5 ms·

A typical car is standing around 90% of the day, if not more. It's a waste of space that could be used for trees, walkways, cycle lanes, etc. If we pooled our r

by foepys 6y ago

A typical car is standing around 90% of the day, if not more. It's a waste of space that could be used for trees, walkways, cycle lanes, etc. If we pooled our resources together and made renting cars easy and accessible, we'd have more space in cities for the people living there.

rapsey 6y ago
The thing is that during those 10% most or at least a lot of them are on the road.
- foepys 6y ago
  Commuting nowadays is broken. People commuting by car are hauling around 4 or more empty seats at 30 km/h along a highway full of other people doing the same, going into the same cities often into the same office districs. We could get rid of a lot of cars if we didn't drive around 4 empty seats and filled just one. Or if we lived closer to where we worked but that's seems like a more complex problem.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    > Commuting nowadays is broken. People commuting by car are hauling around 4 or more empty seats at 30 km/h along a highway full of other people doing the same, going into the same cities often into the same office districs. We could get rid of a lot of cars if we didn't drive around 4 empty seats and filled just one. Unfortunately, highways require a certain minimum vehicle size. The best you could possibly do is have a short coupe with 2 seats. It wouldn't significantly influence the size of the vehicle but waste more resources for the few times where you need a 3-4 person vehicle. The savings to be had are way too slim. However, driving a pick up truck for your commute is absolutely a waste of resources because there are smaller and more aerodynamic cars that are commute worthy. >Or if we lived closer to where we worked but that's seems like a more complex problem. It's the only solution. Building a von Neuman architecture style city is absolutely stupid for society since the world is inherently parallel. There is no logical reason to have massive central work place districts. Each office building is a cpu core and each residential building is a memory chip in its own right. We don't need to put all the cpu cores next to each other and put the memory somewhere else. A distributed development pattern is significantly more efficient since data and computation are next to each other.
wolfretcrap 6y ago
I often wonder without having a pickup truck and a car, how do Europeans haul heavy hardware stuff like MDF boards, 3x4 wood plank, steel pipes to their place. When I was in US I drove to nearest big box store, loaded my pickup and drove to my place. Easy, unfortunately no other country I've found such convenience and this makes me wanna go back to US.
- jfk13 6y ago
  Most things I need from the hardware/DIY store, I can bring home in my car. With the seats folded down, 8-foot lengths of timber aren't much of a problem. For the rare occasions when that wouldn't be feasible, they'll deliver for a moderate charge. It would make no sense to pay all the costs of keeping an extra vehicle (or a much larger one than I generally need) just to avoid a couple of deliveries per year.
- HarryHirsch 6y ago
  Station wagons are popular, as are hatchback cars where you can fold down the rear seat. That will fit a fridge or bicycle. If you really need the space you just rent a van for the day. Gas is expensive on the old continent, so people really do not like to drive huge cars.
- handelaar 6y ago
  People who need it for work have vans, which are an amazing invention with rooves and doors and which can carry pallets. Some have a trailer instead. People who need it barely once or twice a year for home take an estate car, rent one for a taxi, borrow a trailer off a friend, or get the store to deliver - because owning your own van or pickup just for that reason would be considered completely insane.
- Theodores 6y ago
  Pickups trucks are an American phenomenon due to the Chicken Tax and how that sector of manufacturing is protected. European and Japanese manufacturers that trounce the big three in every other sector are forbidden to compete fairly in the land of the free when it comes to these bizarre pickup trucks that make little sense in normal countries. In the UK we have the Ford Transit van and people that can do things for you. You get stuff delivered or collected. The guy with the Transit van gets a high level of utilisation out of it. People can therefore have normal cars and SUVs. Or a bicycle. We don't have those man size trucks with dual tyres in the UK and certainly not at US prices. You can buy Ranger and Hilux size trucks and those are a bit too large for UK roads. In the US these would be toys, not man size at all. In the UK you can play a game watching cars and counting how many have more than one person in them. In the US you can count how many trucks are hauling stuff. They ain't.
ctdonath 6y ago
A typical car is standing around 90% of the day, if not more. It's a waste of space [looks at personally-owned half-acre of forest] [looks at car] I own a car so I CAN own & preserve substantial undeveloped natural land. You get more city space by me not being there at all.

