• HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    Cars fulfill a very self-indulgent narrative. ‘I get to decide where and when I travel’, makes people feel “free” snd “important” even when millions of them are silently coming to the same decisions-- like going downtown at 09:00 on weekdsys-- that allow huge efficiency plays.

    Notice how many ads feature fantasies of open roads and trips to faraway attractions, not the real world of “I need to sit in rush hour traffic from 6:30 on to get to the Work Factory”

    Maybe public transit needs to focus its message on the freedom from drudgery it offers-- you don’t have to be staring at the driver in front of you, scanning the traffic reports

    • Fried_out_Kombi@lemmy.worldOPM
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      1 year ago

      Exactly! This is why I love micromobility and quality public transit so much. With micromobility like electric scooters or bikes, I can zip past traffic in the protected cycle lanes in my city. With the frequent metro service in my city, I know I can show up to the metro station at basically any time and know it’ll be a max 5-minute wait for the next train. And when I’m on the train, I can just chill and scroll on my phone or read a book instead of stressing about traffic. The freedom to think about something that isn’t traffic.

    • uranibaba@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’d say it is more about convince convenience. You decide when you leave and you leave from your door. You don’t risk being late to work because you missed the train by 1 minute (baring queues, but you get the point).

        • Danatronic@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, if the train comes every five minutes, that’s going to be way more consistent than traffic over time.

      • Ysysel@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Really depends where you live. In my town I also decide when I leave, and I don’t risk being late because I missed the train by one minute. I’ll just take the next one. More risk of being late because of car traffic.

        The problem when people compare cars to public transport is that they compare the current state of public transport in their area. We need to compare what would happen if we were spending as much billions as we do on cars.

      • Katana314@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If I’m doing a short trip locally in the city, I get that convenience out of my bike. There are times I would have taken a taxi somewhere, but when the app told me how long it would take for my driver to arrive, I just end up cycling there (often rolling past some long lanes of traffic in the process). That process can be even better if a city is built with safe biking paths.

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Unfortunately that’s super weather dependent and seasonal. Plus, some of us would be a sweaty mess by the time we biked to where we needed to go.

          • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Bikes don’t have to be seasonal. Some Nordic countries have well maintained and plowed biking networks and they see significant use throughout the winter.

  • psud@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Because many of us live in places where you must use a car, there are no alternatives

    In such places electric public transport is nothing but a pipe dream

  • BodePlotHole@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I dunno what country you are from, but here in the US of A, the monopolies that own all the train infrastructure make sure to keep trains as public transportation as cost prohibitive as possible.

    • spiphy@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Yeah what is going on? Seems like every other comment is full on car-brain-cars-are-freedom insanity. No enough orange pilled people here. Is the opposite of the orange pill the sad grey pill?

    • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Making up slurs like “carbrain” for people who think differently than your echo chamber is fuckin’ lame as shit. You look gross from the outside, FYI. Found this post by sorting my “All” feed by Hot, not a member of your echo chamber.

      • Jtotheb@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Carbrain can be pretty succinctly defined as thinking this tiny little online community is the echo chamber, and not your entire car-default existence in your car-default country with your car-default parents neighbors teachers transit networks and policies

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          OK sure, you’re the majority. Let me know when you succeed in remodeling all the metropolitan areas of America with your great influence.

          Until then, I’ll be happily driving around to wherever I please in my cars or on my motorcycle.

          • Jtotheb@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, I’m not sure you read that correctly, but you did switch from ‘oh no I’m being bullied’ to ‘haha nobody cares nerd’ so maybe you did figure it out. Anyway, nobody cares that you have a car, it wasn’t even your choice to get one.

  • Pixlbabble@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Big Auto has been destroying any idea of high speed rails for decades. Our trains are complete trash because of car lobbyists.

  • EthicalAI@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Trains aren’t 100% the answer, but cars should be the last answer. Still we should electrify cars.

    • voxel@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      yeah, electricity should just be used everywhere.
      most other energy types can be easily and efficiently converted to it, and it makes it easy to increase efficiency.
      (power production and consumption are separated in electrical cars, so by making your power stations more efficient you make all of the cars that use them greener)

        • 18107@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          EV’s are so much more efficient that even running from electricity produced by coal, they are significantly better than ICE (internal combustion engine) cars. Just the electricity used to refine enough fuel to drive 100mi would be enough to drive an average EV more than 60mi. (This detail gets conveniently left out when comparing ICE cars to EVs).

          We still need to decarbonise the grid, and as that happens, all electric cars (regardless of age) will become less polluting too. Having an unclean grid is not an excuse to keep using ICE vehicles.

  • Carter@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    Not every journey is possible with public transport. People will still need to lug equipment about in the electric future.

