That’d be great if there actually were functional public transportation or any alternative transportation in most of California and 99.9999% of America.
Once you add time to the equation everything falls apart.
I got so frustrated at my old blue collar job I gave it up earlier this year. City planners are dicking over drivers engineering intentional congestion as a means of traffic “calming.” I averaged 3 mph on a major road. I lost too much money between job sites.
One of my old customers called up and i got everything squared away anyways. According to Google maps, here is my trip I took today:
Notice it’s not possible to make a repair and hit a hardware store under 50 miles with public transport.
This is reality. Today. My day. And I get soooo much shit for pointing it out.
The solution isn’t making driving easier, it’s making the alternatives superior. If public transportation is slower than driving, then that is a policy failure.
And in a world where there are viable alternatives to driving, people that do need to drive will get around faster, not slower.
Right, but ideally only people who genuinely need to use cars do so, which would include situations like yours. But not:
Commutes to office jobs
Errands that people could easily walk or cycle to if it was safe and convenient
Visits to friends and family
Groceries, restaurants, etc
Traveling to most towns and cities
In that world, there would be a lot less traffic and you would get to your job a lot quicker. And the rest of us won’t be tethered to an expensive object that is only required because of bad government policy. But I get that during that transition there will be some teething pains, and sometimes governments will get it wrong, and it’s unfortunate that it has affected you. Ultimately though, it’s very much a necessary change.
Your career is a small price to pay for making someone else’s life easier.
You gotta remember those government decisions, that let you run your own tool-using business without permission from the car czar, are bad policy that’s ruining life for people tethered to their cars.
Don’t worry though: your car situation would be approved. It’s all the other people who’d be forced to take the bus. Not you, comrade.
Of course you’d be able to keep your career after our great change has happened. For now, remember that your career is a sacrifice … the birth pains of our brave new world of buses.
Thank you for your cooperation. As soon as the revolution is complete you may resume your work in complete freedom.
The solution isn’t making driving harder; it’s making the alternatives superior
Isn’t this what you mean? Instead of using the stick, they should be using the carrot. Instead of making the current choice more painful, make the new choice more desirable. That way we can move forward into the future while actually increasing the amount of utility we get from our decisions.
Google maps won’t give you a route at all in public transit if you include multiple stops. I think generally, for public transit, you either have to use google maps to extensively look up and plan your own route, or you have to use a different app. There’s one just called “transit”, which I think people generally use, has good integration, and sometimes local agencies have their own app or will use a different one, there’s a handful of generalized ones.
But yeah, in any case. Probably, Google should be better about that.
I have absolutely suspected that they’re trying to strong arm the car experience into sucking. They just don’t care what’s built on top of the things they’re knocking down.
There are functional public translation systems in most medium sized cities and larger. Its just that they suck absolute balls compared to the freedom of owning a car.
Nope.
Realistically speaking, in more than half of the cities that have some form of public transportation in the U.S., the public transportation is so inadequate that it’s not an alternative.
At one point, a few years ago, to go from the northwest suburbs of minneapolis (maple grove/brooklyn park) to the north central suburbs of minneapolis (eden prairie/edina) by bus, on a weekday, it took 11 hours, a trip farther south into the city proper (spoke routes coming out from a central hub) and mutiple MILES of walking between stops. For a 20-ish mile trip.
This is FAR from uncommon for anywhere with a bus system if you get anywhere outside the absolute center of the infrastructure. The spoke methodology meant you could get from the suburbs (and farther) to downtown and back just fine, but as soon as the busses stopped running every ten to fifteen minutes, you were looking at hours of switching routes and waiting to get from anywhere not central to anywhere else not central.
That’s not an alternative to using a car, it’s a marginally available, occasionally usable, limited choice alternative to SOME walking, SOME of the time.
Until there are 24 hour, regularly and frequently scheduled public transportation options going everywhere there are roads to, public transportation cannot be a viable alternative to all car use.
I’d settle for it being a viable alternative to SOME car use, but much of the time, outside of a handful of MAJOR cities, it’s not.
…and I took the bus in Minneapolis for years, despite having a car and a license. It makes sense when you live and work downtown, but that’s about it.
The public transportation in most cities is only functional in the sense that the ignition works in the busses and they occasionally drive between a few points in a few areas.
That’d be great if there actually were functional public transportation or any alternative transportation in most of California and 99.9999% of America.
It’s always time. The world saving policy makers treat poor person time as if it’s an infinite, free resource.
Public transportation turns a 10 minute trip into a 1 hour trip. Aside from that, no problem.
