A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!
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In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
"I can beat them all to the next red light."
Oh man.
I remember when I think it was Houston started using timed lights, the idiots said that a light timed for 30 MPH was also timed for 60 and 90 MPH. It's hard to comprehend such stupidity and bad math.
Houston is the only place where I've ever been passed on the right ... while I was in the right lane.
Were they just driving on peoples lawns or something?
This was on the interstate, they were driving on the shoulder. I was going with traffic at about 95 mph and they (like ten cars in a row) passed me on the shoulder going easily 15-20 mph faster than me. Extra crazy because the shoulders in Houston are loaded with all kinds of shit and debris.
I was on my usual bike ride a couple of years ago. On a particularly wide road, a car passed me and went way over into the other lane to do so, even though he could have kept the required 4' distance from me without crossing the double yellow line. Because he went so far into the opposite lane, a van coming the opposite way had to slow down a little bit - not even stop, just slow down. As this van passed me, the driver literally stuck his upper body out the window and yelled "you're gonna get somebody killed!" ... at me, not at the driver of the car that passed me.
I just couldn't believe the insanity of this dude. Like, I didn't make the fucking car pass me like that, and at most it made him get to the red light two seconds later than he otherwise would have.
I had someone do that same thing one time when I was riding home from work (most rides I do are fitness/recreational, but I did occasionally commute via bicycle). In that case, it was right into the path of a cop going the other way, who had to brake hard to avoid a crash. Nothing came of it, but I had to laugh at the absurdity of it.
Comic misses a parked car
Nᴏ Wᴀʀ Bᴜᴛ Cʟᴀss Wᴀʀ
Yeah, that matches my experience on public transport alright.
Crammed in so tight you can't even bend a knee, and god help you if you're travelling with luggage or groceries...
That's not really a car issue, that's a "no-one invests in public transport" issue.
That’s not really a car issue, that’s a “no-one invests in public transport” issue.
...which is absolutely a car issue. It's not happening for no reason!
People don't invest in public transit because they have cars. Imagine if cars were banned. People would be falling over themselves to improve the systems they need to use every day.
No they wouldn't.... They'd be trying to find new jobs, because they would no longer be able to manage their commutes.
99% of folks driving during rush hour do not want to be driving - they're given the option of a 1 hour commute or a 2 hour cycle. You'd need a societal shift away from working to manage this.
That's more complicated, similar to 99% of americans want free healthcare, but then if you frame it as "the government will run it" or " might benefit" or "the government wants to take away your health insurance", then the numbers start to dwindle and a vocal minority get extremely worked up.
It is in the interest of 99% of Americans, but you still have to lead them there.
Por que no los dos?
Are you sure? I've heard that many drivers that support public transit, support it for everyone else. They'll still want to drive but the roads will be clear because everyone else will be on public transit!
Uhh, re-read my post. The reply here does not follow.
99% of folks driving during rush hour do not want to be driving
Your comment I was replying to.
The only thing cars are better at than public transit and/or riding a bike (or similar), is traveling long distances. I'm not talking about your commute to the office; I'm taking about driving a percentage of the way across the country.
In that context and that context only, vehicles move more quickly, more consistently, and without needing as many breaks. With the obvious caveat of: traffic.
Other than that, for any notable Metro area, public transit should be the default, not your backup plan when your vehicle won't start.
Cars are actually sub-par for long distance travel. They have to stop to refuel every few hundred miles, require horrifyingly expensive highway infrastructure to travel at speed, have to manually negotiate all intersections / exchanges, and their individualized form factor multiplies the maintenance upkeep required for that sort of mileage. Trains and planes both kick their ass at distance travel in different ways.
What cars are actually superior at is medium to short distance adhoc hauling trips at medium speeds on the edges of a transportation system. Rural work and visits, last mile drop-offs, back country mobility.
What cars are actually superior at is medium to short distance adhoc hauling trips at medium speeds on the edges of a transportation system
Motorcycles/scooters. You can get way more out of limited road infrastructure and are much more flexible when it comes to obstacles such as traffic.
Ah, but in a world where the optimal vehicle is utilized for each trip, there isn't much traffic :P Also they can't haul much. Honestly I do feel like I want to embrace motos but in a system where the best vehicle for a given trip is always available I suspect they would be largely displaced by bicycles and ebikes.
they can’t haul much
Idk, I've seen a family of 5 with a dog, construction workers hauling 30 foot rebar, and dudes with like 200 lbs of plywood, in like an aframe around the bike. A hero of a construction worker with a 20 year old Ship of Thesisus'd Honda Winner probably hauls more stuff per year than your average GMC Canyon.
Lol... OK maybe replace "can" with "should".
Airplanes, long distance busses, or trains?
Cars a good for long distance travel to the middle of nowhere. Which I personally rarely do, if I need to, I carpool or rent a car.
I live in the middle of nowhere, I am basically obligated to own a car.
Circumstances have always demanded that I have one. Whether work demands, or simply being able to travel away from my house at all.
If I lived and worked in a city, at a job that didn't demand a vehicle, I wouldn't have one.
what if your local community and the trek into town was bikeable and/or had a bus route to a robust rail network
On trains in the US-
I have to be across the country soon, and looked into the best ways to get there. I axed airplanes due to a fear of flying at this time.
A car would've gotten me there in 50 hours, the train takes 75. I went with the train bc I would be exhausted driving for 50 hours. In the US, trains are much less time efficient for cross country travel 9 times out of 10.
(Amtrak is a private company and not owned by the government. i wonder why this is.... /s)
The public transit vehicles that go short distance are optimized for short distances. The ones that go long distance are designed differently. This is feasible, because there is no need for a single vehicle to work both short range and long range routes.
Take busses for example:
The standard for passenger rail over long distances is 200kmh, which is about 124mph. Can your Toyota pickup do that?
No. I also don't own a Toyota, or a pickup. But I need to go to my city in "middle of nowhere". Your high speed train, local transit buses, and even taxis, don't go where I live.
There's lots of cases where vehicle ownership is not a requirement. There's also plenty of examples where if you don't have a vehicle, you're just not going anywhere.
My car could probably hold 200kph somewhat indefinitely but there are laws preventing that. And my bank account after that when I run out of my not cheap fuel.
Yeah that sounds about right.
Countries with super good train infrastructure can get around that pretty well but countries without that would rely on cars.
I'm in Canada, the only thing we have in ample supply is land.... If you're not in a city, you're either driving through farmland, or a forest.
Google shinkansen
The shinkansen is expensive, I vastly prefered China and even Koreas HSR. Public transit isnt supposed to make a profit.
Even then I would much rather be in a TGV going 300 kph than driving a car myself for hours on end..
