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Right now in Poland, in cities there's less legit parking spaces than cars (cities were planned by communists, who didn't assume that most householdd will have

by badpun 4y ago

Right now in Poland, in cities there's less legit parking spaces than cars (cities were planned by communists, who didn't assume that most householdd will have a car). People are thus forced to park in illegal places (too close to pedestrian crosing, too close to intersection, leaving too little space on the sidewalk etc.) and the authorities turn the blind eye, knowing that there are no good alternatives. When every car will be electric, the authorities will either install charing points at these illegal de-facto parking spots as well, or won't and people won't be able to charge their cars...

Reason077 4y ago
Although it's convenient, not every parking spot necessarily needs a charger. Driving to a fast-charging hub works too. In London, most petrol stations have installed chargers and some have even completely replaced petrol pumps with chargers [1] If you're just driving around in a city for relatively short distances every day, EVs can go weeks without charging. [1] https://goo.gl/maps/U55DztC2qHM1k67Y8 https://goo.gl/maps/U55DztC2qHM1k67Y8
seba_dos1 4y ago
> which didn't assume that most householdd will have a car Actually, I don't quite understand why so many people in big cities have a car. I live in Poland, have lived in two very large cities (Poznań and Warsaw) in their various regions, with my primary mode of transportation being either tram, metro or train depending on where exactly I have lived. I had used public transport to ride to school, university and work every day for many years. I have a driving license. I can afford a car. I just never felt an actual need to own it. I would certainly get one if I lived in a remote village and had to go to the nearest town anytime I wanted to do some bigger shopping, or even reach the train station. That I can fully understand. But in a city with properly functioning public transport? Many of my friends with lifestyle similar to mine own cars, and unless they have a dedicated garage their primary purpose appears to be spending time on trying to find a parking spot. Is this a consequence of cars being seen as a proxy of social status? I don't get it.
- badpun 4y ago
  I wouldn't say Polish cities have proper public transit. Warsaw, a city of 1.7 million, have just 38 metro stations. The other cities, with population sizes of 500-700k, don't have metro at all! Compare that to Copenhagen, which has 39 metro stations, with a population of just 600k people. Only when reach that level, cars will truly be redundant for majority of people. As it stands now though, travelling via car in cities is still usually much faster than going via public transit. It's only natural that people don't want to waste their time with the inefficient public transit.
  - seba_dos1 4y ago
    That kinda makes my point stronger - I have only lived in those two cities I mentioned and yet I found their public transport perfectly sufficient for everyday use. Despite of that, my neighborhoods were always filled with parked cars. I am using taxis at times, but rarely and I usually go out of my way to not use them at traffic hours, because then it's often much slower than going by train or tram (not even speaking about metro [Warsaw] or fast tram lines [Poznań], which are hard to beat even outside of traffic hours). Also, when I'm sitting in a public transport, I'm free to spend my time somewhat productively or even just relax by, say, playing a game on a console - while driving a car is tiring, stressful and you can't really do anything else at the same time, so it seems to me that it actually wastes much more time. And what you sometimes gain by traveling faster, you often lose searching for a parking spot anyway.

by badpun 4y ago

Reason077 4y ago

Although it's convenient, not every parking spot necessarily needs a charger. Driving to a fast-charging hub works too. In London, most petrol stations have installed chargers and some have even completely replaced petrol pumps with chargers [1] If you're just driving around in a city for relatively short distances every day, EVs can go weeks without charging. [1] https://goo.gl/maps/U55DztC2qHM1k67Y8 https://goo.gl/maps/U55DztC2qHM1k67Y8

seba_dos1 4y ago

> which didn't assume that most householdd will have a car Actually, I don't quite understand why so many people in big cities have a car. I live in Poland, have lived in two very large cities (Poznań and Warsaw) in their various regions, with my primary mode of transportation being either tram, metro or train depending on where exactly I have lived. I had used public transport to ride to school, university and work every day for many years. I have a driving license. I can afford a car. I just never felt an actual need to own it. I would certainly get one if I lived in a remote village and had to go to the nearest town anytime I wanted to do some bigger shopping, or even reach the train station. That I can fully understand. But in a city with properly functioning public transport? Many of my friends with lifestyle similar to mine own cars, and unless they have a dedicated garage their primary purpose appears to be spending time on trying to find a parking spot. Is this a consequence of cars being seen as a proxy of social status? I don't get it.

badpun 4y ago
I wouldn't say Polish cities have proper public transit. Warsaw, a city of 1.7 million, have just 38 metro stations. The other cities, with population sizes of 500-700k, don't have metro at all! Compare that to Copenhagen, which has 39 metro stations, with a population of just 600k people. Only when reach that level, cars will truly be redundant for majority of people. As it stands now though, travelling via car in cities is still usually much faster than going via public transit. It's only natural that people don't want to waste their time with the inefficient public transit.
- seba_dos1 4y ago
  That kinda makes my point stronger - I have only lived in those two cities I mentioned and yet I found their public transport perfectly sufficient for everyday use. Despite of that, my neighborhoods were always filled with parked cars. I am using taxis at times, but rarely and I usually go out of my way to not use them at traffic hours, because then it's often much slower than going by train or tram (not even speaking about metro [Warsaw] or fast tram lines [Poznań], which are hard to beat even outside of traffic hours). Also, when I'm sitting in a public transport, I'm free to spend my time somewhat productively or even just relax by, say, playing a game on a console - while driving a car is tiring, stressful and you can't really do anything else at the same time, so it seems to me that it actually wastes much more time. And what you sometimes gain by traveling faster, you often lose searching for a parking spot anyway.