5 ms·

That's terribly wrong. I live in an house. I walk 5 minutes to the nearest bus station, there in the worst case, in public holiday I may have to wait 30 mins

by Kuinox 4y ago

That's terribly wrong. I live in an house. I walk 5 minutes to the nearest bus station, there in the worst case, in public holiday I may have to wait 30 mins at most, but because the bus hours are public, I can leave my house at the last moment. 10-15 mins with the bus, or 8 if there are no car jamming the road, I'm at a train station. This train station have a train line that bring me in the middle of Paris in 13 minutes.

paulddraper 4y ago
To clarify your story....you live in a house but don't own a car?
- Kuinox 4y ago
  I do own one, but it's a luxury. I could totally lives without it. Almost all of my needs can be covered at feet distance, or with public transit.
  - google234123 4y ago
    Why do you want to deny everyone else that “luxury”?
    - Kuinox 4y ago
      It's burning the world, and it's a luxury we can afford now because we don't pay(monetarly speaking) the price for it. I would vote to restrict further the cars. As soon as you take every cost the car make, it's not worth it anymore. And I'm not speaking only about money, but the external cost generated due to the car: It reduce biking and walking by taking up space on the road, and being dangerous for both. It pollute the air and reduce our lifespans. It make a tons of noise, which also reduce lifespan.
- pmyteh 4y ago
  This isn't particularly unusual. I live in a house (with a garden) in Liverpool and don't have a car. I cycle the 2.5 miles to work, and there are frequent buses and trains to move around more broadly. There are certainly times it would be more convenient to have a car, and most people around here do. I've just never got around to it (though I do have a licence, and hire one maybe once a year for a trip to somewhere awkward). If you live near the middle of London, on the other hand, a car is positively unusual: the public transport is ubiquitous, often faster than sitting in traffic, and much cheaper than parking. That's not true of most places in Europe, though.
Ekaros 4y ago
And what if every building between you and the middle of Paris housed single family?
- Kuinox 4y ago
  There won't be enough place. The train go at 180km/h, you can't beat it with your car, limited at most at 130km/h.
  - google234123 4y ago
    The car will beat it in a lot of situations if you add up the time to get to and from train stations or if you want to arrive at your destination at any time when the train isn’t arriving
    - wizofaus 4y ago
      It's not hard to use that waiting/traveling time productively though (which might include zoning out etc.). Much harder to use driving time productively. Self driving cars will obviously change that equation, and I expect will make cars more attractive for many uses.
    - Kuinox 4y ago
      There is a train every 30 mins at worst, and thinking that the car will go at the maximum speed all the way is a pipedream: In practice, in Paris, at commute hours the car is often slower than using public transit.
jjeaff 4y ago
I bet you don't have kids.
- Kuinox 4y ago
  The school is 5 mins away on feet. Middle school 20mins away on feet. High school is 25mins away in bus.
vineyardmike 4y ago
So I’m a big anti-car advocate but walking to a bus, taking the bus to a train, and taking the train to Paris (and maybe taking the metro around Paris?) and of course going all the way back sounds like a thing a car person would bemoan as a failure. Must be nice to get to Paris so easily I’ll admit. Personally, if I have to take more than 2 modalities of transit to get where I have to go then I just use a car (taxi). Maybe the French are a bit different, but in America no one would want that. The idea that you’re beholden to the others schedule (or multiple others!) and it could be late or off or whatever or if you miss it you’re screwed is exactly what Americans fear most about communal transit. The American independent mindset would kill that.
- Kuinox 4y ago
  My commute time is fairly long, it's 76 minutes, and is about the same time in car. The thing is, public transit for me is more reliable, as I don't rely on specific hours, at peak hours you get your bus/train every 10-15 minutes at most and there is a metro every 3 minutes. If there are issue on a line, there are apps that will route you away from it. And the other big thing is, these 76 minutes are not lost, you can do something in this time, for me it's reading a lot on the net. Now, if you want to do this commute in car, well it won't be good for your mental health, then the traffic will vary a lot, and can add 30-45mins at worst on your commute.
  - decafninja 4y ago
    I commute about an hour into Manhattan, NYC, supposedly one of the few places in the US with decent public transit. It’s 50:50 odds that that hour is not only completely lost but spent in complete misery standing up and holding a tight pole on a swaying and swerving bus or train. In isolation I would much prefer to drive in, traffic and all. But it costs too much, and I know that’s not a realistically scalable solution for many reasons. But that I even wish I could is representative of just how much I hate NYC’s public transit system. Now I’m not a transit hater. I loved Seoul’s and Tokyo’s for example. But to get NYC’s transit, let alone any other American city’s transit to that level is completely impossible due to cultural and social reasons. And no - cars have little to do with those reasons.

by Kuinox 4y ago

paulddraper 4y ago

To clarify your story....you live in a house but don't own a car?

