Probably not too unpopular here.
Standing waiting for the bus in my city with decent transit and I have 2 trucks rev their engines loudly past me, another one letting just clouds of pollution, watching people driving who aren’t paying attention and several people blowing cutting last second through a light. All in just 3 minutes by a small corner with light traffic.
Made me think how cars are inherently selfish. People don’t want to be around others (the fear aspect), so they drive their own bubble around. In addition to that, some go out of their way to make their cars even worse to people outside of them.
No wonder we can’t move away from them. They are a definition of our own culture
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I live in Denver. Transit is decent. The light rail can be a faster commute during rush hour. Plenty of regional buses to go hiking and skiing. Under 10 min walk to multiple grocery stores. Regional bike path network span multiple cities.
It’s not perfect, but I’ve been car free for over two years with very little issue.
Edit, to add to this: It’s more convenient for me to take the train to the airport or the bus to the slopes. Some ski resorts will charge more for daily parking then a round-trip bus ticket. And driving to the ski resorts is a traffic nightmare, much rather just sit on the bus and not worry about it.
Agreed that it’s doable in a number of areas. I’m in the suburbs where that’s harder, though I happen to be near a grocery store at least.
I moved from the suburbs to the city. I sacrificed a bit of living space and have higher rent. But the increased rent is offset by the lack of car payments, insurance, etc.
Everyone’s situation is different and not everyone has the flexibility to move. But there are many cities in the US that are affordable and have decent transit. Just depends on what you value.
And it’s our selfish culture that allows that to continue to be the standard. For example in my home state Amtrak is trying to to provide inter city service, and the governor said that “they don’t want it”. The sad part is most of the citizens agree. That is the culture of selfishness.
I don’t think it can be completely blamed on culture or simply “selfishness”. There is a group of powerful lobbyists that are influencing policy:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_lobby
There are absolutely people who love their cars, and/or are assholes, but that isn’t the only reason it isn’t a priority. There is a big cost associated with any infrastructure project and the US is a relatively large country to cover. Also people from rural areas have no idea what “good” looks like in terms of mass transit.
I can agree with that. Although I do think those lobbyists are mostly successful because people are perfectly content to continue driving. I’m happy that big transit projects are being funded now. They’re always expensive, they always go over cost and over time, but when they’re finished people never think about that. Look at the chunnel
I agree with you. I’ve seen a lot of people comment that they’re unwilling to ride with the “type of people” who take the bus or train. I think fear and even subconscious bigotry have a lot to do with it, based on what I’ve seen and heard.
You can in certain areas, but certainly not all, likely most.
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And your solution is…?
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I live in the midwest and that is fairly accurate for the most part. But when I travel to cities I favor public transportation where I can. I do know that only works becsuse I am staying in downtown areas where they haven’t killed the public transportation yet, but there are examples that it still works and could be expanded if we decided to do so.
I also think most people haven’t tried and would be pleasantly surprised if they did. Even in the US, almost half of all trips are bikable or walkable distances. It doesn’t have to replace your main commute, just some of your trips.
We’ve all met those people who get in their car to drive two blocks instead of walking, even in good weather. Cars are so dominant that there’s a lack of imagination around using anything except cars.