Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: texasmom on October 07, 2007, 02:20:25 PM
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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.
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Originally posted by texasmom
Our public transportation system here sucks seriously compared to Europe.
ain't dat da trute.
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Oh yeah, way back in the 2/22 weisbaden, 25 years ago. When i wasn't in the feild i could just jump on a train and go anywhere.
Weisbaden army airfeild, The airforce has it back again today. Google earth all i can see that has changed in 25 years is that all the M6'2s, the109's ITV and the M901's SP 155 mm Howitzers are all gone, and the fence was removed from where the track park was. The ammo dump got bigger.
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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.
I'd rank public transportation like this...
1. Japan
2. Continental Europe (as requested)
3. Taiwan / Korea
4. USA
5. China (yes they have MAGLEV lines from Shanghai to Beijing)
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depends on where you live. I lived in east boston for a while when I was in my 20's and had absolutely no need for a car. I could what I needed to do right in my own neighborhood walking.
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British public transport is crap too, so I'd restrict 'Europe' to 'Continental Europe'.
Trains. And to think we invented the bloody things...
I guess it comes down to how much public money the government is willing to put into its transport infrastructure. In Britain's case, that traditionally been sod all.
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Want to know why? in Hamburg the grocery store was right outside my front door across the street as was a bus stop. The Subway was 1k down the road. A department store and main transport hub was perhaps a 3k walk towards the city. You can fit a 1/2 Hamburg in the distance between me and the nearest grocery store now. My work is 24 miles from my house and my route is a further 21 miles from the terminal.
The amount of sevices, parks and housing in Hamburg I had in walking distance Bakeries, Pubs, Little shops, Markets, a church, gas statiom. Can fit in the local wally worlds parking lot. If cars were around or the founding fathers knew how America would turn out Driving would also be a Right and not a "privelege"
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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.
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.
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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.
yeah, that's definitely the truth.
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want better public transit... take away all the govt cars and throw them a transit pass instead.
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Originally posted by Pooh21
The amount of sevices, parks and housing in Hamburg I had in walking distance Bakeries, Pubs, Little shops, Markets, a church, gas statiom. Can fit in the local wally worlds parking lot. If cars were around or the founding fathers knew how America would turn out Driving would also be a Right and not a "privelege"
Sounds like "inadequate" zoning laws to me. ;)
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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.
I can't imagine living in an environment without public transportation.
I live in a huge megapolis, and I don't drive. No driver's license. I simply don't need it. 25km from home to work every day, 40min in the underground, plus 15-20 minutes walking. And you know, I can drink beer or whatever is sold in half-liter cans while going home every night.
My Mother moved to another house, a year ago I could just walk to a railway station and - voila, in 40min I was at downtown Brisbane... Now she doesn't have a station that near :( So I'll probably have to get a driver's license before I'll visit her next time...
I hope you understand that our current regime in Russia tries to get rid of public transportation system, as well as of any heritage from "Evil Soviet Regime" (tm), like health-care or education.
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Originally posted by Torque
want better public transit... take away all the govt cars and throw them a transit pass instead.
That's actually really clever.
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Originally posted by lasersailor184
...but our taxes are about 50% lower.
Really?
That's not been my experience. Certainly comparing SoCal with the UK, the difference is minimal:
Direct, income related tax tax: about the same, but includes medical care in the UK.
Sales Tax: 7.5% versus 17.5%
Property Tax: way, way way higher here in SoCal.
Fuel Duty: US wins hands down
I reckon the difference overall is minimal - maybe slightly less in the US, but providing my own health insurance soon cancels out any difference.
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Originally posted by lasersailor184
Pick one. Awesome Transportation, or the best tax rates in the world. You can't have both.
You can.
But it's incompatible with "capitalism" and "democracy".
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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.
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Honolulu has a pretty good bus system.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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?
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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. ;)
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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.
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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.....:mad:
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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.
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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.
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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
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Originally posted by lazs2
Why would I want to sit in some dirty box full of rude strangers?
Not everyone lives in America *grin*
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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.
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Public transportation is brilliant when it's properly organised. Where I live the bus stops practically outside my door. I've never used it! why? Because it uses the same roads as the cars so is stuck in the same jams. I considered using it once but walked and got to my destination before a bus appeared.
I might as well take the car, which is of course what everyone else does too. It doesn't help that the city council are a bunch of idiots and can't seem to get their act together and organise the road system better. They did manage to start charging for parking on a street well outside the centre where people parked and walked in. So what did people do? You guessed it. They carried on into the city in their cars and parked there. It costs the same anyway.
In Dublin, they have a brilliant tram system in parts of the city. But they charge you to park at the park and ride station. So you might as well drive in and park in town. It works out cheaper. Most people who use don't have a car anyway. So it took hardly any cars off the road. Madness. :furious
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Here many cities has one lane that is for busses etc only. In towns were that is not the case the busses has a system were they get green light and crossig roads gets red.
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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.
Best tax rates in the world?
LOL
Try again.
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nelson... Like I said.. the only public transportation I have ever taken was your-0-peean.
It is dirty and crowded and never goes where I want.
I guess it is ok for big cities but what kind of person spends any time in big cities?
Nope... nothing like the personal freedom of owning and driving your own vehicle.
lazs
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Oh i never knew you had taken public transportation in Oslo or Porsgrunn. Were did you go?
Not all of us fear to be around more than one person at a time and the vast majority of of the population in both my country and yours lives in cities so you are the minority... again :D
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define "city"... I am sure that the vast majority do not live in cities of 100,000 or more... in the US.. many very large cities are nothing more than a bunch of housing tracts strung together like.. L.A. for instance... it would be a couple miles walk to and from your house to any sort of terminal.
Why do you feel the need to crowd in with a bunch of strangers every moment of your life? What is wrong with privacy?
lazs
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Close the door.
Nothing wrong with living in the sticks. My house has neighbours or two sides, ocean on the front and a road about a few 100 fett behind it. Ive lived in an apartment with others all around and even further away from people. Nothing wrong with either way of living.
I have said nothing about "feelig a need" to crowd in with a bunch of strangers :rofl
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Where I grew up it was possible to take a bus to go downtown or even to the other side of town. It wasn't comfortable but it was there. Later on I had the chance to use the BART in the the Frisco area as well as the equivalent in Philly. I was impressed with the fact I could get to where I wanted to and didn't have to hassle with traffic, parking or rush hour. In both cases I did take it AFTER the normal rush hour had passed. That might have made a difference.
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It's nice to have it there as an option but I like to do things in my schedule not someone elses.
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Hmmm ride this:
(http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/pix/buses/dsc_0061.jpg)
or this:
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d191/AZC4guy/carwash2.jpg)
such a hard choice.
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Not at all. In the city the first one, and if you are going anywere else an alternative to the second one :)