  • OrbitalHorizon@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    Public transportation in America is typically a magnet for crime.

    I’ll take a hard pass on being trapped in a tube with my assailants.

  • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Electric cars don’t solve a lot of the root problems of cars. They still require massive amounts of energy to move thousands of pounds of steel. They also still rely on sprawling roads and parking lots.

    • Resonosity@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Absolutely. And the benefit trains have over cars is that you can reduce the amount of other stuff per person needed to get people moving.

      For a local train of mine that seats 93 people with empty weight of 54 metric tons, that comes out to ~0.58 tons/person.

      My sedan weighs in at about 1.5 metric tons empty, and since I’m the only one that uses it, my weight footprint is ~1.5 tons/person.

      Forget about fuel economy too. Trains don’t have traffic (most of the time) to deal with, meaning they can accelerate to coasting speeds and spend most of the ride at best-efficiency. Cars are subject to traffic conditions, meaning efficiency can be as-designed by the manufacturer, or it can be much, much worse on a per trip basis if you contribute to the daily rush hours on freeways.

      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There is also much less friction on rails compared to rubber on roadways. If demand increases the length of the train can be increased or more trains added. This helps prevent the cycle of needing more lanes (rail lines in this case).

    • eltimablo@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Electric motors are between 95 and 98% efficient, while ICEs are in the 80’s on a good day.

      • Skasi@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You are aware that electric trains also use electric motors, just like electric cars do, right? And you are aware that electric cars rely on an electric battery while electric trains rely primarily on overhead electric power lines, are you?

        That means cars require one extra component and an extra conversation of energy which trains don’t need. Every conversation of energy reduces efficiency of the final outcome. The more conversations, the less efficiency.

        Trains use: power lines -> electric motor
        Cars use: power lines -> electric battery -> electric motor

        Furthermore, bigger machines can be built to be more efficient than smaller ones. So bigger motors can use (electric) fuel more efficiently than smaller motors.

  • Rengoku2@lemmynsfw.com
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    1 year ago

    Trains are not flexible and safe enough.

    I have been to Singapore and Tokyo (train-centric cities), but cars are, unsurprisingly, easier to use in there.

    You have pregnant wife or small kids? Trains are suicide in rush hours.

  • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    I love good public transport. It’s great to not have to worry about parking or having to drive. Good cities, like many in Europe and New York in the US, a car isn’t really required.

    But out in the countryside, a car is a must. Electric cars are massively better for the environment and way cheaper to run (like tenth the cost with a night rate).

    • xT1TANx@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Also, no offense here but saying NYC or European cities are good is a perspective I would not agree with. I do not want to live in a high rise apartment and there are a lot of people who do not want that.

      European and NYC people are used to it, but that doesn’t make it good.

      Having that many people in one place is actually not good. Some of them never experience being in nature. Living conditions aren’t great. It’s cramped and expensive.

      All of this so they can say that using public transportation is good? That’s ridiculous.

      Edit: Downvote me all you want. This is the truth. Cities are not good.

      • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Depends on the city. Sure, some are high rise, which isn’t for some, but they aren’t all like that. London for example is relatively flat but has an excellent public transport system. Same with Paris and Brussels. Essen seamer good while I was there. Utrecht was great. Amsterdam too (but it’s just grim due to all the drug tourists). Most European cities are walkable and have at least a basic level of usable public transport.

        NY was the only American city I’ve been to which had a decent transport system I used. Seattle I saw trams but was on business with Texan sales people, trams with out the question. Austin buses felt very much like what only poor people used and walking the 2 miles from the apartment to the office, involved some fence holes and minor trespassing to be even possible. Mostly nice river walk though.

        All cities should have decent public transport and be walkable. Car based urban sprawl has got to go. Older, pre-car, cities are often the nicest.

        Edit : Wuppertal, that was my German favourite. It’s like an alternative timeline city. Love its "floating tram.

  • nomadjoanne@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Because they give people a lot more freedom than trains — if you own a car. If you don’t own a car but live in a society where everybody else has one you are kinda screwed.

    • whatever@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I know it is not necessarily your opinion, but cars don’t give freedom to people - even if you own one. You pay so much for your car, the society pays a lot for the infrastructure, this infrastructure takes away the freedom from people (especially children) to live and move outside, when you drive you can (should) do nothing else, it’s reputation as individual way of transport blocks expansion of public transit, … every aspect of a car is taking freedom away from you. A car that gives people freedom is a marketing strategy and the opposite is true.

    • utopianfiat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I can go out drinking, text, work, chat, and sleep on my commute without being arrested or viciously murdering someone. Sounds like I have more freedom here.