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Poor people without cars really aren't the issue, if you can't afford a car in America, you are extremely poor and really an outlier. Pretty much anyone working
by hattmall 5y ago
Poor people without cars really aren't the issue, if you can't afford a car in America, you are extremely poor and really an outlier. Pretty much anyone working even minimum wage can afford a car. The problem is a ballooning costs of ownership and all the other systemic failures that keep the majority of lower income people ~60% of the US trapped in a situation where they can not accumulate any substantial savings, assets or wealth and are merely surviving.
- amrocha 5y agoThe reason they can't save is exactly that they're forced to buy a car. It costs several thousand per year for maintenance, insurance and gas. It's the second most expensive thing people spend money on. And all these things should cost even more money, the only reason they don't is government subsidies.
- rayiner 5y agoIt doesn’t cost several thousand a year to insure and maintain a cheap old Japanese car, which poor parts of the country are full of.
- bsder 5y agoHe said: "maintenance, insurance and gas" It very much does cost several thousand. My insurance alone was almost $1K per year. Gas was about $100 per week, but, in rural areas, that's probably $50 per week. That's about $2,500 per year. In addition, most poor families have ONE, and only one, car. Putting it in for maintenance not only costs money for the maintenance but also money for alternate transportation. I had a 20 year old Honda and a 20 year old Pontiac. It cost me about $2K per year for maintenance on each (I calculated that if it reached $5K per year it was time to get a new car). However, because I had two, I could put one in the shop and use the other without thinking. This is a luxury that the poor do not have.