Isn't this meme format supposed to be satirical? Everything in this one is unironically true.
this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2023
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Fuck Cars
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The right most image there is certainly not real
Aww, you're right. The traffic engineer part of me is actually kinda disappointed.
Still, it's definitely plausible for a stack interchange with extra ramps for, say, HOV lanes or C/D roads to be that complicated.
I hope to some day live somewhere that allows me to take a train to where I want to go mid to long distance and the ability to walk short distance to the rest.
Here's the thing: I live in a mid sized city in Brazil. As in America, Brazil is very car centric (thanks, Kubitschek). But there's no trains. The capital city of my state has a single urban train line, and I think it's the only in the whole state, that's as big as France.
Your options here are:
- use a car and endure the traffic;
- get a poor planned, crowded and falling apart bus, and endure the traffic, because they rarely have exclusive lanes;
- get a motorcycle, so you can split lanes and get through the traffic, but risking your life and not being able to carry more than one (adult) person and a handful of small items;
- or use a bicycle in this very hilly and mountainous place, with close to no infrastructure to make it less risky.
I chose to use a motorcycle (although I couldn't afford one yet because we're poor), but I understand that for anyone with a family, owning a car is not a choice, it's a necessity (and it's a very expensive one)
Time to make it a political movement then. Because the people who have any sort of power to make significant changes are politicians.
First we have to convince people here that this is a problem at all. Most people think that the solution to the traffic problem is more roads, more lanes, cheaper cars, and better buses.
The buses are bad? Just make them better. There are too many cars in the streets? Just make better streets
Buses are that bad usually because they are a monopoly or very close to it. The government chooses which company can do public transportation by rigged licitations, and no other company can do it. Then they have no reason at all to do a good job.
Most people seem to have given up on the idea of more train lines. No company can do it, only the government. Every politician promised it, but adding train lines to an existing city is very hard, so none do
Agree to all points. Sadly this is prevalent among countries with political corruption (my country included). And these are the countries that have the least buying power for general public and therefore the the societies that would most benefit from public transport and micro mobility infrastructure.
Hopefully having a global discussion helps bring out awareness. My local politicians regard the US as some sort of gold standard, therefore I am hopeful whenever the US makes "fuck cars" infrastructure changes.
Even while having a car, I found my self taking transit anyways. To the point where both my daughters (15 and 17) have absolutely no desire to get a car or their drivers because not only do they see what's happening to the climate, but know transit well enough that vehicles are next to pointless for them. My understanding is that many, not all, of their friends thing the same way, too.
That, and I don't care if you drive a BMW. My ride costs 150k, and comes with a driver who opens the door for me. Fuck cars and the status that goes with 'em, too.
What you call transit is a bus?
The general term for public transportation. Bus and train lines alike locally are referred to as transit.
"Gotta hit transit and I'll be there"
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The only issue I have with this take is how it ignores how the changes happened over decades, not overnight. Of course no one would choose any of these pictures, but that's not how it started out, and the slow changes is exactly why we bought into the idea. It also can't be easily undone or changed, even in a progressive society.
the slow changes is exactly why we bought into the idea.
And slow changes can bring us back.
It also can't be easily undone or changed, even in a progressive society.
Who said it had to be easy? Most things worth doing aren't.
It is more important that the goal will serve us and that it will bring us value. That we are unwilling to postpone longer before it becomes even harder.
The Netherlands chose to do this when it was easy (easier anyway). Canada and the US made the choice to postpone then.
Other nations are chosing now, should we join them now? Or should he wait until the damage is even harder to undo? How many more must we slaughter and maim in the streets? How much more must we pollute our environment? Do we chose to act, or do we wait until action is forced upon us?
Evey road in north american must be resurfaced every 10-50 years. Car don't last much longer that 20. That means without any additional resources, this can be done in about 15 years.
"They" are us. As we change things, they get changed:-). Slowly but surely... it's happening!
I get this is absurd on purpose, but I don't think having a decent amount of groceries on hand is crazy. I don't drive and I aim to not have to go to the store every other day. 2 weeks seems about right for grocery store frequency.
When grocery stores are close (walkable) it becomes super convenient to just go there every few days instead of managing a stockpile of food. Works way better for small spaces and for eating fresh foods. Don't knock it til you try it!
I'm not saying that's unreasonable either, tbf. I don't live in walking distance to a grocery store, though, and neither do most people I suspect, so bigger shopping trips just make sense. It would definitely be nicer to have a store nearby, though!
100%!
Fun fact: suburbs and related approaches to the design of land use are structured around increasing the distance between homes and services. The idea is to isolate the suburbanites (at the time, white people) from everyone else so that their material conditions could become disconnected and racism catered to. Red lining and all that.
So a big part of the reason things are so far away is so that capitalism could continue using racist policies to get what it wanted. And now we have to buy 2-3 weeks of food at a time even if we don't live in suburbs, as our infrastructure is built around the expectations of the surrounding suburbs.
Anyways it's not your fault you've gotta stock up so I don't blame ya! We've all gotta deal with structures in our society that we had no control over.
I aim to not have to go to the store every other day
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I should start handing these flyers out at gas stations on Sunday on the I15 from Vegas back to California. People feeling like shit hung over cursing traffic for hours on end, the usefulness of a train alternative is super apparent in this situation.
Are there any non-extremist anti-car communities around? I hate cars too, but I also hate simple, blanket solutions like the world is easy or something.
For some people, not driving is just death from starvation. So, no. Thanks though.
I don't see anything extremist in this community. It's mostly complaining about problems with cars and a few memes like this post. Talking about alternatives is fine here, as per the rules. There isn't much as far as other communities to discuss alternatives, at least not that I've found. Here's what I can point to:
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For some people, not driving is just death from starvation
That seems like the exact kind of thing many people are against. All of this was by design in order to create a dependence on cars. This is not how it has to be. There are a lot of alternatives that are worth investing in.
I don't believe anyone would suggest to immediate destroy all cars right this second without putting in any kind of necessarily alternative infrastructure. That would be a pretty extreme stance on the matter.
I would like to see the US government stop subsidizing cars and start subsidizing alternatives such as trains so that maybe in 30-50 years we can start to see that it is possible to live without driving a car.
The ironic thing is that there really is a "simple, blanket solution" in this case: changing the zoning code to stop outlawing density.
It's not a fast solution -- the law can be changed at the stroke of a pen, but the redevelopment enabled by the rule change will occur over years and years -- but it's the only one that actually solves the problem.
Blanket, yes. Simple, no. Not unless you think politics is simple.
Yeah, that's fair.
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