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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   29412 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 6, 2025

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Uh, Italy and France use more public transit than the US does, but that's because America is richer(much richer when you account for the greater cost of gasoline in those countries). I mean, what country can you point to where lots of citizens choose public transportation over automobiles for non-economic reasons?

And that's leaving aside that most transit systems in America don't even really try to attract middle class ridership, they're aimed at the poor, jurors, and college kids. This is because most people prefer to be in a private space even when that means you have to drive, and the middle class in america by definition has no difficulty affording cars.

I mean, what country can you point to where lots of citizens choose public transportation over automobiles for non-economic reasons?

NYC, Toronto, Japan, Germany, London, presumably some tier-1 Chinese cities like Shenzhen or Shanghai, Hong Kong/Singapore(maybe?)

"Jurors." Interesting choice. Hm, is this literally true or is it meant to signify anti-sprawl boomer liberals who value civic participation or something? (Or possibly unsuccessful albeit decent, basic people with nothing better to do with their time? But even those folks mostly have cars.)

I’ve been given a free bus pass with juror summons every time.

Downtown courthouses often don't have good parking options, especially short-term. If you live (and maybe even work) in the 'burbs, when you have to show up downtown for one day, or maybe a week, the bus or train isn't a terrible option. For me, the most convenient option is to park at the office and take the bus directly downtown from there.

I could take the bus (directly!) to work, but it's 3x the time commitment as driving, and there isn't any shelter from sun/rain at the stops at either end. So I drive. On nice days I'll bike.

I haven't taken the bus literally anywhere else in the city I live in.

I mean, what country can you point to where lots of citizens choose public transportation over automobiles for non-economic reasons?

Personally, costs aside, there are a lot of European cities where I would rather travel by public transport than driving a car. Driving a car in a big city is not my idea of a great time even if I do not get stuck in a traffic jam. Then there is always the problem of finding a parking spot, which can quickly eat up any time savings from being able to take the most direct route with the car.

Currently, I commute by car because my commute is 10min by car, 20min by bike, or 30min by public transport. If public transport was 15min instead, I would prefer that -- 5 minutes of being at home is not worth 15 minutes of watching videos while on public transport to me.

For people who go to the city for a drink, taking a car is not a great option, obviously.

I will grant you that once cars are fully autonomous, a lot of the downsides will disappear, as the car can keep you entertained en route and then dropping you off before searching for a parking spot. Still, the amount of people you can transport with a metro if you have a train every two minutes is rather impressive, and I do not see cars with one passenger per vehicle replacing that.

I regularly take the train (NYC metro area). I could easily afford to drive. But train is a lot easier and I can work etc.

Most of the people on the commuter train are not poor or college kids. Maybe ant one point they are jurors but I imagine that was a typo.

Germany and Japan both feel like they would qualify.

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