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Am I the only person here to actually like cars and enjoy driving? Being free from public transport timetables and the ability to go anywhere on a whim are so p

Am I the only person here to actually like cars and enjoy driving? Being free from public transport timetables and the ability to go anywhere on a whim are so precious. As an introvert, I see my car as my private space.

acomjean 8y ago
Everyone loves their cars. Climate control, freedom.. But in many places cars being loved so much no one can get around to the detriment of everyone and the places we love. Thus looking to hack a better way of getting everyone moving is natural. Sometimes when I drive to work, the ride home can take 45 minutes to an hour for 3.5 miles. I can ride my bike faster.
gorbachev 8y ago
I do, too. Just not in rush hour traffic.
jdavis703 8y ago
I don’t own a car, and I might be what some call a mobility advocate. But I’ll admit it, driving is fun. There’s few things as fun as going on a 50 mile trip to explore a new park. But personal automobiles start creating issues when we are required to drive to pick up groceries or drop kids off at school. When everyone does this we get terrible traffic, suffocating pollution and an environment that winds up being built to focus on machines over people. This is killing our health, our relationships and our environment. We don’t want to ban cars, we want a culture that gives transportation choice: driving, biking or walking. So many parts of our cities and suburbs right now only give one choice: “driving.” Last thing, I’m also an introvert, but running errands and commuting on a bike is great. Aside from dangerous or aggressive drivers, most of my interactions with other people is limited and when it does happen is positive. No one really bothers you like they do on transit or while walking.
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>Am I the only person here to actually like cars and enjoy driving? Probably not. You might be the only one willing to take the inevitable scorning you'll get for admitting it though.
- HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
  Upvoted for your honesty :-) I like cars and enjoy driving too, but I hate paying ridiculous amounts for parking, dealing with rush hour traffic and driving on crowded city streets. So I take the bus in to work and avoid all the above.
astura 8y ago
No, of course not, lots of people enjoy driving and drive as a hobby. Lots of people also hate it. You also can't deny it has massive externalities.
magicalhippo 8y ago
Much the same reasons I enjoy biking. Albeit somewhat range limited in comparison :)
Svip 8y ago
I own two cars, and love driving. Which is why I take the train to work. If I were to drive every day, I would start hating it.
- yellowapple 8y ago
  I drive every day (between Daly City and SF) and still love driving.
- atemerev 8y ago
  I work 100% remotely for the last 5 years, and I don’t plan to change that. Why spend precious time on commuting, when you can sit in the comfort of your room and work the same? All work interactions are handled via email, Slack and hangouts calls when necessary. In 21st century, I think at least 50% of jobs can be fully remote.
oftenwrong 8y ago
I like cars and driving. I hate car-dependence.
crazygringo 8y ago
For most people, there's no such thing as liking or disliking "driving". There's how you feel about "driving and finding parking in rush hour in midtown Manhattan" and how you feel about "driving down beautiful back country roads with no traffic". Without discussing the context of where and when, giving opinions on driving is almost meaningless. I mean, here in Manhattan during the day, the subway comes often enough that you don't need a timetable, and you can get most places on a whim a hell of a lot faster than you would in your car.
- moate 8y ago
  100% this. It's all about context. I live in NJ, and I can tell you that 1- I love driving when I'm able to do 80 MPH down the turnpike on the weekend but loath it when I'm stuck doing 10 MPH on 287 during rush hour and 2- HATE having to pay more money for tolls or parking. The sad fact is, I have to pay for the convenience of not needing to set aside 3 hours for my commute to work every day using public transportation.
- manfredo 8y ago
  There are some people for whom driving really is something they like. It's not driving per-se but I personally enjoy motorcycling in pretty much any context whether its commuting in heavy traffic (granted, here in California that does mean I get to lane-split through lots of it) or riding for leisure. Maintaining the machine is also an aspect of it, for some people their car or bike fulfills a niche sort of analogous to a pet or a garden. Not being able to have an automobile (car or motorcycle) if frequently a deciding factor in where people choose to live.
kadendogthing 8y ago
>Being free from public transport timetables and the ability to go anywhere on a whim are so precious. You can't do that with cars though at any time. Because there is traffic and parking spaces to deal with. Unless you're only going to big super markets like Target or a shopping center and you've never encountered this problem, you really can't go anywhere cool while driving. Please don't mention something like taking your car to a national park or something. That's what car rentals are for.
- yellowapple 8y ago
  > there is traffic and parking spaces to deal with In my observation (living in the SF Bay Area for almost a year now), being stuck in traffic is usually still faster than public transit (unless you're lucky enough for all your destinations to be near a BART stop and lucky enough for your home to also be near a BART stop; as soon as you throw in Muni or SamTrans or CalTrain you're looking at much longer travel times even excluding the time loafing about waiting for the next leg of the trip to arrive). Parking is indeed a problem, but if you think about it, plenty of people do manage to find parking spaces (obviously, since people are parked in them), so you just gotta be prepared to wait for one to open up (or find one a bit further out; helps when there are plenty of parking garages around). > you really can't go anywhere cool while driving. You can't with public transit, either, unless "anywhere cool" happens to be on the transit route and you're going there (and going home afterward) during that route's hours. > Please don't mention something like taking your car to a national park or something. That's what car rentals are for. lol. That's also what owning your own vehicle is for, plus being able to use it day-to-day for things. When I first moved to SF, I did so without a car, forcing myself to get used to BART and Muni (and learned very quickly that Muni's timetables are illusory at best, but that's a story for another day). It's fine until you need to haul something (like me trying to haul a bunch of desktop parts back from Fry's) or need to go somewhere outside of the transit agency's service area or before/after their normal operating hours (like me trying to do a lot of things in the city). Thankfully, I didn't get rid of my car, and as soon as I moved to a place with better parking I retrieved my car and I've been quite a bit happier ever since (though not happy enough to continue to want to live in/around SF, but that's also a story for another day).
deleted 8y ago
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Frondo 8y ago
Of course not. What I object to is how American life is structured to require one. I went to Taiwan a few years back and didn't rent a car for the two weeks I was there. I was able to explore the city of Taipei thoroughly on their incredible public transit system, including getting mostly out of town to visit the street of stinky tofu, and taking the metro system to a famous cable car tourist destination that led to some tea plantations. I also trekked all over the rest of the island on rail, high speed rail, and inter-city buses, visiting major metropolitan areas and weird small towns. Gosh, if we had something like that here, I'd sell my car in a heartbeat. I'd even give it away. But I do enjoy driving when the roads are uncrowded; just being required to, to get anywhere fun, that's no good.
pfranz 8y ago
It totally depends on context. If you live in/near a city you'll likely see the burden they can be. What's worse is most cities don't have great public transit alternatives. I used to drive into SF occasionally and wish I could ditch my car outside the city. Hotels charge $30-50/night when I rarely need it while I'm visiting. In/near a city you learn to inquire about parking before you leave, because it may not be an option when you pull up. Twice in the last six months I've gotten my car stuck in a garage overnight. The first time I missed the closing time the second I lost my ticket and there was no attendant on duty after hours. There are a lot of externalities that aren't obvious. Only a fraction of the cost of road maintenance is included in the price of fuel. The rest comes out of general/other taxes. Fuel, even though it has a specific tax, is subsidized. Many ordinances require buildings to have a certain number of parking spots, occupying real estate that could be better used elsewhere. I remember hearing that a parking lot in many of cities is the highest value property. Then, of course, you have the more obvious burdens like car maintenance and traffic.

