I imagine most people grew up with a private car to take them many of the places they went. I grew up without a car, although neighbours did take me places with their kids on occasion.

My question is really whether you use public transit when it is a practical alternative to getting you around. If you do, do you have access to a car. If you don't is it because of convenience or some other factor?

I now can drive and have access to a car, but I don't always go for the car as I find it may get me there faster, but often causes other issues - including contributing to pollution and congestion. The fact that it is a shared vehicle also causes me to let my partner have it as she needs it much more than I do.

 

I don't have a car anymore, since I moved to a large city where having a car is more of a hassle than it's worth. With a car, there's paying for insurance, parking at home, parking at your destination, gas which is quickly taken up by heavy congestion, tabs, and emissions testing. However, you can buy a bus pass, and have unlimited rides to where ever you need to go. Spending a little extra time between routes is worth it to me since I'm saving thousands of dollars a year. It makes public transportation far more practical than driving.

 

Carpe-Noctem, I concur with you completely, however my experience was moving from a city with a good transit system to one without. This caused me to get a driver's license (when I was over 40), but I still generally take transit wherever I go because I am generally going to places near a transit route.

As for the expenses of a car, they really are quite exhorbinate. My wife needs a car to go between clients, for which I feel she is not given enough, but living in a suburban location, and dealing with clients who are also in the suburbs, the car is a fairly important part of her equipment.

I use a monthly bus pass as it means I am not purchasing tickets all the time, or wondering about how I will get somewhere. I am the person my work-mates come to if they are traveling around on transit and that feels very comfortable,

 

I strictly rely on myself, for ALL of my commuting.

I have NEVER been in the position that I have wanted/needed to rely on public transit, along with I hope that I will never need to rely on public transit.

 

YES! I USE PUBLIC TRANSIT WHEN IT IS BEST... parking can be such a bitch.

 

Anyone sold on the concept of Public Mass Transit should try that junk in a city that's thirty by thirty-five Miles and has less then a million people in it. JTA Blows Chunks.....Chunks being my pet PitBull.....
Hell, the first question most employers here ask in the Interview is "Do you have a Car?" because they KNOW they'd have problems with you being late if you use public transit.

 

If you are meaning you use your bicycle, or can walk, I commend you.

In a large city it should be possible to get around without the use of a car in many situations.

 

I have never walked anywhere, and I dont have a bicycle, I DRIVE, a big ole black smoke blowing diesel utility truck and 2 gasoline engine vehicles, how is that for fucking up your theory.

 

You must be proud of yourself.

 

It has been years since I have owned a car. I walk or ride a bicycle nearly everywhere I go. Sometimes I take a bus, or a train. On rare occasions I take a taxis.

I am in favor of raising the tax on gasoline substantially, and using the money to subsidize non automotive means of transportation.

In his book American Theocracy Kevin Phillips said that there is a strong correlation between gasoline consumption and support for the Republican Party. Republicans are even more likely to buy magazines like Rod and Custom and Motor Trend.

 

Why would anybody be in favor of raising taxes on anything . Don't we pay enough

 

It really all depends on where you live and your lifestyle....

There are a few cities where it is a pain in the ass to have a car....

There are place where if I lived I would have a car but use public transportation most of the time...

I have two cars a van and a sedan.....I am getting rid of the van next year as I just don't use it much anymore...

Public transportation is not really an option for what I do here in Dallas..

 

I am.

 

Well of course you'd support raising a gas tax. You wouldn't pay it, so its a perfect way to stick it to the other fellow to pay for shit you want. Putz.

And of course, Progressives don't drive cars cause, you know, that would require some decision making and accepting responsibility. Putz Putz.

 

Do you really think DL is worthy of a double 'putz' slandering?

 

When we go to San Francisco on occasion, we park the car and take public transportation everywhere. They have a well run transportation system and it's simply much easier than trying to drive through the congestion and dealing with finding parking. Much the same when we travel to other big cities.
Where I live in the burbs, public transportation sucks. I once had to take the Transit to pick up a vehicle that was in the shop. I took me two freaking hours to get there. I was so frustrated, I haven't rode it again.

So it really depends on where you live. Big cities, yes. Suburban and rural area's, no.

 

Slandering? Who got slandered?
Slander requires three elements;
1) Must be untrue
2) Must be communicated to others
3) Must harm the reputation

So first of all I didn't say anything untrue about DL
And second of all his reputation remains just as it was before I uttered whatever it is you think I said that you think is untrue.
Putz

 

Listen here you little fury fucker, you did in fact slander DL with the ''DOUBLE PUTZ'' analogy, on the other hand, a ''single putz'' analogy does not fit the 3 requirements of 'slander'.

 

I have news for you - people who are simply against paying taxes may actually be more responsible for making the cost of living higher for all of us. Think about the way the expense of a car also causes us to need more roads, thus raising taxes for all. Think about the number of cars on the roads - to handle the extra traffic you need extra lanes of traffic, and if you look at transportation studies, it has been found than additional lanes of traffic carry less traffic than the lanes already there - yes the amount of traffic moved is greater, but not by as much as the amount the amount of traffic carried on the original lanes would have suggested should happen.

Then there is the cost of loss of agricultural land as cities expand into some of the most useful growing areas. Some places, like Las Vegas may be using unprofitable agricultural land, but at what cost to the environment. The area around Las Vegas will be like the area around an old gas station - unusable because of the damage to the environment.

Remember, there are definite direct costs to YOU for having, and using, your car. Then there are the indirect costs that we ALL pay for the use of too many vehicles which make living in cities more costly than it needs to be.

A good public transit system goes a long way to clearing up the NEED to commute in private cars.

A tax - yes, but a necessary tax that helps us all.

Remember, the United States has the highest cost of medical care of any country in the world. The reason is that medical care is not seen as a public good. And the costs to the system are raised because the air in both Canada and the United States is much more polluted than it needs to be.

 

I don't own a car any more. Most of my travel is by motorbike, except in winter, when I mostly travel by train, bus, taxi.