Kuinox 4y ago
I do own one, but it's a luxury. I could totally lives without it. Almost all of my needs can be covered at feet distance, or with public transit.
- google234123 4y ago
  Why do you want to deny everyone else that “luxury”?
  - Kuinox 4y ago
    It's burning the world, and it's a luxury we can afford now because we don't pay(monetarly speaking) the price for it. I would vote to restrict further the cars. As soon as you take every cost the car make, it's not worth it anymore. And I'm not speaking only about money, but the external cost generated due to the car: It reduce biking and walking by taking up space on the road, and being dangerous for both. It pollute the air and reduce our lifespans. It make a tons of noise, which also reduce lifespan.
pmyteh 4y ago
This isn't particularly unusual. I live in a house (with a garden) in Liverpool and don't have a car. I cycle the 2.5 miles to work, and there are frequent buses and trains to move around more broadly. There are certainly times it would be more convenient to have a car, and most people around here do. I've just never got around to it (though I do have a licence, and hire one maybe once a year for a trip to somewhere awkward). If you live near the middle of London, on the other hand, a car is positively unusual: the public transport is ubiquitous, often faster than sitting in traffic, and much cheaper than parking. That's not true of most places in Europe, though.

Ekaros 4y ago

And what if every building between you and the middle of Paris housed single family?

Kuinox 4y ago
There won't be enough place. The train go at 180km/h, you can't beat it with your car, limited at most at 130km/h.
- google234123 4y ago
  The car will beat it in a lot of situations if you add up the time to get to and from train stations or if you want to arrive at your destination at any time when the train isn’t arriving
  - wizofaus 4y ago
    It's not hard to use that waiting/traveling time productively though (which might include zoning out etc.). Much harder to use driving time productively. Self driving cars will obviously change that equation, and I expect will make cars more attractive for many uses.
  - Kuinox 4y ago
    There is a train every 30 mins at worst, and thinking that the car will go at the maximum speed all the way is a pipedream: In practice, in Paris, at commute hours the car is often slower than using public transit.

jjeaff 4y ago

I bet you don't have kids.

Kuinox 4y ago
The school is 5 mins away on feet. Middle school 20mins away on feet. High school is 25mins away in bus.

vineyardmike 4y ago

So I’m a big anti-car advocate but walking to a bus, taking the bus to a train, and taking the train to Paris (and maybe taking the metro around Paris?) and of course going all the way back sounds like a thing a car person would bemoan as a failure. Must be nice to get to Paris so easily I’ll admit. Personally, if I have to take more than 2 modalities of transit to get where I have to go then I just use a car (taxi). Maybe the French are a bit different, but in America no one would want that. The idea that you’re beholden to the others schedule (or multiple others!) and it could be late or off or whatever or if you miss it you’re screwed is exactly what Americans fear most about communal transit. The American independent mindset would kill that.

Kuinox 4y ago
My commute time is fairly long, it's 76 minutes, and is about the same time in car. The thing is, public transit for me is more reliable, as I don't rely on specific hours, at peak hours you get your bus/train every 10-15 minutes at most and there is a metro every 3 minutes. If there are issue on a line, there are apps that will route you away from it. And the other big thing is, these 76 minutes are not lost, you can do something in this time, for me it's reading a lot on the net. Now, if you want to do this commute in car, well it won't be good for your mental health, then the traffic will vary a lot, and can add 30-45mins at worst on your commute.
- decafninja 4y ago
  I commute about an hour into Manhattan, NYC, supposedly one of the few places in the US with decent public transit. It’s 50:50 odds that that hour is not only completely lost but spent in complete misery standing up and holding a tight pole on a swaying and swerving bus or train. In isolation I would much prefer to drive in, traffic and all. But it costs too much, and I know that’s not a realistically scalable solution for many reasons. But that I even wish I could is representative of just how much I hate NYC’s public transit system. Now I’m not a transit hater. I loved Seoul’s and Tokyo’s for example. But to get NYC’s transit, let alone any other American city’s transit to that level is completely impossible due to cultural and social reasons. And no - cars have little to do with those reasons.