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It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars (arstechnica.com)

submitted 2 years ago by boem@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[–] asunaspersonalasst@lemmy.world 41 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Or an adequate mass transportation system.

[–] grue@lemmy.ml 15 points 2 years ago

Or walkable zoning, lack of which is the fundamental cause of the car dependency.

[–] Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I would wager (small amounts of) money that the majority of "urban areas" have "adequate" mass transportation. The US prefers buses (which are horrible) but it is there and you can usually get around cities out to the surrounding suburbs.

The problem is actually the same that even the gold standard countries like Japan have. Rural areas and remote villages/towns do not have good coverage. If you are lucky, there are two buses per day and you best catch those or you are stuck sleeping in the terminal until tomorrow. And we have a lot of those. Like, the works of Makoto Shinkai are well worth watching for this reason alone (aside from them being magnificent) because he LOVES the imagery of two lovers trying to connect with each other over a day or two of transferring between trains and buses and the emotional devastation of possibly missing your next connection.

That said: Americans still tend to love to drive even when there is public transportation. Some of that is routing. Some of that is that buses are horrible. And some is just that it is people from one "megacity" on a day trip to a different "megacity".

[–] zephyreks@programming.dev 9 points 2 years ago

Bullshit. Adequate mass transportation is competitive with a car. You don't even have to leave North America to see an "adequate" mass transportation system: just go to Montreal, Vancouver, or New York.

Most US cities have mass transportation that's designed to move around poor people so rich people in cars can't see them.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

I never drove into Boston, I always took the train. I still needed a car though if I wanted to go anywhere away from the city. Boston also has an awful spoke and no rim train system. If you want to go from the end of one line to another you can't go in a ring around the city, you'd have to go all the way in then all the way up the other spoke.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Buses aren't horrible.

they feel safer in terms of crime, which might not be an issue you deal with but for over half the population it matters
they can often go around problems. One bus on the same line up ahead has an issue that has no real impact on the bus you are on
lot easier for the disabled to go on and off compared to down into a subway
you have a small degree of privacy
Mechanical problems? Get off the bus. No biggy.

I do understand, I was a subway guy for the longest time, my wife would take the bus every day and she converted me.

[–] Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Yeah, I will never acknowledge buses as a good alternative to a subway or even an el train. If you can't do something good you go with what you have but:

"Crime": A lot of that is people being generally afraid of black folk and homeless people. If you think the driver is going to do anything because a Poor sat next to you then I got a bridge to sell you. Aside from that, the vast majority of "crime" is resolved by staring out a window or not making eye contact. And the people who ARE going to actually rob you? it is a lot easier to flee onto city streets than into a crowded subway. Watch your shit when the vehicle comes to a stop. And guards/cops tend to hang out at train stations which helps in the event that something does happen.
Going around problems: Yeah. Unless you need to get off on the stop they are now skipping. If you know the area well enough you can adjust. Otherwise you are now very confused that the stop google maps told you to take is not next and you need to figure out if it makes sense to get out at the next stop or two stops from here when you are closer to the original route. Been there, done that, made the wrong judgement call and walked an extra eight blocks in the pouring rain to get to my hotel*. Also, if you are AT the stop they are bypassing because of an accident or whatever... good luck.
Differently abled folk: Any decent subway is handicap accessible. And rolling/crutching/caning onto a subway is a LOT easier than needing to wait for the entire bus to deflate its tires, the driver to help clip you in, the angry passenger being pissed off that they are now behind schedule, etc.
Privacy: You have zero privacy in any situation. You have not LIVED until you have had no choice but to make eye contact with someone defecating on a subway train or having an episode on a bus.
Mechanical Problems: I will definitely give you that.

*: God, this would have been five or six years ago? Was heading out to a European City for a holiday and to visit a few friends. Got more than a bit flabbergasted trying to find the train station at the airport but ended up finding a bus station eventually and just went with it. Got on, knew my route to my hotel, waited. Like two accidents and the bus was shifting between two of the main routes with the driver rambling in the local language and me understanding one word in ten. Eventually just started comparing the GPS coordinates versus the route and saw we were "somewhat still on it" and hopped off and walked eight blocks in the rain. That evening, when my brain was a bit more functional, I figured out which other route we were migrating between and realized the bus would have actually let me out right by the train station outside my hotel. Still grumpy about that one.