Dr_pepper_spray

...it was all cake!

Cube

....and then she ate her microphone.

Who does it better?

I will say that for most trips into Manhattan I'll use public transportation (Train or Subway) just because it's easier and less subject to traffic jams. It's also just nice to read a book while traveling to work. Overall it's a less stressful experience. Almost anything in the outer boroughs I need a car to get to (Parts of Brooklyn might as well be on the moon) However Manhattan is very different then anywhere in San Francisco, whose public transportation I found mind numbingly slow and less frequent.

One place that could use some major improvement is cross-country train travel. My wife and I took a train to Montreal about five years ago and I swore never to do this again. It was painful how slow and shitty that experience was. It really wouldn't take a whole lot to improve this, the bar is that low. I would have paid more money! High speed rail will never get you to the West Coast as fast as an airplane, but if the experience and ease is worth it you can get more customers. However it doesn't seem like Amtrak gives a single good God damn. They might as well be carrying freight.

Even in New York, that bus is either a completely miserable experience, require strict departure times, and might make your commute a lot longer.

I can't imagine how awful they are in other places.

Maybe in the cities. However in the 20s, for rural areas, Horse and carts were still in use. Automobiles replaced them.

Quick googling says Finland has 3.6 Million passenger vehicles for about 5.5 Million people. You want to hold up a shining example of a carless culture? try North Korea.

Am I wrong, or does Japan not have at least one car per household (obviously less in the cities, but the same is true with New York). I know this is less than the average American, but I'd suggest the reason for this has more to do with economics and space than public transportation options. In New York City, I can take the bus (why THE FUCK would I?) The rickety subway (which is quite good, despite its obvious age and lack of maintenance) The Railroads, or peddle down a hot, or frozen street on a Citibike. When all else fails, I can walk, which most for most places (in Manhattan at least) is a great option.....

.......Yet, traffic in New York City is still horrendous, and I still have a car -- Because I need a car to get to places those other options can't reach, and I'll bet that's true for a lot of people. I don't have TWO cars like those in rural areas because of the expense, the difficulty of parking, and I have a decent public transit system.

The second point being you can't get rid of cars. They're required for too many people to live and work. That's true for NYC. That's true for Japan and I'll bet it's even true for everyone's Darling Finland, which it doesn't take much googling to discover is true. The best you can hope for is 1 car per household ... unless we're going to start raising cities and completely redesigning them and even then I'm skeptical.

So I've installed and operated PTZ cameras for multiple television shows and events, sometimes with junior operators - or just production assistants or other crew. These are in places where people know cameras are present. I can guarantee it doesn't take long for people at the camera control unit to learn they can zoom in on people's phones on set or follow girls around - and these are all professional people.

Cops with a drone that can zoom in on people unwittingly, in their back yards?! Oh, they are certainly going to do shit like this, or worse - they'll likely record for themselves.

Neat. Good for Asian countries.

It ain't happening in America except maybe in cities like New York.

Just because something is "doable" doesn't mean millions of people are going to accept doing it.