acomjean 8y ago

Everyone loves their cars. Climate control, freedom.. But in many places cars being loved so much no one can get around to the detriment of everyone and the places we love. Thus looking to hack a better way of getting everyone moving is natural. Sometimes when I drive to work, the ride home can take 45 minutes to an hour for 3.5 miles. I can ride my bike faster.

gorbachev 8y ago

I do, too. Just not in rush hour traffic.

jdavis703 8y ago

I don’t own a car, and I might be what some call a mobility advocate. But I’ll admit it, driving is fun. There’s few things as fun as going on a 50 mile trip to explore a new park. But personal automobiles start creating issues when we are required to drive to pick up groceries or drop kids off at school. When everyone does this we get terrible traffic, suffocating pollution and an environment that winds up being built to focus on machines over people. This is killing our health, our relationships and our environment. We don’t want to ban cars, we want a culture that gives transportation choice: driving, biking or walking. So many parts of our cities and suburbs right now only give one choice: “driving.” Last thing, I’m also an introvert, but running errands and commuting on a bike is great. Aside from dangerous or aggressive drivers, most of my interactions with other people is limited and when it does happen is positive. No one really bothers you like they do on transit or while walking.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>Am I the only person here to actually like cars and enjoy driving? Probably not. You might be the only one willing to take the inevitable scorning you'll get for admitting it though.

HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
Upvoted for your honesty :-) I like cars and enjoy driving too, but I hate paying ridiculous amounts for parking, dealing with rush hour traffic and driving on crowded city streets. So I take the bus in to work and avoid all the above.

astura 8y ago

No, of course not, lots of people enjoy driving and drive as a hobby. Lots of people also hate it. You also can't deny it has massive externalities.

magicalhippo 8y ago

Much the same reasons I enjoy biking. Albeit somewhat range limited in comparison :)

Svip 8y ago

I own two cars, and love driving. Which is why I take the train to work. If I were to drive every day, I would start hating it.

yellowapple 8y ago
I drive every day (between Daly City and SF) and still love driving.
atemerev 8y ago
I work 100% remotely for the last 5 years, and I don’t plan to change that. Why spend precious time on commuting, when you can sit in the comfort of your room and work the same? All work interactions are handled via email, Slack and hangouts calls when necessary. In 21st century, I think at least 50% of jobs can be fully remote.

