5 ms·

Cool, if you live near a rail line in a major city. Not everyone has that luxury. Im standing about 300km from the nearest passenger rail setvice. It is 0530

Cool, if you live near a rail line in a major city. Not everyone has that luxury. Im standing about 300km from the nearest passenger rail setvice. It is 0530, -25c, and i am about to drive 18km to work (government/military). Trains or even busses are a distant concept here.

shlant 4y ago
are you in Germany? in Europe?
- yorwba 4y ago
  Germany is only slightly larger than a circle with radius 300 km.
  - shlant 4y ago
    yea I figured they are probably in the US or something which means their contribution to the discourse was essentially "bad public transport is bad"
johnchristopher 4y ago
IMO, it's the other way around. I'd rather have the luxury of a 18km drive to work than my current 70km train trip + 8 minute bus to work. Which means 90 minutes morning commute, 90 minutes evening commute. Yeah, apples to oranges.
- ghaff 4y ago
  At one point, I had a 90-minute one-way some-days commute. Even though that included an only few minute drive to the train station, that wasn't really sustainable long-term. It's just a big chunk out of your day even if driving was mostly a worse option.
fabian2k 4y ago
I'm pretty sure there isn't a single point in Germany that is 300km from any passenger rail station. Of course rail doesn't go to small villages, but most medium-size cities have reasonable rail connections here.
- NGC404 4y ago
  it indeed is hardly possible. See: https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ https://www.openrailwaymap.org/
  - ocimbote 4y ago
    That is an amazing resource!! Thanks for sharing!
    - NGC404 4y ago
      It truely is. I found it years ago and have used the data in various projects since then. :)
    - EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago
      Which browser are you using? Shows a blank page for me.
      - ocimbote 4y ago
        Firefox, Android.
  - ranit 4y ago
    I just realized (from this site) how minimal railway system is in Greece and South Italy.
    - radiator 4y ago
      In Greece the railway might be minimal but at the same time it is very deadly.
_Microft 4y ago
Ok, you better have a car then?
kehrin 4y ago
Whats the point of this comment? You're obviously an extreme outlier. Are you implying the 49€ ticket is bad because it isn't an improvement for every single citizen?
- sandworm101 4y ago
  To illustrate that there are many people in this world who do not have many transportation options. People should not make blanket statements about how people should opt for "green" or more safe options when there are lots of people out there for whom there are no such alternatives. Trains are great, but only where they are available. The transportation revolution has to accommodate everyone, not just those in conveniently dense cities.
  - Moldoteck 4y ago
    I think the world should look closer at how Switzerland operates trains even for very small cities
lm28469 4y ago
> Im standing about 300km from the nearest passenger rail setvice Well in germany if you stand in the center of it you're literally 300km away from almost every single train station of the country. Trains work for dense countries, if you live in the middle of nowhere in Northern canada or some shit you're obviously not the target
jenadine 4y ago
If you choose to live in a remote place, you'll also have to bear the costs.
- salawat 4y ago
  [flagged]
- sandworm101 4y ago
  >> If you choose to live in a remote place Lol. I'm one of a very small group that doesn't have such choices. When you are in the military you literally do not choose where you live. If you get posted to a remote location, you now live in a remote location. If you get posted to a "small" town of 20,000 people that doesn't have train or bus services... you better have a car. And if it is below -30c regularly, and you have to get to work even on those days when the power fails, that car better be gas and not diesel.
  - ben_w 4y ago
    If you're in the military, no public transport will ever be right, precisely because it's public. But: 1) Mass transport isn't necessarily public. If there's a base with one town nearby where even just 20 of the people working on that base live, that's a good reason for a private bus. 2) Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good-enough. The military is even more of an edge case than emergency vehicles, and yet nobody seriously thinks normal people should get sirens and flashing lights on their commute to get past red lights. You get to keep whatever you need to do your job, because obviously you do.
ben_w 4y ago
Fortunately, the German population is 77.6% urban, so most people benefit. https://www.statista.com/statistics/984679/urban-and-rural-population-of-germany/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/984679/urban-and-rural-p...
mqus 4y ago
The ticket also covers (local/regional) buses (which are more common in the rural areas of germany) so you don't even have to be near a train station. But rural areas are usually better traversed by car because buses take longer (more stops, more detours, maybe not going where you want to).
zhte415 4y ago
Cool, if you have a road. Not everyone has that luxury. I used to live on an island where it was 12km to work and no bridge, just a ferry which wouldn't run during typhoons. Cars or bridges were taken as a huge unnecessary expense and no serious construction plans entertained.
- orbit7 4y ago
  If you choose to go live on an island isn't that kind of the point?

