this post was submitted on 12 May 2026
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Fuck Cars

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A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

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[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Trains. Overhead wire. Green energy. Build it now or suffer later.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I agree.

That does nothing to address the current (rapidly rising) commuting costs happening now, though.

[–] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

We need Americans to feel the pain hard enough they screen for trains

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Would be wonderful.

Unfortunately the time to do it was years ago. Obviously the next best time is to start now, but it will be years before results and that doesnt help those impacted now.

[–] fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

We need to Americans to come to psychologically distrust driving.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 17 hours ago

Way too much land, way too little education, and way too much selfishness to allow for that.

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Buy a bike. Carpool. Work from home.

Militarize against police for eviction defense?

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I think you missed the part where I pointed out that I do work from home.

I'd also point out that riding a bike for the commutes I'm mentioning is a non-starter, its too large of a distance for a daily commuter ride.

Again, the point is that this is not a car commuter exclusive problem, and its going to impact people who use mass transit. There are plenty of train lines that aren't powered and require dual electric/diesel engines. Infrastructure installation to extend lines takes time, not to mention the lack of rail infrastructure in the first place that impacts the overwhelming majority of the US.

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

where I pointed out

Yes I did where was it

the infrastructure to deal with this problem does not currently exist because we tore it all down after world war 2 and that is a problem with building this infrastructure even though the problem will only get worse.

That's a hell of a take

relief now!

You pissed in your bed America. I was telling you to stop now you're too tired to stand and complaining about all the piss.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Yes I did where was it

Very first sentence.

Given the cost of fuel, a bus pass for me (if I still had to commute, I work from home now) for a month is now just over $800/mo.

Also, don't make shit up and fake quote because you misread and want to be shitty about it.

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 1 points 11 hours ago

Okay so you don't have a problem what ate you complaining about

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

too large of a distance for a daily commuter ride

You didn’t mention this: what distance did you have in mind?

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

The current average commute for my state is about 15mi, but that number (annoyingly) includes WFH which skews the numbers.

Mine, for example, would be a 60mi commute if I still had one.

Edit: And I don't think I should have to really mention that the overwhelming majority of commuters are leaving their town for work....

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Well, that’s the core problem. No one should be commuting for an hour by car.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 0 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes, obviously its the fault of the individuals who were living somewhere and got a better job further away.

Clearly the problem is that, and nothing else.

Also, at no point was I discussing driving a car.

Edit: Actually, I did mention driving further away to a bus or train and parking there, so yes, I did mention driving a car. But not for the commute itself.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

You found blame that was not there. The fault is with the car-centric design of our society and the false convenience of driving, not with the people taking jobs where they can get them.

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 0 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

No I was saying everyone should quit their impractical far drive jobs and build rail lines outside their front doors on spec with their savings instead of paying rent don't put words in my mouth!

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

When you put it to "no one should be driving an hour by car" in a discussion about the more than doubling price of bus fare for bus commuting, I'm going to find it very hard to understand what youre trying to say.

And considering you commented on a person driving for an hour, rather than on the rapidly increasing commuting costs for all commuters, or the larger issues driving those increases, I'm going to find it real hard to believe youre doing anything but putting blame on an individual.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

That’s fair. I’d have perhaps phrased it more clearly as “society should put no one in a position where they feel that they must travel 60 miles [an hour by car] twice daily for work” but that feels a bit unwieldy.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

I'd say thats generally more of a larger issue, yeah.

But just to mention, in the NYC area, just 3 miles outside of NYC can take an hour all by itself.

Either way - fuel costs are impacting mass transit riders too. Saying "just take the bus instead" helps no one when those bus costs are rapidly rising as well. And the same goes for trains when not all of them are electrified for the full run.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

The effect of fuel costs on mass transit is much smaller than on personal motor vehicles though. So yeah, “just take the bus” is a pretty big step in the right direction, relatively speaking.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Here is the title of the post:

‘It’s literally going to break me.’ Commuting is now unaffordable for some American workers

Here is my first comment:

Given the cost of fuel, a bus pass for me (if I still had to commute, I work from home now) for a month is now just over $800/mo. 6 years ago, that was $375/mo. I don’t think the issue is limited to car drivers, I suspect more than a few folks who took public transit with me are looking at a pretty impactful monthly cost.

So no, its not. Its a massively increasing cost that is continuing to trend upward.

Its about as helpful to folks who are being impacted by this as "Just don't go to work!" or "Ride a bike for 50 miles each way every day, problem solved!"

What "just take the bus" does is shift the blame onto the individual being impacted, made worse by the fact that many of those impacted by these rising costs are already taking mass transit. This isn't a "car" problem. This is a "commuter" problem.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Given the cost of fuel, a bus pass for me (if I still had to commute, I work from home now) for a month is now just over $800/mo. 6 years ago, that was $375/mo.

And you think that the fare increase there is driven by fuel costs alone? Or even that fuel cost is in any way a significant portion of the change?

Not. A. Chance.

[–] curbstickle@anarchist.nexus 1 points 18 hours ago

A good chunk of it is, actually.

When the cost of fuel goes down, so does the cost of the pass. The price of diesel has nearly doubled in the past year, and about to hit a new record high. And that has mostly happened in the past month and change.

Pretending fuel costs aren't a factor is foolish.

The rest of it, however, is a direct result of other stupid policies.

I will repeat myself yet again - the rising costs of commuting are impacting far more than just car drivers, and fuel costs soaring are a part of that.

[–] Soulg@ani.social 3 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Ride that bike 20 miles to work. Easy!

[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 13 hours ago

I do know a guy who rides his bike everywhere and he is HOT. Saw him in a suit and he has the kind of body that suits were designed to flatter. Wow.

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 1 points 14 hours ago

Some people do they're in great shape from all the biking and don't need gym memberships

You want infrastructure the nerds have been shouting about since it was torn up 81 years ago and infrastructure to make this not happen again or not matter takes time which is why we didn't want it torn up and then wanted to build it back maybe listen to us next time

You ignored my last suggestion of quitting the job and joining with your neighbors to ban evictions in your community.

[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

We had electric buses with overhead wires in São Paulo in the 80s.

The US had electric interurban railroads in the Rockies a hundred years ago.

It can happen very fast.

[–] youcantreadthis@quokk.au 2 points 14 hours ago

No I'm sorry I'm informed that trains do jot ql4eady exist and so cannot exist