4 ms·

I take the bus and I'm neither poor, nor a particularly good environmentalist. They're convenient and cheap and I sorta prefer it to putting my life in the hand

I take the bus and I'm neither poor, nor a particularly good environmentalist. They're convenient and cheap and I sorta prefer it to putting my life in the hands of a sleep deprived wage slave. Uber rides feel _consistently unsafe_ to the point I don't even consider it an option anymore. IME most of the resistance people have to taking the bus is classism. They don't want to share space with "those people".

esotericn 8y ago
Presumably then, in your area, buses are superior. This is exactly what I am talking about. They are not everywhere, and they should be. I prefer buses too when they actually work. I tend to take public transport a lot more off peak. At peak time I vastly prefer cycling or driving depending on the weather because I find being crammed next to other people disgusting (a failure mode unique to public transport).
lawnchair_larry 8y ago
It’s not about class at all. It’s that people don’t want to share space every day for an hour each way with loud people, smelly people, crazy people, violent people, etc. And if they do, they sure as hell don’t want to do so standing and packed up against them. Not all cities and routes have these problems, but many do. Nobody objects to having to share space with a broke working class single mother taking the bus to go clean hotels downtown. Aside from that, the weather can be a pain in the ass (rain, snow, wind, scorching heat), transferring buses/trains is a hassle, you cannot travel on your own scheduling terms, you can’t swing by the grocery store or run some errand on the way home, travel time is generally much longer unless you happen to live/work right beside an express stop that does not require a transfer, and the list goes on.
esotericn 8y ago
I grew up on a council estate in a post industrial Northern town. It's not classism. I don't want to be rammed into a bus. I like buses that are at capacity, it's relaxing.

esotericn 8y ago

Presumably then, in your area, buses are superior. This is exactly what I am talking about. They are not everywhere, and they should be. I prefer buses too when they actually work. I tend to take public transport a lot more off peak. At peak time I vastly prefer cycling or driving depending on the weather because I find being crammed next to other people disgusting (a failure mode unique to public transport).

lawnchair_larry 8y ago

It’s not about class at all. It’s that people don’t want to share space every day for an hour each way with loud people, smelly people, crazy people, violent people, etc. And if they do, they sure as hell don’t want to do so standing and packed up against them. Not all cities and routes have these problems, but many do. Nobody objects to having to share space with a broke working class single mother taking the bus to go clean hotels downtown. Aside from that, the weather can be a pain in the ass (rain, snow, wind, scorching heat), transferring buses/trains is a hassle, you cannot travel on your own scheduling terms, you can’t swing by the grocery store or run some errand on the way home, travel time is generally much longer unless you happen to live/work right beside an express stop that does not require a transfer, and the list goes on.

esotericn 8y ago

I grew up on a council estate in a post industrial Northern town. It's not classism. I don't want to be rammed into a bus. I like buses that are at capacity, it's relaxing.