5 ms·

What are you gonna do, buy a more fuel efficient car? Used car prices are insane and new cars, especially EVs, are still extremely scarce. Move somewhere you c

What are you gonna do, buy a more fuel efficient car? Used car prices are insane and new cars, especially EVs, are still extremely scarce. Move somewhere you can drive less? The community has some concerns about how that would affect the character of the neighborhood. Bike? You will be murdered and your entire community will stand together to say in unison that you deserved it. Take the bus? Sure, for just three transfers, half an hour walking and 45 minutes waiting you can substitute the bus for a 15 minute drive.

BigRedDog1669 4y ago
I tried to do all of that, got rid of my car a couple years ago, live in one of the best cities in the US for public transit outside of NYC, and am constantly frustrated. I'm still glad I don't have a car right now but trying to figure out how to make it more pleasant. I sacrificed on neighborhoods I wanted to live in to be near a train stop and grocery. There aren't many apartments outside of a handful that don't require a car. My city doesn't give accurate transit information so when I'm waiting for a bus that should come every 15-30 minutes sometimes I wait up to an hour because a bus was cancelled with no indication so I can change my plans. Escalators and elevators in public transit stations are broke 50% of the time it seems, sometimes making it necessary to cross streets to go to another station entrance, which starts to matter when you need multiple connections. City has parking spots everywhere, not hard to find except central downtown, but cars also park in bike lanes and on sidewalks. There is no enforcement of bike lanes, in fact motorcycle cops speed down them. People blame bikers for traffic problems, but never people speeding or blowing red lights in their cars, no enforcement of that either.
hansvm 4y ago
> Bike murders Why is it so hard for people to get along? Drivers can just look both ways before blowing red lights and stop signs and not tailgate cyclists and reduce their murders ten-fold. And cyclists could be aware that they're required by law to be as far to the right of the road as is safe and to stop at signs and lights to drop the animosity against them ten-fold. Grr. > Bus transfers It's a bloody nightmare. As a student I had free bussing in a pretty well-covered city. It was literally faster to walk the whole distance. I'd ride the bus if it dropped below -20F or the sidewalks weren't plowed yet, but otherwise it wasn't worth it even for free.
- BigRedDog1669 4y ago
  In a lot of places, bikers aren't required to be all the way to the right. It's often more safe to be visible in the middle of the lane rather than be on the right with people passing you with unsafely small amounts of space and the people behind them may not see you. Also there is a lot more bully power when you have a multiple thousand pound vehicle than a bike. Bikers become pretty aware of it.
  - hansvm 4y ago
    Admittedly I was only talking about the laws on most roads applying to 40M people. Bike laws vary from city to city and state to state. If it's not safe to pass, sure, hold the middle of the lane. If the lane is two cars wide, having six bikes span the whole thing is blatantly illegal in a lot of places. So are speeding and blowing stop signs (often done in tandem, going 40mph through a 25mph downhill stop sign). I bike frequently too; I'm not saying that being a minor annoyance for traffic should be illegal, but that each side should just respect the other a tiny bit. Check your mirror before opening your door, stop at stop signs (both parties), .... It's not that hard to have a much safer world.
    - BigRedDog1669 4y ago
      Totally agree, thanks for clarifying!
Tiktaalik 4y ago
Car dependency has resulted in a system that creates no other options. The only hope is that gas keeps getting more and more expensive and politicians start asking real questions about what changes need to be made so that Americans have more options available other than giving more and more money to the oil companies.

BigRedDog1669 4y ago

I tried to do all of that, got rid of my car a couple years ago, live in one of the best cities in the US for public transit outside of NYC, and am constantly frustrated. I'm still glad I don't have a car right now but trying to figure out how to make it more pleasant. I sacrificed on neighborhoods I wanted to live in to be near a train stop and grocery. There aren't many apartments outside of a handful that don't require a car. My city doesn't give accurate transit information so when I'm waiting for a bus that should come every 15-30 minutes sometimes I wait up to an hour because a bus was cancelled with no indication so I can change my plans. Escalators and elevators in public transit stations are broke 50% of the time it seems, sometimes making it necessary to cross streets to go to another station entrance, which starts to matter when you need multiple connections. City has parking spots everywhere, not hard to find except central downtown, but cars also park in bike lanes and on sidewalks. There is no enforcement of bike lanes, in fact motorcycle cops speed down them. People blame bikers for traffic problems, but never people speeding or blowing red lights in their cars, no enforcement of that either.

hansvm 4y ago

> Bike murders Why is it so hard for people to get along? Drivers can just look both ways before blowing red lights and stop signs and not tailgate cyclists and reduce their murders ten-fold. And cyclists could be aware that they're required by law to be as far to the right of the road as is safe and to stop at signs and lights to drop the animosity against them ten-fold. Grr. > Bus transfers It's a bloody nightmare. As a student I had free bussing in a pretty well-covered city. It was literally faster to walk the whole distance. I'd ride the bus if it dropped below -20F or the sidewalks weren't plowed yet, but otherwise it wasn't worth it even for free.

BigRedDog1669 4y ago
In a lot of places, bikers aren't required to be all the way to the right. It's often more safe to be visible in the middle of the lane rather than be on the right with people passing you with unsafely small amounts of space and the people behind them may not see you. Also there is a lot more bully power when you have a multiple thousand pound vehicle than a bike. Bikers become pretty aware of it.
- hansvm 4y ago
  Admittedly I was only talking about the laws on most roads applying to 40M people. Bike laws vary from city to city and state to state. If it's not safe to pass, sure, hold the middle of the lane. If the lane is two cars wide, having six bikes span the whole thing is blatantly illegal in a lot of places. So are speeding and blowing stop signs (often done in tandem, going 40mph through a 25mph downhill stop sign). I bike frequently too; I'm not saying that being a minor annoyance for traffic should be illegal, but that each side should just respect the other a tiny bit. Check your mirror before opening your door, stop at stop signs (both parties), .... It's not that hard to have a much safer world.
  - BigRedDog1669 4y ago
    Totally agree, thanks for clarifying!

Tiktaalik 4y ago

Car dependency has resulted in a system that creates no other options. The only hope is that gas keeps getting more and more expensive and politicians start asking real questions about what changes need to be made so that Americans have more options available other than giving more and more money to the oil companies.