by foepys 6y ago

rapsey 6y ago

The thing is that during those 10% most or at least a lot of them are on the road.

foepys 6y ago
Commuting nowadays is broken. People commuting by car are hauling around 4 or more empty seats at 30 km/h along a highway full of other people doing the same, going into the same cities often into the same office districs. We could get rid of a lot of cars if we didn't drive around 4 empty seats and filled just one. Or if we lived closer to where we worked but that's seems like a more complex problem.
- imtringued 6y ago
  > Commuting nowadays is broken. People commuting by car are hauling around 4 or more empty seats at 30 km/h along a highway full of other people doing the same, going into the same cities often into the same office districs. We could get rid of a lot of cars if we didn't drive around 4 empty seats and filled just one. Unfortunately, highways require a certain minimum vehicle size. The best you could possibly do is have a short coupe with 2 seats. It wouldn't significantly influence the size of the vehicle but waste more resources for the few times where you need a 3-4 person vehicle. The savings to be had are way too slim. However, driving a pick up truck for your commute is absolutely a waste of resources because there are smaller and more aerodynamic cars that are commute worthy. >Or if we lived closer to where we worked but that's seems like a more complex problem. It's the only solution. Building a von Neuman architecture style city is absolutely stupid for society since the world is inherently parallel. There is no logical reason to have massive central work place districts. Each office building is a cpu core and each residential building is a memory chip in its own right. We don't need to put all the cpu cores next to each other and put the memory somewhere else. A distributed development pattern is significantly more efficient since data and computation are next to each other.

wolfretcrap 6y ago

I often wonder without having a pickup truck and a car, how do Europeans haul heavy hardware stuff like MDF boards, 3x4 wood plank, steel pipes to their place. When I was in US I drove to nearest big box store, loaded my pickup and drove to my place. Easy, unfortunately no other country I've found such convenience and this makes me wanna go back to US.

jfk13 6y ago
Most things I need from the hardware/DIY store, I can bring home in my car. With the seats folded down, 8-foot lengths of timber aren't much of a problem. For the rare occasions when that wouldn't be feasible, they'll deliver for a moderate charge. It would make no sense to pay all the costs of keeping an extra vehicle (or a much larger one than I generally need) just to avoid a couple of deliveries per year.
HarryHirsch 6y ago
Station wagons are popular, as are hatchback cars where you can fold down the rear seat. That will fit a fridge or bicycle. If you really need the space you just rent a van for the day. Gas is expensive on the old continent, so people really do not like to drive huge cars.
handelaar 6y ago
People who need it for work have vans, which are an amazing invention with rooves and doors and which can carry pallets. Some have a trailer instead. People who need it barely once or twice a year for home take an estate car, rent one for a taxi, borrow a trailer off a friend, or get the store to deliver - because owning your own van or pickup just for that reason would be considered completely insane.
Theodores 6y ago
Pickups trucks are an American phenomenon due to the Chicken Tax and how that sector of manufacturing is protected. European and Japanese manufacturers that trounce the big three in every other sector are forbidden to compete fairly in the land of the free when it comes to these bizarre pickup trucks that make little sense in normal countries. In the UK we have the Ford Transit van and people that can do things for you. You get stuff delivered or collected. The guy with the Transit van gets a high level of utilisation out of it. People can therefore have normal cars and SUVs. Or a bicycle. We don't have those man size trucks with dual tyres in the UK and certainly not at US prices. You can buy Ranger and Hilux size trucks and those are a bit too large for UK roads. In the US these would be toys, not man size at all. In the UK you can play a game watching cars and counting how many have more than one person in them. In the US you can count how many trucks are hauling stuff. They ain't.

ctdonath 6y ago

A typical car is standing around 90% of the day, if not more. It's a waste of space [looks at personally-owned half-acre of forest] [looks at car] I own a car so I CAN own & preserve substantial undeveloped natural land. You get more city space by me not being there at all.