transportation

[lasersailor184]

Originally posted by Boroda
You can.

But it's incompatible with "capitalism" and "democracy".

I'm sorry, I forgot the third 'Soviet' choice.  Have low taxes, but spend a lot of money.  Ultimately the country will collapse on itself, spawning communist fanboys.

[eskimo2]

Honolulu has a pretty good bus system.

[Chairboy]

Washington DC has a fantastic mass trans.  Part of why trains work so good in places like Germany  is distance.  The entire country is the size of Oregon.

[Dadano]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
I'm sorry, I forgot the third 'Soviet' choice.  Have low taxes, but spend a lot of money.  Ultimately the country will collapse on itself, spawning communist fanboys.

A government cutting taxes and spending a watermelon load...hrm.

[BUG_EAF322]

I hate public transport i love the freedom of my car
I wait enough in my life i dont wanna wait for public transport.

so i dont care

[Chairboy]

Cars are great.  But if you ever visit a big city, you'll find that parking can be essentially impossible.  A good mass transit system in that city w/ a place you can park your car just outside can make doing business or visiting possible.

[texasmom]

Originally posted by Chairboy
Washington DC has a fantastic mass trans.  Part of why trains work so good in places like Germany  is distance.  The entire country is the size of Oregon.

I lived there for 6 or 7 years also. I didn't think it was all that great.  Actually, it wasn't too bad for as far out as it stretched, but it only went to the outskirts.  We moved next to Huntington Station (end of the line). I took the metro to the pentagon for work, and could go to crystal city for shopping or to the museums on the weekend... still was pretty limited as far as the bus routes you could take once you exited.

I heard that they extended that metro all the way out to springfield mall area.  I wouldn't be impressed with their system, though, unless it stretched out to Manassas & what's that town south on 95? Stafford?

[Boroda]

Originally posted by BUG_EAF322
I hate public transport i love the freedom of my car
I wait enough in my life i dont wanna wait for public transport.

so i dont care

While you are in a traffic-jam - I ride underground drinking beer and reading a book. I can't see any reasons to envy you

Another advantage of using underground/metro/subway is that my cellular doesn't work there. At least an hour or two every day when I feel secure from idiotic support calls (omg! my printer doesn't print and mouse doesn't mouse!), plus it's a great excuse.

[Shuffler]

Originally posted by texasmom
Vorticon's thread about the car made me think of Germany. Lived there for 6 or 7 years, and could go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted using entirely public transportation. Was awesome. We lived out in the middle of nowhere & I could still get around.

Our public transportation system here sucks seriously compared to Europe.

You can go to several countries over there and go no further than driving across half of Texas. BIG difference.

[Russian]

Originally posted by BUG_EAF322
I hate public transport i love the freedom of my car
I wait enough in my life i dont wanna wait for public transport.

so i dont care

One day it took me 4.5 hours to drive 40 miles.....I was not please.....

[BUG_EAF322]

I work in shifts its 2 minutes to the high way than a drive on the highway for about 15 minutes 2 minutes off the high way and im there.(distance 35 km)

Now when i want to do this by bus, first i have to walk 2 minutes to the point to step up than better be there on time so take 5 minutes.

after that it is prob. a 10 min drive through the city the bus has to stop to pickup and drop people several times.

Than i'm at the station to step over on another bus, when im not lucky ill have to wait at least an half hour.

Than the bus goes again not straight but has to drop and pickup people underway i estimate it takes another half hour.

And when im there i prolly have to walk a mile to get there.

I really hate the thought.

I understand when u live in a big city there more pros to go public
But for me it would be a waist of 1-2 hours a day.

Because im not belong to the day 0800-1700 hurding sheeps I mostly commute before the traffic starts to jam.

It isnt that efficient at all.

[Nilsen]

I managed without owning a car for 31 years. Now i have one, but I drive maybe an hour or two a week max. The public transportation is not free and its financed by people buying tickets to whatever ride they take so taxes finance very little of it compared to cars. I hope public transportation gets even better as it is the prefered way to travel for most of your needs and gives you the freedom of not having to own a car.

High speed trains are getting more funding here and i hope it gets even more so a network covering the largest cities can be a reality soon. High speed trains are in some cases faster and more conveniant than airtravel.

America had one huge advantage over europe when it was constructed in that the road network in the towns were designed around the horses with buggys and has alot wider streets than in europe. In some ways American cities are an evolution and improved variant of european cities in that respect. If European cities were to be redesigned from scratch now they would have wider streets and alot taller and fewer buildings.

[lazs2]

I have never taken public transportation except while in your-0-up... hated it.  no freedom at all and... nowhere to go... just one dirty spot to another.

I can walk to the store for groceries or a few other things... If I want to pick up a few bags of cement or some 2 x 4's or a sink... I just jump in the el camino and drive on uncrowded freeways right to the parking lot and load the stuff in the back.. if I want to do something else I just do it.

I like to go for a ride out in the country and see little places that I haven't seen or haven't seen for a long time...just me and maybe another person... we can have personal conversations and make any detour we feel like.

Public transportation to me means filth hole cities or lack of resources.

Rode the motorcycle around with the mexican yesterday looking at old houses and stopped to walk around the park... went out into the sticks a little and opened it up some for the fun of it.  

Why would I want to sit in some dirty box full of rude strangers?

lazs

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by lazs2
Why would I want to sit in some dirty box full of rude strangers?

Not everyone lives in America *grin*

[Viking]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
Well, we may have crappy public transportation, but our taxes are about 50% lower.  


Pick one.  Awesome Transportation, or the best tax rates in the world.  You can't have both.

Like Nilsen said, Europeans have to pay fare for buses and trains just like you do. So your simplistic comparison is as inept as your usual posts.