Just Buy Everyone a Car

[@danopticon]

Do these “Buy everyone a car?” sophists ever also offer to pay for all the gas, the maintenance, the licensing and permitting and sticker fees, the parking costs, and all the property damage and hospital bills accruing from accidents, arising from distributing all of these cars?

[@vanadium5099]

Exactly, cars are a damn black hole for money. Even if they got the car itself for free, the insurance, maintenance, and gas would ruin anyone who's already struggling.

[@Clyde-2055]

Do transits authorities pay all the medical bills, property lose and burial and funeral fees for all the people mugged, beaten and murdered while on or traveling to public transit ?

[@shiinakochiya6068]

@Clyde-2055 No, and they don't do so for people in parking lots and parking garages either. But you make an interesting point! Not only should the government provide transit services and medical services to all, they should also provide public funeral services and other forms of emergency compensation, and job protections to those who are out of work temporarily for these reasons. These sorts of incidents often involve high costs and/or long outages from work, which the poor can't easily afford - or force them to keep working through things they shouldn't have to, since they also can't afford not to. There are sure to be economic and mental health benefits to shifting these burdens away from individuals and families.

[@Neojhun]

@@Clyde-2055 That's insane you even assume such issues are even a major problem. The probability of that mishap should be very tiny in a functional transit system. Safety should be a feature of well used transit system, not a problem. That problem should not exist.

[@Neojhun]

@@Clyde-2055 Interesting, blank burner account created "Sep 10, 2023".

[@klubstompers]

"it would be cheaper to just buy everyone a car" Funny how they never factor in the extra cost of road maintenance, extra cost to build more parking spaces, cost of adding more lanes, and every other aspect needed to add more cars to already over crowded roads and freeways. As well as the added cost to the person now with a car; vehicle maintenance, insurance, gas, parking, etc.

[@TheExileFox]

Don't forget to ask who is paying for vehicle maintenance and gas

[@TukozAki]

But micro transit helps real estate Cies build more where profit is higher! It also helps delay bike lanes as they can be presented as dangerous and useless.

[@HrHaakon]

It's not their fault, they're just not very good at economics.

[@johannessamuelsson6578]

yeah that's a great point. There always seems to be a "lack" [of] parking, especially now as cities redevelop parking lots into housing. I'm not against this, just to be clear.

[@clockworkvanhellsing372]

Road maintance is probably cheaper with everyone going by car. The damage to the road increases with the power of 4 to the axel weight. And a full bus is considerably hevyer then a car so it ends up damagen the road the same ammount as 50000 to 100000 cars.

[@SuperRat420]

Love how busses are expected to be packed while I can count on one hand the amount of cars I see daily with more than one person in them

[@MegaLokopo]

I only need one finger to count how many people are in most cars.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

Agreed. We should defund these roadway systems. Clearly people don't want to use cars, given how empty they are.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@OntarioTrafficMan Anyways the roads aren't profitable and if we can only invest in public transit if it is profitable, then the same standard should apply to cars and roads.

[@norwegianblue2017]

Not only are the buses and trains empty, it takes so much longer to get anywhere on mass transit. I live in San Diego, which has one of the bigger light rail networks in the country, and I live less than a mile from a trolley stop. It say it would take me 90 minutes to go 13 miles to work via train and bus. Takes me 20-40 minutes by car, depending on traffic. Guess which one I take.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

@@norwegianblue2017 Yes, people generally take whichever mode has been made the most convenient by urban planning and transportation planning.

[@gabetalks9275]

I died inside when that woman said that traditional public transit options are becoming outdated. Automobile realism at its finest.

[@abrissimon914]

Right? Just becuase the US is so incredibly auto-centric and has terrible public transport doesn't mean that "well, looks like public transport is an outdated idea that doesn't work anymore". Yeah, no wonder it is so bad over there if it's under-funded and under-developed. Just take a look at any European city and then tell me public transport is outdated

[@FullLengthInterstates]

Traditional public transit is outdated, when 20mph e bikes can be bought for $1000. It would be extremely difficult to make bus service more efficient or convenient than biking, especially if you live in a "15 minute city" where everything is a 5 minute bike ride away.

[@AssBlasster]

@@FullLengthInterstates I dont want to worry about riding/parking an ebike for EVERY trip...Sometimes people just want to go out drinking or events outside of their neighborhood. Having reliable transit services gives you that freedom to choose between a walk, bike, or transit ride.