Bingo! Absolutely.
Once you add time to the equation everything falls apart.
I got so frustrated at my old blue collar job I gave it up earlier this year. City planners are dicking over drivers engineering intentional congestion as a means of traffic “calming.” I averaged 3 mph on a major road. I lost too much money between job sites.
One of my old customers called up and i got everything squared away anyways. According to Google maps, here is my trip I took today:
Notice it’s not possible to make a repair and hit a hardware store under 50 miles with public transport.
This is reality. Today. My day. And I get soooo much shit for pointing it out.
The solution isn’t making driving easier, it’s making the alternatives superior. If public transportation is slower than driving, then that is a policy failure.
And in a world where there are viable alternatives to driving, people that do need to drive will get around faster, not slower.
You missed the blue collar part. I use a van full of tools for my previous employment. Tools that are not allowed on public transport.
I walk on a bus with chainsaws (I used 2 today) I’m going to have an interview with some cops.
Right, but ideally only people who genuinely need to use cars do so, which would include situations like yours. But not:
In that world, there would be a lot less traffic and you would get to your job a lot quicker. And the rest of us won’t be tethered to an expensive object that is only required because of bad government policy. But I get that during that transition there will be some teething pains, and sometimes governments will get it wrong, and it’s unfortunate that it has affected you. Ultimately though, it’s very much a necessary change.
Ideally those who “genuinely” need a car can prove it by endeavoring to get a car.
I hope that “genuine need” isn’t the purview of somebody else, who gets to decide what’s a valuable use of the road or not.
Your career is a small price to pay for making someone else’s life easier.
You gotta remember those government decisions, that let you run your own tool-using business without permission from the car czar, are bad policy that’s ruining life for people tethered to their cars.
Don’t worry though: your car situation would be approved. It’s all the other people who’d be forced to take the bus. Not you, comrade.
Of course you’d be able to keep your career after our great change has happened. For now, remember that your career is a sacrifice … the birth pains of our brave new world of buses.
Thank you for your cooperation. As soon as the revolution is complete you may resume your work in complete freedom.
/s
Isn’t this what you mean? Instead of using the stick, they should be using the carrot. Instead of making the current choice more painful, make the new choice more desirable. That way we can move forward into the future while actually increasing the amount of utility we get from our decisions.
Google maps won’t give you a route at all in public transit if you include multiple stops. I think generally, for public transit, you either have to use google maps to extensively look up and plan your own route, or you have to use a different app. There’s one just called “transit”, which I think people generally use, has good integration, and sometimes local agencies have their own app or will use a different one, there’s a handful of generalized ones.
But yeah, in any case. Probably, Google should be better about that.
Ah thanks. That makes sense. I agree Google should be better about that.
If I add up individual segments I get around 8 hours. I haven’t compared that to schedules though. I’ll let it be.
I have absolutely suspected that they’re trying to strong arm the car experience into sucking. They just don’t care what’s built on top of the things they’re knocking down.
There are functional public translation systems in most medium sized cities and larger. Its just that they suck absolute balls compared to the freedom of owning a car.
Nope. Realistically speaking, in more than half of the cities that have some form of public transportation in the U.S., the public transportation is so inadequate that it’s not an alternative.
At one point, a few years ago, to go from the northwest suburbs of minneapolis (maple grove/brooklyn park) to the north central suburbs of minneapolis (eden prairie/edina) by bus, on a weekday, it took 11 hours, a trip farther south into the city proper (spoke routes coming out from a central hub) and mutiple MILES of walking between stops. For a 20-ish mile trip.
This is FAR from uncommon for anywhere with a bus system if you get anywhere outside the absolute center of the infrastructure. The spoke methodology meant you could get from the suburbs (and farther) to downtown and back just fine, but as soon as the busses stopped running every ten to fifteen minutes, you were looking at hours of switching routes and waiting to get from anywhere not central to anywhere else not central.
That’s not an alternative to using a car, it’s a marginally available, occasionally usable, limited choice alternative to SOME walking, SOME of the time.
Until there are 24 hour, regularly and frequently scheduled public transportation options going everywhere there are roads to, public transportation cannot be a viable alternative to all car use.
I’d settle for it being a viable alternative to SOME car use, but much of the time, outside of a handful of MAJOR cities, it’s not.
…and I took the bus in Minneapolis for years, despite having a car and a license. It makes sense when you live and work downtown, but that’s about it.
The public transportation in most cities is only functional in the sense that the ignition works in the busses and they occasionally drive between a few points in a few areas.