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It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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Americans need to embrace public transit. We need trains that don't completely suck in both speed and schedule reliability.
We're never going to convince a lot of folks to leave their lifted F-150 or massive Suburban behind for a small car. But quality, affordable public transit that is not only efficient but saves money over owning a car would actually make a difference. We're more likely to be able to get people to just leave the F-150 in the driveway and eventually move away from it.
Much better for the environment, too, and reduces traffic / congestion, etc. I agree smaller cars would be good, but the goalpost should be getting away from the automobile.
I mean, I think this is what they're saying, but yeah.
Yeah. I probably should have been more detailed in my comment, but I did not mean embrace it as it is. I mean investing in it and making it competitive. I don't think it's embraceable in its current form.
Make it good and people will use it. It's really that simple.
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You're framing it wrong. We don't need to elect scary commies to massively increase taxes in order to subsidize icky collective things; we simply need to elect Fiscal Conservatives™ who will cease massively subsidizing car dependency. In particular, it's time to repeal Big Government® intrusive regulations that try to tell Red Blooded Americans© they can't build a multifamily building on their own damn property or that dictate minimum parking requirements.
This is America, damn it! It's high time we put the invisible hand of the Free Market back in control!
[insert screaming eagle noises]
Countries like Japan, Europe and Nordic countries… My man, Nordic countries are Europe and Europe isn’t a country.
It's more complex than that.
The way the US is spread out makes public transit prohibitively expensive and difficult to achieve proper coverage. To make it effective, you would have to shift the entire way we live. Our entire society is built off the concept that everyone has a car.
Add to the fact that building transit is extra expensive in the US and you arrive at the reality that we will NEVER have a working transit system. That's why the shift to small cars is needed. We don't have any more room for roads, so we need more cars to fit in the roads we have
It’s not that it’s impossible. It’s just that we’ve been so indoctrinated to depend on cars that we can’t even comprehend the idea that real robust transit would work.
We aren’t the most spread out country in the world. Just because we are not a tiny country or have difficult geography is not a sufficient reason as to why we have basically no public transit.
We just lack the leadership needed to implement massive programs like high speed interstate rail.
We did it with the interstate highway system half a century ago.
It’s past time we had a real rail system. I agree with you it seems impossible. But it is not.
In fairness the Interstate system was more about air defense than transit.
Politically you have to get several different groups of people to buy in to make it work. Unfortunately "what it's about" is the deciding factor in accomplishment.
Americans have absolutely embraced public transit. It’s just that not a lot of cities have robust systems in place, but go somewhere like NYC or Chicago and you’ll see a transit system that millions rely on daily.
My dude what do you think OP is talking about. That’s what embracing public transit means ya dingus.
You live in a democracy lol
You make it sound like you're in an authoritarian state
Sure doesn't feel like it a lot of the time
That hasn't been true since the 80s.
Public transit needs to do what it says on the tin. People won't choose public transit if it's the choice between an hour commute each way and a 3 hour each way bus ride.