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Except that having more car traffic induces more pollution, more casualties, and more time spent unproductively (you can do other things on public transit, or g
by tromp 2y ago
Except that having more car traffic induces more pollution, more casualties, and more time spent unproductively (you can do other things on public transit, or get exercise commuting by bike), whereas more book reading has few downsides.
- rufus_foreman 2y ago>> you can do other things on public transit, What can I do on public transit that people don't do in a car in traffic?
- Jensson 2y agoBrowse your phone? Everyone does that in public transit, drivers don't do that in cars. You could read HN and post messages for example.
- tekla 2y ago> drivers don't do that in cars See the problem is that they do, right before they drive into a pedestrian or stationary object.
- basil-rash 2y agoGet harassed by homeless? Or just men in general, if you’re a remotely attractive female (using the broadest term available as it certianly isn’t restricted to what we’d appropriately call “women”).
- Jensson 2y agoDo you think public transit is full of drunkards? Its mostly tired people getting to or from work, those doesn't harass a lot of people. When its late and its a lot of drunks on public transit sure, but not on normal commutes. Columns I've read from women getting harassed its mostly about dance floors at clubs, not commute trains, when people aren't drunk they mostly keep their hands to themselves.
- rangestransform 2y agoA crackhead grabbed my girlfriend’s hair on the subway recently Tell me, anti car fundamentalists, what are the odds that happens in a waymo?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- geraldwhen 2y agoThere is extreme denialism here about the problems of public transit in the United States. Crime goes unpunished. Homeless addicts run amok. Large groups of people are simply not safe, as police are not empowered to remove problem people.
- Jensson 2y agoThat happens because the transit isn't used by enough normal people. The need for security personnel doesn't go up with more normal people, when you have the levels Europe has the crackheads etc gets removed from the trains. You basically ensures your transit system will remain shitty forever, but that is easily fixable. The more good actors that use it the cheaper fixing it gets per person, you can have people who clean and security remove such bad actors at low cost since so small fraction are causing bad events or pissing where they shouldn't. Good people overwhelmingly outnumber bad people in the real world.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- rangestransform 2y agoyou can reduce the per capita rates of incidents by adding normal people, but even in a city like NYC where most households don't own a car, the subway still has an unacceptable amount of non-violent incidents like the aforementioned one (yeah yeah yeah i know the likelihood of dying on public transit is less per mile than driving)
- basil-rash 2y ago
- vel0city 2y agoRead a book? Watch videos on a phone? Play videogames? I've done all of these on the train before. I wouldn't dare do these while driving.
- bee_rider 2y agoI assume > What can I do on public transit that people *don't* do in a car in traffic? was an intentional and funny word choice to include terrible drivers doing the things you listed.
- bee_rider 2y agoDon’t? Probably nothing. But they shouldn’t be reading or using their laptops while driving!
- carlosjobim 2y agoInvestments in infrastructure is investing in huge net benefits for all members of society and the economy in the broadest sense possible. That's why it's been an unparalleled success all over the world to invest in roads for motorized vehicles and invest in electrification. Getting energy and goods to where they need to be as fast as possible is beneficial to all, no matter how you structure your government or economy. Roads are not only for commuting.
- anon84873628 2y agoIt's not really a benefit to all the ecosystems destroyed by suburban sprawl, or all the people affected by the externalized costs of that economic activity. Unrestricted growth may not be so great of an idea in the long term.