shlant 4y ago

are you in Germany? in Europe?

yorwba 4y ago
Germany is only slightly larger than a circle with radius 300 km.
- shlant 4y ago
  yea I figured they are probably in the US or something which means their contribution to the discourse was essentially "bad public transport is bad"

johnchristopher 4y ago

IMO, it's the other way around. I'd rather have the luxury of a 18km drive to work than my current 70km train trip + 8 minute bus to work. Which means 90 minutes morning commute, 90 minutes evening commute. Yeah, apples to oranges.

ghaff 4y ago
At one point, I had a 90-minute one-way some-days commute. Even though that included an only few minute drive to the train station, that wasn't really sustainable long-term. It's just a big chunk out of your day even if driving was mostly a worse option.

fabian2k 4y ago

I'm pretty sure there isn't a single point in Germany that is 300km from any passenger rail station. Of course rail doesn't go to small villages, but most medium-size cities have reasonable rail connections here.

NGC404 4y ago
it indeed is hardly possible. See: https://www.openrailwaymap.org/ https://www.openrailwaymap.org/
- ocimbote 4y ago
  That is an amazing resource!! Thanks for sharing!
  - NGC404 4y ago
    It truely is. I found it years ago and have used the data in various projects since then. :)
  - EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y ago
    Which browser are you using? Shows a blank page for me.
    - ocimbote 4y ago
      Firefox, Android.
- ranit 4y ago
  I just realized (from this site) how minimal railway system is in Greece and South Italy.
  - radiator 4y ago
    In Greece the railway might be minimal but at the same time it is very deadly.

_Microft 4y ago

Ok, you better have a car then?

kehrin 4y ago

Whats the point of this comment? You're obviously an extreme outlier. Are you implying the 49€ ticket is bad because it isn't an improvement for every single citizen?

sandworm101 4y ago
To illustrate that there are many people in this world who do not have many transportation options. People should not make blanket statements about how people should opt for "green" or more safe options when there are lots of people out there for whom there are no such alternatives. Trains are great, but only where they are available. The transportation revolution has to accommodate everyone, not just those in conveniently dense cities.
- Moldoteck 4y ago
  I think the world should look closer at how Switzerland operates trains even for very small cities

lm28469 4y ago

> Im standing about 300km from the nearest passenger rail setvice Well in germany if you stand in the center of it you're literally 300km away from almost every single train station of the country. Trains work for dense countries, if you live in the middle of nowhere in Northern canada or some shit you're obviously not the target

jenadine 4y ago

If you choose to live in a remote place, you'll also have to bear the costs.

salawat 4y ago
[flagged]
sandworm101 4y ago
>> If you choose to live in a remote place Lol. I'm one of a very small group that doesn't have such choices. When you are in the military you literally do not choose where you live. If you get posted to a remote location, you now live in a remote location. If you get posted to a "small" town of 20,000 people that doesn't have train or bus services... you better have a car. And if it is below -30c regularly, and you have to get to work even on those days when the power fails, that car better be gas and not diesel.
- ben_w 4y ago
  If you're in the military, no public transport will ever be right, precisely because it's public. But: 1) Mass transport isn't necessarily public. If there's a base with one town nearby where even just 20 of the people working on that base live, that's a good reason for a private bus. 2) Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good-enough. The military is even more of an edge case than emergency vehicles, and yet nobody seriously thinks normal people should get sirens and flashing lights on their commute to get past red lights. You get to keep whatever you need to do your job, because obviously you do.

ben_w 4y ago

Fortunately, the German population is 77.6% urban, so most people benefit. https://www.statista.com/statistics/984679/urban-and-rural-population-of-germany/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/984679/urban-and-rural-p...

mqus 4y ago

The ticket also covers (local/regional) buses (which are more common in the rural areas of germany) so you don't even have to be near a train station. But rural areas are usually better traversed by car because buses take longer (more stops, more detours, maybe not going where you want to).

zhte415 4y ago

Cool, if you have a road. Not everyone has that luxury. I used to live on an island where it was 12km to work and no bridge, just a ferry which wouldn't run during typhoons. Cars or bridges were taken as a huge unnecessary expense and no serious construction plans entertained.

orbit7 4y ago
If you choose to go live on an island isn't that kind of the point?