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I think as a German that has been using different forms of transit in the US, I think you - unknowingly - are comparing apples with oranges: Flixbus is bad, yes

I think as a German that has been using different forms of transit in the US, I think you - unknowingly - are comparing apples with oranges: Flixbus is bad, yes - but only for German standards. Inner-american travel comes with much less "classiness". I don't know why; I'd like it to be because of more price competitiveness, since more access for poor people is a good thing. But i dunno. Just that inner-US flights have the flair of an european subway-commute. Anyways: Riding the bus in Germany was always only chosen by those who couldn't afford train or plane. This is why I loathe Flixbus! City-to-city bus rides were prohibited* in Germany until Flixbus basically "uber"-ed the prohibition away. But their network of busses, drivers and subcontractors are basically the same of what the market offered before. Personally I'd never expected ICE-train quality standards for for a fraction of the price. [*] = to be exact, the Deutsche Bundesbahn (state owned railway) had the only license to operate inter-town bus-rides, which - being a town-connecting railway company - they "just happened" to under develop.

psergeant 9y ago
Interesting. Public transport in America seems to be considered primarily just for poor people outside of a couple of east coast cities, where in most of Western Europe it’s a way of life. I was also going to point to a much bigger hangover from class divide in Anglo-Saxon countries, but actually that doesn’t hold true in the UK — coach services in the UK tend to be pretty good for shorter journeys, perhaps because of strong competition? The Oxford London coach route is exceptional, with free food being given out in the mornings at one point, free WiFi, comfortable buses, and generally just a nice way to travel.
- fulafel 9y ago
  > Public transport in America seems to be considered primarily just for poor people outsid Except the one mode of public transport that is most environmentally unsustainable and has a ~2.7x multiplier effect (vs just the fuel's CO2 emissions) to global warming [1]. [1] TLDR: http://co2offsetresearch.org/aviation/RFI.html http://co2offsetresearch.org/aviation/RFI.html - source: http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/aviation/index.php?idp=64 http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/aviation/index.php?idp=6...
Roritharr 9y ago
It wasn't Flixbus that "ubered" the laws, it was DeinBus.de, that had a lawsuit with Deutsche Bahn. They sadly didn't grow to the size that was needed later, but they were the pioneers of the space.

psergeant 9y ago

Interesting. Public transport in America seems to be considered primarily just for poor people outside of a couple of east coast cities, where in most of Western Europe it’s a way of life. I was also going to point to a much bigger hangover from class divide in Anglo-Saxon countries, but actually that doesn’t hold true in the UK — coach services in the UK tend to be pretty good for shorter journeys, perhaps because of strong competition? The Oxford London coach route is exceptional, with free food being given out in the mornings at one point, free WiFi, comfortable buses, and generally just a nice way to travel.

fulafel 9y ago
> Public transport in America seems to be considered primarily just for poor people outsid Except the one mode of public transport that is most environmentally unsustainable and has a ~2.7x multiplier effect (vs just the fuel's CO2 emissions) to global warming [1]. [1] TLDR: http://co2offsetresearch.org/aviation/RFI.html http://co2offsetresearch.org/aviation/RFI.html - source: http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/aviation/index.php?idp=64 http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/sres/aviation/index.php?idp=6...

Roritharr 9y ago

It wasn't Flixbus that "ubered" the laws, it was DeinBus.de, that had a lawsuit with Deutsche Bahn. They sadly didn't grow to the size that was needed later, but they were the pioneers of the space.