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As someone who's about to buy a new car, I thought about this. I can bike to work. I can walk to the grocery store. I did this all through college. Then I thoug

As someone who's about to buy a new car, I thought about this. I can bike to work. I can walk to the grocery store. I did this all through college. Then I thought, "what happens when I move?" How do I buy furniture on Craigslist? How do I pick up my girlfriend from the airport? How do I visit my friends across the Bay Area? It's a real tragedy of the commons. I'd like to save the money but I would have to sacrifice too much else unless many, many other people were willing to put up the same gamble. I think we can start by just building it. Make it fast, reliable, and safe. Make it go places people want to go. Make it go to the grocery store, airport, and random blocks across the entire area. Look to what we did 100 years ago when a train station was a palace of transport, not a dingy slab of concrete. People want alternatives, they just want better ones than what we have now.

stop50 3y ago
how often there is no viable alternative? How much does the car cost if i live in a this place or an similar region, including the mantenance costs over the time? use that info to get the costs per trip (costs/total miles*mile for trip). Don't use guesses, most car owners are bad at guessing the anual costs.
- sokoloff 3y ago
  Using average cost analysis for a marginal trip decision can lead you to a wrong conclusion. If you "must" have a car for essential life function L (commuting to work perhaps), then it's entirely reasonable to burden many of the fixed costs of car ownership onto that activity and mentally charge only the marginal costs to a marginal trip (like going out to dinner some random evening).
  - eesmith 3y ago
    Even that analysis can lead you astray. If you only need a small car for essential life function L but opt to buy a bigger car because every few weeks you want to take the entire family out to dinner then it's not reasonable assign the entire fixed cost to L. The calculation becomes more complicated: a smaller car is likely cheaper to operate for L, and the cost savings over using a bigger car for L may be enough to pay for a taxi or ride-hail for the occasional times you need a bigger car for dinner, or to pay for a rental car for a vacation trip, or to pay for delivery if you need a large volume purchase.

stop50 3y ago

how often there is no viable alternative? How much does the car cost if i live in a this place or an similar region, including the mantenance costs over the time? use that info to get the costs per trip (costs/total miles*mile for trip). Don't use guesses, most car owners are bad at guessing the anual costs.

sokoloff 3y ago
Using average cost analysis for a marginal trip decision can lead you to a wrong conclusion. If you "must" have a car for essential life function L (commuting to work perhaps), then it's entirely reasonable to burden many of the fixed costs of car ownership onto that activity and mentally charge only the marginal costs to a marginal trip (like going out to dinner some random evening).
- eesmith 3y ago
  Even that analysis can lead you astray. If you only need a small car for essential life function L but opt to buy a bigger car because every few weeks you want to take the entire family out to dinner then it's not reasonable assign the entire fixed cost to L. The calculation becomes more complicated: a smaller car is likely cheaper to operate for L, and the cost savings over using a bigger car for L may be enough to pay for a taxi or ride-hail for the occasional times you need a bigger car for dinner, or to pay for a rental car for a vacation trip, or to pay for delivery if you need a large volume purchase.