4 ms·

Tokyo can get pretty crammed, but I always feel more like cattle on a crowded highway than I do on a crowded train.

• ekianjo 7y ago
  Not sure how you can compare the comfort of sitting in a car with your own space versus standing for an hour or more stuck in between everyone's armpits with no space to move beyond an inch.
  • Thlom 7y ago
    The alternative in Tokyo (and most other big cities), if everyone felt like cattle on public transport and decided to move to their own personal vehicle, would be an eternal gridlock of the city. You would have your own space, but you would also be stuck in your own space for hours on end barley moving forward.
  • danbolt 7y ago
    Hmm, yeah, I can see what you mean about a car giving a little more independent space. I guess it's the fact that I could get off whenever I wanted? I could look on my phone or listen to something without having to worry about driving the car as well. Or, I guess managing a car has always felt more responsibility than privilege to me. I guess also "an hour or more stuck in between everyone's armpits" is also like a worst-case scenario, and it happened to me infrequently enough that I didn't mind overall. Or, Tokyo rush hour might have been like commuting on the LA interstate? Neither are very fun, but driving along the Pacific Coast Highway is a more ideal kind of thing. I think I've had a lot of commuter rail situations like that too which have made up for it.