4 ms·

I think "right-sized" cars are still pretty absurd compared to public transportation.

choko 15y ago
You must live in a city with a public transportation system that doesn't take 2 hours to get you to a destination only 5 to 7 miles away and doesn't require huge taxpayer subsidaries to exist. I would gladly use public transportation if it didn't suck so hard in my city.
- DanielStraight 15y ago
  No, I live in a city with woefully inadequate public transportation, and I drive everywhere I go. But, I lived in Germany for 5 months and only rode in a car 2 or 3 times, and Germany doesn't even have the best public transportation in the world. Public transportation will require a lot of tax money, but roads require a lot of tax money too.
  - eru 15y ago
    Public transport plus a bike covers you pretty well there, if you live in a city.
  - gaius 15y ago
    On the other hand, cars raise a lot of tax revenue. There's a 400% tax on petrol in the UK. 80p out of every pound spent on petrol is pure revenue for the govt. And people hate the oil companies if the price of a gallon goes up by 1p...
    - DanielStraight 15y ago
      That alone doesn't tell us anything though. Public transportation tends to be much cheaper for riders than private transportation is for drivers. A year-long ticket for Munich is around $1000. At current prices, that won't even buy you 10k miles worth of gas in a compact car, to say nothing of the price of the car itself, insurance and repairs. I say that to say this, if people have more money in their pocket, they will tend to spend more money, so the difference could easily be made up in sales tax on all the newly-freed-up disposable income.
      - gaius 15y ago
        Annually my train season ticket costs just over half what my mortgage costs! And I'm talking repayment not endowment here. So while public transport may be convenient, it's certainly not cheap here in England.
      - dominastrum 15y ago
        The Atlantic has a post somewhat on this, slowing how transit-centric behavior can lead to more disposable income: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/the-financial-benefits-of-living-in-transit-friendly-walkable-areas/240075/ http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/the-fina...
  - protomyth 15y ago
    > Public transportation will require a lot of tax money, but roads require a lot of tax money too. On a cost basis, public transportation is more expensive and less versatile than roadways. // no bus stop within 90 miles of where I am and the flooding is seriously problematic for rail
- RyanMcGreal 15y ago
  You don't think driving requires huge taxpayer subsidies to exist?

choko 15y ago

You must live in a city with a public transportation system that doesn't take 2 hours to get you to a destination only 5 to 7 miles away and doesn't require huge taxpayer subsidaries to exist. I would gladly use public transportation if it didn't suck so hard in my city.

DanielStraight 15y ago
No, I live in a city with woefully inadequate public transportation, and I drive everywhere I go. But, I lived in Germany for 5 months and only rode in a car 2 or 3 times, and Germany doesn't even have the best public transportation in the world. Public transportation will require a lot of tax money, but roads require a lot of tax money too.
- eru 15y ago
  Public transport plus a bike covers you pretty well there, if you live in a city.
- gaius 15y ago
  On the other hand, cars raise a lot of tax revenue. There's a 400% tax on petrol in the UK. 80p out of every pound spent on petrol is pure revenue for the govt. And people hate the oil companies if the price of a gallon goes up by 1p...
  - DanielStraight 15y ago
    That alone doesn't tell us anything though. Public transportation tends to be much cheaper for riders than private transportation is for drivers. A year-long ticket for Munich is around $1000. At current prices, that won't even buy you 10k miles worth of gas in a compact car, to say nothing of the price of the car itself, insurance and repairs. I say that to say this, if people have more money in their pocket, they will tend to spend more money, so the difference could easily be made up in sales tax on all the newly-freed-up disposable income.
    - gaius 15y ago
      Annually my train season ticket costs just over half what my mortgage costs! And I'm talking repayment not endowment here. So while public transport may be convenient, it's certainly not cheap here in England.
    - dominastrum 15y ago
      The Atlantic has a post somewhat on this, slowing how transit-centric behavior can lead to more disposable income: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/the-financial-benefits-of-living-in-transit-friendly-walkable-areas/240075/ http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/the-fina...
- protomyth 15y ago
  > Public transportation will require a lot of tax money, but roads require a lot of tax money too. On a cost basis, public transportation is more expensive and less versatile than roadways. // no bus stop within 90 miles of where I am and the flooding is seriously problematic for rail
RyanMcGreal 15y ago
You don't think driving requires huge taxpayer subsidies to exist?