VintageRacer

+1 Dumb article.

I almost subscribed to The Economist rag due to a teaser offer. I don't need another whiner telling me how to live my life.

Asquared

We have this. We pay gasoline taxes that were intended to be targeted for building and maintaining roads but actually gets spent on:
Every public transportation system in this country is massively subsidized. The New York City subway system was largely built by private companies and made money until the government took it over, it now loses billions.

Meanwhile, our roads suck because the government is spending the money intended for roads on the things you want but don't attract enough ridership to cover the electricity bill.

You can't have a workable public transport system without density and a central business district where a lot of people work.

Archimedes

Or you could just price the services on a market basis and let the market decide.

Problem is, many of the alternative forms of transportation out there would be way more expensive if they were priced at the true cost of service, excluding subsidies. Some would go away entirely.

cug

They do the same thing I did: they take the bus or they walk or take the bicycle. We are training a generation of clueless, over-protected, under-educated, entitled morons right now. Actually, that started a while ago and they are applying for jobs and I see their resumes (and the people) show up here. What a nightmare.

I actually go to enough meetings (walk, take a shuttle, or use AVCN, or phone conferences). But I'm also not a spoiled brat that has to drive 200 meters to get their de-caf, non-fat, non-dairy, three-pump sugar-free vanilla latte.

I'm actually on the agenda of "what works". And self-organization, individual transport, capitalist health insurance etc don't work. So don't patronize, go out and do something useful.

I actually think the same thing about you that you are thinking about me: that you have no effing clue what you are talking about and just talk populist BS out of your rear.

Therefore, it's not that helpful that we keep discussing politics, let's get to Porsche cars again, let's ban Prius and other road obstacles, that would solve the traffic situation just as well.

VintageRacer

I am not sure about someone who joined 6 months ago and seems to know everything.

I am not using public transportation (its a crime-ridden POS here) since I prefer to drive a Porsche when I need to go to dinner or visit a friend. I control my business from my home.

cug

Your logic is kind of flawed as join date to a Porsche specific forum has nothing to do with knowledge/opinion/experience in terms of the social or transport aspects of a society.

The Porsche owner demographic is not really what I would consider a group of people that actually know much about the day-to-day issues of public transport though ... and it's kind of inspiring that people who "control their businesses from home" join the conversation on commute options ... it feels exactly like congress discussing what the low income group needs for social security.

Penn4S

What am I reading here? The Rich or Non Rich. What? I had to double check to make sure I was on Rennlist.

Noah Fect

It should be inspiring. For most people, driving to work at 9 and home at 5 should be a relic of the past. But no one in power, from corporate management to urban planners, seems to understand that.

Here in the supposedly-forward-thinking Seattle area, we just instituted a tolling system that's carefully engineered to reward drivers who live 10+ miles from their workplace. And we wonder why congestion just gets worse and worse.

Porscheforever

Sorry to hijack the thread....my wife is visiting Minneapolis and plan to use public transport (railway?) there next month. Is it safe riding public transport there like around downtown, mall of america or paisley park where the legend lived?

dethred

No, all public transport is basically a ticket to rape and murder. I think I read that earlier in the thread.

dethred

Winner of the "dumbest post in 991 section ever" award. Doubt the credentials of someone discussing an off-topic subject because they joined the forum after you, then proceed to admit that you have no experience with what is being discussed. Epic. Truly epic.

dawgcatching

I ride my bike to work most days! Just thankful to arrive in 1 piece.

dawgcatching

I don't know about the meeting part, or where you live, but my kindergartner and I ride to school most days. During the winter, we ski to school. As do 40% of the kids in this neighborhood.

What is so terrible about keeping congestion off the road? I like to drive for fun, not sit in traffic. Much better to be whistling past, on 2 wheels driven by my own propulsion.