Example of the problem with mass transit : http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/pseudosc/masstransit.htm http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/pseudosc/masstransit.htm 1) Money: ge

Example of the problem with mass transit : http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/pseudosc/masstransit.htm http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/pseudosc/masstransit.htm 1) Money: generally speaking, depending on the number of passengers mass transit is a little cheaper (1 person), about the same (2 pers) or much more expensive (a family of 4-5) than public transport. If you take into account that home -> work -> shopping -> home with public transport turns into home -> city center -> other city center -> work -> city center -> shopping -> city center -> other city center -> home ... The point is that there are many kinds of trips where the routes taken by public transport cause it to be more expensive than a car. In the cities where I've worked, mass transit (2x bus + train) was only 20-30% cheaper than a car and only if you lived out in the suburbs and worked in the city. The other way around (living in city, working a bit out of the city), mass transit was more expensive than the car. Living in city, working in city, a fold-up bike was far more convenient. 2) Time: mass transit doesn't go where I live, and doesn't leave/arrive when I need to leave/arrive. Furthermore, it's regularly non-operative when I need it. This limits what I can do (I stayed late, we ordered in pizza, then hang out with a friend ... oops it's 22h30 ... no more buses to my place until 6 am. Yes it only happened to me maybe 5 times over a decade but fuck that shit) 3) Baggage limits: when using mass transit I can carry 25 kilograms. If I don't care about comfort of myself and other passengers, maybe 40-50 is possible. I don't imagine I will be able to do that anymore when I turn 60. If I have my kids with me, 20 kg is pushing it, and if I'm either slightly ill or ... I can barely take anything at all. When I go shopping, I buy for the week at least (by far the least bothersome way to do shopping imho, a lot faster, and also 30% or so cheaper) I come home with 30-40 kilograms usually. Can't use public transport for that. This is ignoring that a lot of things can't be reasonably/safely transported using public transport, like DIY building supplies (ladder, long bars, 2 by 4s, ...). This includes anything heavy or above a certain very restrictive size limit. 4) Comfort. I don't even get why they bother with 1st class on trains. Let's not pretend that even 1st class has 1/10th the comfort of a car. Commuter trains are torture. Mass transit is usable as a commute solution. It cannot reasonably replace a car. We need to fix transport and mass transport as it currently exists is not the answer.