typical ignorant American POV's like the one quoted that are so very pervasive in much of today's society. But then again, maybe I shouldn't have expected any better coming from a suburbanite

[K-Dawg]

Originally Posted by Chatteress

Of course it is better than those vices you mentioned. My issue with the whole car obsession is that So Californians act as if they are allergic to public transit, which is why efforts to improve our mass transit gets stifled in the process.

Ah so you're one of those leftist environmental Nazis/social engineers who wants to tax gasoline to death in order to coerce people into giving up their evil automobiles in favor riding bikes or taking mass transit to get places. It's because of people like you in various levels of government that the automobile infrastructure is so poor in LA and so many other cities...

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by K-Dawg

Ah so you're one of those leftist environmental Nazis/social engineers who wants to tax gasoline to death in order to coerce people into giving up their evil automobiles in favor riding bikes or taking mass transit to get places. It's because of people like you in various levels of government that the automobile infrastructure is so poor in LA and so many other cities...

or it could just be that the government passes on paying for road upgrades for things like prison guards and employee pensions.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Chatteress, I always thought that public transit was for people that couldn't afford cars. LOL

I know tons of folks who utilizes mass transit and commuter rails while owning their own vehicle.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by K-Dawg

Ah so you're one of those leftist environmental Nazis/social engineers who wants to tax gasoline to death in order to coerce people into giving up their evil automobiles in favor riding bikes or taking mass transit to get places. It's because of people like you in various levels of government that the automobile infrastructure is so poor in LA and so many other cities...

Sorry but I'm a right winger who just happens to agree with the left on this critical issue. I don't believe in coercion via taxes to force people out of their precious autos and am not an environmentalist. I just think that as our population continues to increase, there is no room for everyone to drive his/her personal vehicle 24/7. It is the short-sightedness of Californians who are so stuck on their vehicles and the politicians who were bought out by the auto industry that is fully responsible for the poor state of transportation within the LA area. Where are we going to build the highways and freeways to accommodate everyone and their mama's auto?

[hsw]

Arguably world's highest-tech and wealthiest region is SiliconValley: a car-centric culture, much like LA, where most live in suburbs around PaloAlto and prefer to drive self via a climate-controlled private automobile of choice (on one's own schedule and with Bluetooth in car) to nearby suburban office campuses in industrial suburbs like Cupertino or MtnView....and yet car-centric SV has some of shortest commutes and fastest fwys in world

Manhattan is US' most anti-car, primitive town...but nearly anyone with money in Manhattan has a Mercedes S550 and driver follow them around the dumpy little island....and middle-income folks from suburbs often have a 90min each-way, door-to-door daily commute to Midtown via sweaty/smelly mass transit

Mass transit is a nasty, Third World transportation mode that merely elevates one's exposure to street crime and others' poor personal hygiene....and, in US, usually just creates "make-work" jobs for $100K+/yr unionized bus/train "drivers" of dubious competence...and partly explains why income tax rates are so absurdly high in NYC or CA, even though most of the biggest taxpayers refuse to ever use mass transit for obvious reasons....yet streets and freeways are laced with dangerous potholes, allegedly due to scarce funding

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by King0fthehill

Sadly, it is typical ignorant American POV's like the one quoted that are so very pervasive in much of today's society. But then again, maybe I shouldn't have expected any better coming from a suburbanite

Well I guess I will give up my obvious to the least intelligent out there attempt at sarcastic humor and get to the point. Sure people that can afford cars may partake of the public transportation system as offered. For those of us that live far from the metropolitan core and live within the far flung fringes known as the suburbs, I can state that very few partake and for the most part those that are willing to ride in close proximity to those they don't know generally appear to not have the means or ability to afford personal transportation options. Then again I have not made an attempt to ask of those riding if given the option could they purchase their own vehicle and choose not to, or if they have access to such a device choose to take part in the highly liberal and subsidized system known as public transportation, even though they could on their own travel from point A to point B. The truth of the matter is that within the state of California those that drive and pay for the right to drive are sending proceeds in the way of taxation from the purchase of Gasoline to municipalities within the state allowing those that offer public transportation the ability to pay for those that can not on their own pay for a personal transportation device, or as suggested others that can but choose the option of riding within the public transportation system. The truth about public transportation is that it takes from those that have in the form of taxes and gives to those that have not. Taxes, taxes, and more taxes pay for this system of transportation. Not a system in the nation is profitable. All are subsidized and part of a socialist agenda.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by hsw

Arguably world's highest-tech and wealthiest region is SiliconValley: a car-centric culture, much like LA, where most live in suburbs around PaloAlto and prefer to drive self via a climate-controlled private automobile of choice (on one's own schedule and with Bluetooth in car) to nearby suburban office campuses in industrial suburbs like Cupertino or MtnView....and yet car-centric SV has some of shortest commutes and fastest fwys in world

Manhattan is US' most anti-car, primitive town...but nearly anyone with money in Manhattan has a Mercedes S550 and driver follow them around the dumpy little island....and middle-income folks from suburbs often have a 90min each-way, door-to-door daily commute to Midtown via sweaty/smelly mass transit

Mass transit is a nasty, Third World transportation mode that merely elevates one's exposure to street crime and others' poor personal hygiene....and, in US, usually just creates "make-work" jobs for $100K+/yr unionized bus/train "drivers" of dubious competence...and partly explains why income tax rates are so absurdly high in NYC or CA, even though most of the biggest taxpayers refuse to ever use mass transit for obvious reasons....yet streets and freeways are laced with dangerous potholes, allegedly due to scarce funding

Why don't we continue to build more and more freeways to accommodate the ever-increasing number of autos - No more land? Not a problem! Let's just use eminent domain to confiscate more homes and businesses so that elitists vehicle owners don't have to deal with the sweaty odors of the "common folks".

By the way - Potholes are caused by too many vehicles on the road - another testimony of our need of improved mass transit.

[oldtimebanjo]

Originally Posted by Chatteress

Sorry but I'm a right winger who just happens to agree with the left on this critical issue. I don't believe in coercion via taxes to force people out of their precious autos and am not an environmentalist. I just think that as our population continues to increase, there is no room for everyone to drive his/her personal vehicle 24/7. It is the short-sightedness of Californians who are so stuck on their vehicles and the politicians who were bought out by the auto industry that is fully responsible for the poor state of transportation within the LA area. Where are we going to build the highways and freeways to accommodate everyone and their mama's auto?

You keep saying that it's Californians that won't give up their cars. Other then Boston, New York or a few similar places you won't find anyone that would give up their cars to ride public transit. Go to Arkansas and tell them to give up their cars and trucks and ride the bus. We wouldn't need to build anymore highways or freeways to accommodate everyone's autos if we just got rid of the illegals. There'd be plenty of space to go around, that won't happen though.