06-28-2024, 05:27 AM
You folks are missing the point when you try to justify a longer transit trip than a driving trip.
I completely feel you, I'm happy to take a slightly longer transit trip so that I can read or do something (or even just enjoy) my transit trip, than driving. But most people will not, they'll take the shortest, most convenient option, regardless of any other factors. If one could shorten their commute by 1 minute a day by using slave labour, I feel the vast majority would do it provided the slaves remain abstract and far away in other countries.
This is just human nature.
The problem is that when we prioritize and enable driving over all other options, EVERYONE'S commutes get slower. We all suffer. It's tragedy of the commons. Yes, transit is slower, yes, transit waits behind traffic, but people in cars, also wait in traffic. But even beyond that, in the longer term, we build more spread out cities where things are farther apart, and then it takes longer to get places no matter how you go.
The real solution is to prioritize other modes that are less wasteful and space inefficient than driving, it's how everyone gets around faster. It's why the Netherlands does so well. Yes, you can drive in my city. Basically everywhere except the medieval centre is accessible by cars. But basically everywhere you drive, you must take a much more circuitous route, driving out to an arterial and then working around to the other side, then driving back into wherever you are going. It means that any driving trip is going to be 2-3x longer than biking in distance, then biking is competitive. Transit isn't as advantaged as biking, but you can still take transit through areas that cars are disallowed.
This means that biking and to a lesser extent, transit, is more convenient than driving, which means fewer people drive, which means our traffic is better and destinations are closer. It's why I can can reach any part of my city of 250k (where I live at the far edge--not in the middle) in 20 minutes or so by bicycle (and also by car), no city of similar size and scope in North America is that accessible for everyone, regardless of whether you drive or what.
Transit will never win by being slower...but we have brought ourselves into a toxic place where drivers are terrified of losing their "freedom" even though that "freedom" is imprisoning all of us, including them.
I completely feel you, I'm happy to take a slightly longer transit trip so that I can read or do something (or even just enjoy) my transit trip, than driving. But most people will not, they'll take the shortest, most convenient option, regardless of any other factors. If one could shorten their commute by 1 minute a day by using slave labour, I feel the vast majority would do it provided the slaves remain abstract and far away in other countries.
This is just human nature.
The problem is that when we prioritize and enable driving over all other options, EVERYONE'S commutes get slower. We all suffer. It's tragedy of the commons. Yes, transit is slower, yes, transit waits behind traffic, but people in cars, also wait in traffic. But even beyond that, in the longer term, we build more spread out cities where things are farther apart, and then it takes longer to get places no matter how you go.
The real solution is to prioritize other modes that are less wasteful and space inefficient than driving, it's how everyone gets around faster. It's why the Netherlands does so well. Yes, you can drive in my city. Basically everywhere except the medieval centre is accessible by cars. But basically everywhere you drive, you must take a much more circuitous route, driving out to an arterial and then working around to the other side, then driving back into wherever you are going. It means that any driving trip is going to be 2-3x longer than biking in distance, then biking is competitive. Transit isn't as advantaged as biking, but you can still take transit through areas that cars are disallowed.
This means that biking and to a lesser extent, transit, is more convenient than driving, which means fewer people drive, which means our traffic is better and destinations are closer. It's why I can can reach any part of my city of 250k (where I live at the far edge--not in the middle) in 20 minutes or so by bicycle (and also by car), no city of similar size and scope in North America is that accessible for everyone, regardless of whether you drive or what.
Transit will never win by being slower...but we have brought ourselves into a toxic place where drivers are terrified of losing their "freedom" even though that "freedom" is imprisoning all of us, including them.