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Now I disagree that it is a "time tax" to use public transportation. Instead, I would argue that private personal transportation sucks away that commute time mu

Now I disagree that it is a "time tax" to use public transportation. Instead, I would argue that private personal transportation sucks away that commute time much worse. Because if you are committed and responsible for driving a vehicle, your attention must be 100% devoted to operation of that vehicle, from source to destination. The best you can do is listen to a podcast or something, passively. By contrast, as soon as I plop down at a bus stop or I board a train, my time is my own and I can make the most of it, interactively! I can check forums like Hacker News, I can pull out a laptop, edit Wikipedia, I can make phone calls, or I could tune out and just listen to some music or meditate. I can close my eyes and make use of the calmest 2 hours I might get all day long. So I would say that the middle class are the ones with the "transportation time tax" and they can't free themselves of that until they can indeed afford to take a cab everywhere, or better yet, have their own chauffered vehicle and driver. (Yeah, it is not easy to do your own thing while a taxi driver wants to chit-chat.)

kthejoker2 4y ago
You have a very sheltered view of the time tax of public transportation. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/08/18/the-marriage-cure https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/08/18/the-marriage-c... > When a bus turned down her street, she stepped off the curb, but the bus did not slow down. Half an hour later, a second bus cruised by her outstretched, dollar-waving hand. It is an unhappy fact of Oklahoma City life that bus drivers bypass would-be riders in very poor neighborhoods, and blacks in less poor ones. > After an hour, a bus pulled over. It took her to the center-city bus depot, which is situated in front of the county jail. Waiting for a transfer bus under a billboard for Crawley 24-Hour Bail Bonds, Kim was propositioned by a man wheeling a baby carriage and smoking a Black & Mild cigar. > She then learned that the job required her to work until 9 p.m. There is no regular bus service to Sooner Haven or its environs after dark. > Another bus was coming through the shopping plaza. Kim stepped forward, signalling furiously. When it swerved around her, she sank to the curb. The bus was not only the seventh one to pass her that day; it was the last bus to Sooner Haven until morning. In terms of landmass, Oklahoma City is the third-largest metropolis in America, and she was a five-hour walk from home.
iinnPP 4y ago
You can use public transportation if you want. Poor people can't always afford a car. Start at age 18 and assume equal education and find a scenario where having the option is worse than having no option. That's not possible for obvious reasons. Luck and happenstance are not valid options because they end up equalized(ish) in volume given the scenario is followed.

kthejoker2 4y ago

You have a very sheltered view of the time tax of public transportation. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/08/18/the-marriage-cure https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/08/18/the-marriage-c... > When a bus turned down her street, she stepped off the curb, but the bus did not slow down. Half an hour later, a second bus cruised by her outstretched, dollar-waving hand. It is an unhappy fact of Oklahoma City life that bus drivers bypass would-be riders in very poor neighborhoods, and blacks in less poor ones. > After an hour, a bus pulled over. It took her to the center-city bus depot, which is situated in front of the county jail. Waiting for a transfer bus under a billboard for Crawley 24-Hour Bail Bonds, Kim was propositioned by a man wheeling a baby carriage and smoking a Black & Mild cigar. > She then learned that the job required her to work until 9 p.m. There is no regular bus service to Sooner Haven or its environs after dark. > Another bus was coming through the shopping plaza. Kim stepped forward, signalling furiously. When it swerved around her, she sank to the curb. The bus was not only the seventh one to pass her that day; it was the last bus to Sooner Haven until morning. In terms of landmass, Oklahoma City is the third-largest metropolis in America, and she was a five-hour walk from home.

iinnPP 4y ago

You can use public transportation if you want. Poor people can't always afford a car. Start at age 18 and assume equal education and find a scenario where having the option is worse than having no option. That's not possible for obvious reasons. Luck and happenstance are not valid options because they end up equalized(ish) in volume given the scenario is followed.