oftenwrong 8y ago

I like cars and driving. I hate car-dependence.

crazygringo 8y ago

For most people, there's no such thing as liking or disliking "driving". There's how you feel about "driving and finding parking in rush hour in midtown Manhattan" and how you feel about "driving down beautiful back country roads with no traffic". Without discussing the context of where and when, giving opinions on driving is almost meaningless. I mean, here in Manhattan during the day, the subway comes often enough that you don't need a timetable, and you can get most places on a whim a hell of a lot faster than you would in your car.

moate 8y ago
100% this. It's all about context. I live in NJ, and I can tell you that 1- I love driving when I'm able to do 80 MPH down the turnpike on the weekend but loath it when I'm stuck doing 10 MPH on 287 during rush hour and 2- HATE having to pay more money for tolls or parking. The sad fact is, I have to pay for the convenience of not needing to set aside 3 hours for my commute to work every day using public transportation.
manfredo 8y ago
There are some people for whom driving really is something they like. It's not driving per-se but I personally enjoy motorcycling in pretty much any context whether its commuting in heavy traffic (granted, here in California that does mean I get to lane-split through lots of it) or riding for leisure. Maintaining the machine is also an aspect of it, for some people their car or bike fulfills a niche sort of analogous to a pet or a garden. Not being able to have an automobile (car or motorcycle) if frequently a deciding factor in where people choose to live.

kadendogthing 8y ago

>Being free from public transport timetables and the ability to go anywhere on a whim are so precious. You can't do that with cars though at any time. Because there is traffic and parking spaces to deal with. Unless you're only going to big super markets like Target or a shopping center and you've never encountered this problem, you really can't go anywhere cool while driving. Please don't mention something like taking your car to a national park or something. That's what car rentals are for.

yellowapple 8y ago
> there is traffic and parking spaces to deal with In my observation (living in the SF Bay Area for almost a year now), being stuck in traffic is usually still faster than public transit (unless you're lucky enough for all your destinations to be near a BART stop and lucky enough for your home to also be near a BART stop; as soon as you throw in Muni or SamTrans or CalTrain you're looking at much longer travel times even excluding the time loafing about waiting for the next leg of the trip to arrive). Parking is indeed a problem, but if you think about it, plenty of people do manage to find parking spaces (obviously, since people are parked in them), so you just gotta be prepared to wait for one to open up (or find one a bit further out; helps when there are plenty of parking garages around). > you really can't go anywhere cool while driving. You can't with public transit, either, unless "anywhere cool" happens to be on the transit route and you're going there (and going home afterward) during that route's hours. > Please don't mention something like taking your car to a national park or something. That's what car rentals are for. lol. That's also what owning your own vehicle is for, plus being able to use it day-to-day for things. When I first moved to SF, I did so without a car, forcing myself to get used to BART and Muni (and learned very quickly that Muni's timetables are illusory at best, but that's a story for another day). It's fine until you need to haul something (like me trying to haul a bunch of desktop parts back from Fry's) or need to go somewhere outside of the transit agency's service area or before/after their normal operating hours (like me trying to do a lot of things in the city). Thankfully, I didn't get rid of my car, and as soon as I moved to a place with better parking I retrieved my car and I've been quite a bit happier ever since (though not happy enough to continue to want to live in/around SF, but that's also a story for another day).

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

Frondo 8y ago

Of course not. What I object to is how American life is structured to require one. I went to Taiwan a few years back and didn't rent a car for the two weeks I was there. I was able to explore the city of Taipei thoroughly on their incredible public transit system, including getting mostly out of town to visit the street of stinky tofu, and taking the metro system to a famous cable car tourist destination that led to some tea plantations. I also trekked all over the rest of the island on rail, high speed rail, and inter-city buses, visiting major metropolitan areas and weird small towns. Gosh, if we had something like that here, I'd sell my car in a heartbeat. I'd even give it away. But I do enjoy driving when the roads are uncrowded; just being required to, to get anywhere fun, that's no good.

pfranz 8y ago

It totally depends on context. If you live in/near a city you'll likely see the burden they can be. What's worse is most cities don't have great public transit alternatives. I used to drive into SF occasionally and wish I could ditch my car outside the city. Hotels charge $30-50/night when I rarely need it while I'm visiting. In/near a city you learn to inquire about parking before you leave, because it may not be an option when you pull up. Twice in the last six months I've gotten my car stuck in a garage overnight. The first time I missed the closing time the second I lost my ticket and there was no attendant on duty after hours. There are a lot of externalities that aren't obvious. Only a fraction of the cost of road maintenance is included in the price of fuel. The rest comes out of general/other taxes. Fuel, even though it has a specific tax, is subsidized. Many ordinances require buildings to have a certain number of parking spots, occupying real estate that could be better used elsewhere. I remember hearing that a parking lot in many of cities is the highest value property. Then, of course, you have the more obvious burdens like car maintenance and traffic.