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Public Transit (from local buses to inter-city trains) should be high quality and frequent. That is reality in a lot of the world including Europe, China, and

Public Transit (from local buses to inter-city trains) should be high quality and frequent. That is reality in a lot of the world including Europe, China, and South America. I agree with the sentiment of not generally needing to have a car and fortunately that is the case in most of the world (except the USA)

andrepd 4y ago
In part of Europe, China, and South America.
bombcar 4y ago
More and more public transit is requiring a smartphone or an elaborate and complicated setup with contact cards. It’s getting annoying.
- midasuni 4y ago
  Touch a piece of plastic when you start, toich again when you end. It’s not exactly complicated. You can buy the plastic for cash, or use the one almost everyone has in their wallet, or use a phone.
- midoridensha 4y ago
  It's really not at all. In Japan, you just buy a debit card and swipe that every time you enter or exit a station. When it gets low, you stop at a vending machine and put more cash on it. It doesn't get any simpler, and it's totally anonymous.
- fomine3 4y ago
  You underestimate how difficult to buy a correct ticket
eru 4y ago
Public Transit isn't the (only) alternative to cars. Compact layouts that enable walking or biking are another alternative.
- scarface74 4y ago
  Yeah I’m sure the older people who don’t want cellphones are going to love biking and walking everywhere.
  - jackvalentine 4y ago
    I’m sure they will too! And I’m not being facetious in saying it. Walkable, bikeable cities are human cities. (And they’re also the kind of cities that mobility aids like scooters can thrive in.)
  - jacobolus 4y ago
    Walkable cities are much more accessible to elderly people (many of whom cannot drive) than car-only cities. That’s one of the main reasons that elderly people from the suburbs often move to retirement communities which are designed at pedestrian scale.
  - Ekaros 4y ago
    Not necessarily everywhere, but they are probably perfectly happy to walk 10-15 minutes for groceries and such. The daily neccessities.
    - anhner 4y ago
      Daily necessities and daily excercise. For some of these people it's the part of the day they look most forward to.
    - autoexec 4y ago
      Walking to a store everyday to buy only their daily necessities would end up costing them a lot more than if they were buying a bunch of what they need in bulk, and nobody ( especially an elderly person) is going to walk home carrying around their items in bulk sizes. Even for people lucky enough to live in those rare areas where you can walk to a grocery store, it's extremely useful to have access to a car you can fill up with large items.
  - anhner 4y ago
adrianN 4y ago
Sadly, there are plenty of places in Europe that don't have frequent high quality public transport.
EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago
There are many places where bus comes every half an hour, and there are on average 1-2 passengers on it. I think in those towns it would be cheaper for local council to just pay for Uber service for everyone who needs public transportation. No need to buy expensive buses, maintain bus stops, stations and depots, pay drivers and administrators salaries and pensions etc.
- yakireev 4y ago
  > There are many places where bus comes every half an hour, and there are on average 1-2 passengers on it Well, no surprise there are so few passengers: the bus comes every half an hour! Make it once every two hours, and there will be no passengers at all. "Every half an hour" is an option for the desperate. Also, that bus is probably stuck with cars when there's heavy traffic, while being slower than cars when there isn't. And it does not go exactly where you want to be. Would _you_ use such a bus service if you weren't forced to due to circumstances? The answer for shitty public transport offering should not be eliminating public transport offering.
  - eru 4y ago
    Well, it depends. Public transport only really makes sense when you have enough density. If you have the typical North American rules that make density illegal, even the best public transport won't safe you. In fact, it might be throwing good money after bad money.
- eru 4y ago
  The local council can just give poor people money, then they can pay Uber (or buy bread or beer, if they need it more).
  - yakireev 4y ago
    "public transport riders" != "poor people", unless your bus service is specifically designed to be miserable.

andrepd 4y ago

In part of Europe, China, and South America.

bombcar 4y ago

More and more public transit is requiring a smartphone or an elaborate and complicated setup with contact cards. It’s getting annoying.

midasuni 4y ago
Touch a piece of plastic when you start, toich again when you end. It’s not exactly complicated. You can buy the plastic for cash, or use the one almost everyone has in their wallet, or use a phone.
midoridensha 4y ago
It's really not at all. In Japan, you just buy a debit card and swipe that every time you enter or exit a station. When it gets low, you stop at a vending machine and put more cash on it. It doesn't get any simpler, and it's totally anonymous.
fomine3 4y ago
You underestimate how difficult to buy a correct ticket

eru 4y ago

Public Transit isn't the (only) alternative to cars. Compact layouts that enable walking or biking are another alternative.

scarface74 4y ago
Yeah I’m sure the older people who don’t want cellphones are going to love biking and walking everywhere.
- jackvalentine 4y ago
  I’m sure they will too! And I’m not being facetious in saying it. Walkable, bikeable cities are human cities. (And they’re also the kind of cities that mobility aids like scooters can thrive in.)
- jacobolus 4y ago
  Walkable cities are much more accessible to elderly people (many of whom cannot drive) than car-only cities. That’s one of the main reasons that elderly people from the suburbs often move to retirement communities which are designed at pedestrian scale.
- Ekaros 4y ago
  Not necessarily everywhere, but they are probably perfectly happy to walk 10-15 minutes for groceries and such. The daily neccessities.
  - anhner 4y ago
    Daily necessities and daily excercise. For some of these people it's the part of the day they look most forward to.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    Walking to a store everyday to buy only their daily necessities would end up costing them a lot more than if they were buying a bunch of what they need in bulk, and nobody ( especially an elderly person) is going to walk home carrying around their items in bulk sizes. Even for people lucky enough to live in those rare areas where you can walk to a grocery store, it's extremely useful to have access to a car you can fill up with large items.
- anhner 4y ago

adrianN 4y ago

Sadly, there are plenty of places in Europe that don't have frequent high quality public transport.

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago

There are many places where bus comes every half an hour, and there are on average 1-2 passengers on it. I think in those towns it would be cheaper for local council to just pay for Uber service for everyone who needs public transportation. No need to buy expensive buses, maintain bus stops, stations and depots, pay drivers and administrators salaries and pensions etc.

yakireev 4y ago
> There are many places where bus comes every half an hour, and there are on average 1-2 passengers on it Well, no surprise there are so few passengers: the bus comes every half an hour! Make it once every two hours, and there will be no passengers at all. "Every half an hour" is an option for the desperate. Also, that bus is probably stuck with cars when there's heavy traffic, while being slower than cars when there isn't. And it does not go exactly where you want to be. Would _you_ use such a bus service if you weren't forced to due to circumstances? The answer for shitty public transport offering should not be eliminating public transport offering.
- eru 4y ago
  Well, it depends. Public transport only really makes sense when you have enough density. If you have the typical North American rules that make density illegal, even the best public transport won't safe you. In fact, it might be throwing good money after bad money.
eru 4y ago
The local council can just give poor people money, then they can pay Uber (or buy bread or beer, if they need it more).
- yakireev 4y ago
  "public transport riders" != "poor people", unless your bus service is specifically designed to be miserable.