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I tried this "public transport" in San Francisco. It was a disaster. It takes forever and doesn't run when you need it. This of course is a big city with nice w

by milspec 11y ago

I tried this "public transport" in San Francisco. It was a disaster. It takes forever and doesn't run when you need it. This of course is a big city with nice weather; ponder waiting by the curb during an ice storm while your bus/tram/streetcar is cancelled. Even if it did sort of work, I'm not lugging two to four carts of groceries home that way, nor am I willing to make multiple trips per day. Besides more free parking, what we really need is land reform. People don't live where they work because property taxes are grandfathered, real estate agents gobble up 6% of the home value, and so many other stupid expenses.

PhantomGremlin 11y ago
Some public transport there works well. I've taken BART from the airport to a hotel downtown and it wasn't a bad way to get there. I felt safe, should I have been concerned? Most of your other points about mass transit are quite valid. E.g. "lugging" groceries. But why not "think different"? Can't you purchase in small quantities from neighborhood stores? When I grew up in NYC it wasn't uncommon to shop just a block or two from home. You bought 1 loaf of bread, 1 quart of milk, a few pounds of potatoes, etc. It was easily possible to carry that stuff back to the apartment. It wasn't only possible, it was what you had to do. Hardly anyone owned cars. I wonder what percent of residents of San Francisco own a car? How many use a car daily?
m_mueller 11y ago
I think this is a case of where you just can't imagine living in a differently working system anymore. What you describe are typical problems in a place with bad public transport and/or urban planning that's not made for public transport (i.e. suburbia). Here's how this works out in any Japanese or Swiss town/city above ~80k inhabitants: You have a public transport network where all the schedules are synched up. Ideally you have a metro/streetcar/trolley station nearby that can pick you up (if it's a normal bus you may have congested road, so you can't plan exactly by the minute, just like with cars). You go there 2min in advance. Once on board, you work/read HN/read/play/whatever [1]. You arrive at a trainstation, swipe a card, walk ~50m and wait 3min for a train. Again, read. 15-60min and 1-2 changes later you have arrived at your destination without even thinking about it, without putting you or anyone else in significant danger, without already being stressed out. On your way home you spend 10-15m more at one of the train stations where you had to change anyway, get some fresh grocery, and be done with it. No need for your exhausting weekly trips to the mall. You don't even have to leave the station building. Got anything else to do? No problem, there's service offerings for pretty much anything you need within 200m of where you are, because the train station brings so much density of people that it's worth it to have all kinds of stores open. You know, I like driving - I dream about fast cars and all that. I just wouldn't want to be forced to do it every day with unplannable traffic conditions and all that. When I drive, I want to have an flexible schedule, i.e. the weekends.

by milspec 11y ago

PhantomGremlin 11y ago

Some public transport there works well. I've taken BART from the airport to a hotel downtown and it wasn't a bad way to get there. I felt safe, should I have been concerned? Most of your other points about mass transit are quite valid. E.g. "lugging" groceries. But why not "think different"? Can't you purchase in small quantities from neighborhood stores? When I grew up in NYC it wasn't uncommon to shop just a block or two from home. You bought 1 loaf of bread, 1 quart of milk, a few pounds of potatoes, etc. It was easily possible to carry that stuff back to the apartment. It wasn't only possible, it was what you had to do. Hardly anyone owned cars. I wonder what percent of residents of San Francisco own a car? How many use a car daily?

m_mueller 11y ago

I think this is a case of where you just can't imagine living in a differently working system anymore. What you describe are typical problems in a place with bad public transport and/or urban planning that's not made for public transport (i.e. suburbia). Here's how this works out in any Japanese or Swiss town/city above ~80k inhabitants: You have a public transport network where all the schedules are synched up. Ideally you have a metro/streetcar/trolley station nearby that can pick you up (if it's a normal bus you may have congested road, so you can't plan exactly by the minute, just like with cars). You go there 2min in advance. Once on board, you work/read HN/read/play/whatever [1]. You arrive at a trainstation, swipe a card, walk ~50m and wait 3min for a train. Again, read. 15-60min and 1-2 changes later you have arrived at your destination without even thinking about it, without putting you or anyone else in significant danger, without already being stressed out. On your way home you spend 10-15m more at one of the train stations where you had to change anyway, get some fresh grocery, and be done with it. No need for your exhausting weekly trips to the mall. You don't even have to leave the station building. Got anything else to do? No problem, there's service offerings for pretty much anything you need within 200m of where you are, because the train station brings so much density of people that it's worth it to have all kinds of stores open. You know, I like driving - I dream about fast cars and all that. I just wouldn't want to be forced to do it every day with unplannable traffic conditions and all that. When I drive, I want to have an flexible schedule, i.e. the weekends.