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I'm not too big on public transportation either, besides the fact that it's crappy pretty much everywhere (NYC included), I have my personal reasons. When I lived in NYC, I spent 3-4 hours a day traveling on overcrowded buses to and from school. Who on EARTH would choose to spend 20 hours a week on a bus, to go 5-10 miles, when the drive is roughly 30 minutes each way? But driving wasn't even an option then for me, due to age and no car at the time.
I did it for roughly 8 years, I'm too afraid to even add those hours up, I'd probably cry at the result.
I'm not too big on public transportation either, besides the fact that it's crappy pretty much everywhere (NYC included), I have my personal reasons. When I lived in NYC, I spent 3-4 hours a day traveling on overcrowded buses to and from school. Who on EARTH would choose to spend 20 hours a week on a bus, to go 5-10 miles, when the drive is roughly 30 minutes each way? But driving wasn't even an option then for me.
I did it for roughly 8 years, I'm too afraid to even add those hours up, I'd probably cry at the result.
Just because you're not willing, doesn't mean others aren't. And, you're problem was buses need to be more frequent. The demand is already there, but the agencies are not meeting that demand.
Of course you Americans are weary of public transport as only losers and junkies use it? But why does it work here? We don't need a car to feel "free", the buses go to even far remote areas.
Location: Northern Ireland and temporarily England
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthStarDelight
They're getting ready to build an "off the shelf" Japanese bullet train from Dallas to Houston in a couple of years. 100% private funding too. When they finish it in about 2021, I'm going to make a special trip to Texas just to ride that baby.
Why would anyone here choose to drive and get stuck in traffic for 2 hours when they can get the train and be home in 9 minutes? Even the bus is quicker because it is often segregated from the rest of traffic.
The problem with America is that your infrastructure is terrible.
Why would anyone here choose to drive and get stuck in traffic for 2 hours when they can get the train and be home in 9 minutes? Even the bus is quicker because it is often segregated from the rest of traffic.
The problem with America is that your infrastructure is terrible.
Another problem is that too many Americans have the mentality that Cambium has. You know how every little damn thing in the US has to be political? Well, it's mostly older, right-wing suburban Americans that see mass transit as some sort of evil freedom robbing communist plot to take over America. I kid you not. The vast vast majority of these people were born and raised in the Cold War era. The whole freedomless Communists live in huge, soulless tower blocks while freedom loving Americans live in a detached house with 2 cars in every garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthStarDelight
They're getting ready to build an "off the shelf" Japanese bullet train from Dallas to Houston in a couple of years. 100% private funding too. When they finish it in about 2021, I'm going to make a special trip to Texas just to ride that baby.
Since this is all privately funded, I actually have hope it's going to be built and finished. Governments here have a history of gross incompetency unlike in the western half of Europe and northern Europe for some strange reason
Just because you're not willing, doesn't mean others aren't. And, you're problem was buses need to be more frequent. The demand is already there, but the agencies are not meeting that demand.
With all due respect, I don't know any sane person who would choose a four hour daily commute over one that lasted only an hour. I'll admit that my case was extreme, I lived in an area that ranked near the top of NYC's longest commute times list, and NYC itself has the longest commute times in the U.S. (ironic, since "best public transportation system in the nation"), so my average commute time was likely among the longest in the nation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dunno what to put here
Why would anyone here choose to drive and get stuck in traffic for 2 hours when they can get the train and be home in 9 minutes?
Here it's the opposite for some, I think public transportation is big in Europe for a lot of the same reasons that cars are big in the U.S., I could be wrong though.
Another problem is that too many Americans have the mentality that Cambium has. You know how every little damn thing in the US has to be political? Well, it's mostly older, right-wing suburban Americans that see mass transit as some sort of evil freedom robbing communist plot to take over America. I kid you not. The vast vast majority of these people were born and raised in the Cold War era. The whole freedomless Communists live in huge, soulless tower blocks while freedom loving Americans live in a detached house with 2 cars in every garage
Since this is all privately funded, I actually have hope it's going to be built and finished. Governments here have a history of gross incompetency unlike in the western half of Europe and northern Europe for some strange reason
Those tower blocks are pretty ugly and soulless, though.
Less densely-populated living arrangements and more wide, open spaces are the closet thing we have to a national identity. If we tried to imitate how the urban part of Europe does transportation, the end result would be something inferior.
Why would anyone here choose to drive and get stuck in traffic for 2 hours when they can get the train and be home in 9 minutes? Even the bus is quicker because it is often segregated from the rest of traffic.
The problem with America is that your infrastructure is terrible.
I don't think we're built for modern city living. It's so unnatural. We need to get back to nature, back to simpler living.
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