[@shieldgenerator7]

thats what you call "chronically car-brained"

[@GILLIGFAN]

What they don’t wanna consider or hear is that there absolutely is a caveat and asterisk to their claims.. Yes some traditional things about transit are outdated. Many of those things being fare policies ( lack of flexible payment options or easy to access pass & reload options ) Outdated or unrealistic schedules, service goals and priorities ( still stuck on the outdated core belief that only the old school 9-5 officer worker matters ) And my personal favorite for many transits which is funding doesn’t keep pace with inflation often and the gov assumes transits can run on the same budgets from 10, 20, 30, 40 plus years ago 😂🤣

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

As a bus driver, I scoff whenever people say "transit ridership is decreasing." These people have obviously never rode the buses I drive. During the morning rush, the bus is so packed, people are literally hanging out in my thinking space. I've had to tell people, "I need to fit everyone behind the yellow line" and "you can't stand there; I need to be able to see that mirror." The bus is so full at times, it makes it ride lower, causing it to hit the pavement at certain intersections. It gets so full that sometimes people have to get out to let others out, then get back on. I've had to tell people, "the bus is too full, I can't legally take anymore riders." Even during off-peak hours, this bus is usually half-full. Also, I roll my eyes into the back of my skull every time I hear "autonomous" or "pods." They're literally saying "car" without saying "car."

[@alanthefisher]

Hearing the words "Micro-Transit" always triggers me into a fight response. Great video thats useful for a rebuttal against common talking points

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Suburb officials: Let's do microtransit- Alan in a Peter Griffin voice: *I just wanna talk to him*

[@cut_and_cover]

Now we just need somebody to go tell Randal O'Toole that he can finally stop talking.

[@josephmassaua5486]

he's bonkers @@cut_and_cover

[@signalwalid25trainz50]

Expect a video on you in a few weeks time about your "idea"

[@toastmakerr]

microtransit a big no, micromobility a big yes :)

[@beattio]

I seriously am impressed with the amount of effort it must have taken to get to places in the middle of nowhere just to take a five second clip of it

[@cut_and_cover]

And I did it entirely on transit!

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Now that is dedication! @@cut_and_cover

[@beattio]

@@cut_and_cover your dedication to your craft is outstanding!

[@GILLIGFAN]

@@cut_and_covershoutout to you

[@dermottbreault9189]

Yeah especially getting to state college - as a PSU student I can say that the buses and bike infrastructure near campus are very good but getting basically anywhere else, even nearby places like Boalsburg and Bellefonte, is extremely difficult without a car

[@himbourbanist]

Man tech bros will go to wildly comedic lengths to just reinvent a bus that you don't need to sit next to other people in

[@martinueding1218]

Though they usually say “pick up other people”. So you end up sitting in a van with a driver you don't know and other people you don't know either. How is that fundamentally different from transit, I would ask.

[@TheModdedwarfare3]

​@@martinueding1218I've heard of cash cab but never cash bus. Maybe it would be easier to do a micro transit game show. That is a serious advantage we are not going to consider at all?

[@that_heretic]

@@martinueding1218 They get to skim money off the top of the system, and collect your travel data to sell to advertisers, government agencies, colleges, and whoever else wants it. Otherwise it's the same. Very common techbro grift.

[@eric2500]

And they have the unmitigated gall to "OKAY Boomer" people my age!

[@laurie7689]

I'd find that preferable. I don't like being around other people and avoid other people whenever I get the opportunity. I just don't like people in general.

[@richardhill194]

"This train cant drive right up to your house, but that wouldn't be a problem if you could walk here without dying." is probably the most succinct way of explaining how any discussion of transit is incomplete without talking about urban design/zoning

[@freesk8]

I agree. Greater degrees of force will be required.

[@laurie7689]

Suburbs are not urban. They aren't supposed to be. As a suburbanite, I don't want my suburb to ever become urban.

[@T1Oracle]

​@@laurie7689Americans often say "urban," as a coded way to express their racism towards black people.

[@laurie7689]

@@T1Oracle As somebody who has lived suburban all my life, except for a short period in my early years in Baltimore, my family were traditionally farmers (country folk). We have a bias against urbanites, but it isn't about race, it is literally about the stuck up, elitist, urban snobs who think that they know how everyone should live and who treat country folk like hicks.

[@qjtvaddict]

My electric scooter can

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

I was an early tester in one of these 'give everyone a car!' programmes in southern California. It was an utter nightmare, First you had to be in poverty-low income to qualify, the grant was 5,000$- the catch was you had to get the dealerships to agree to the government program- which none of them wanted to do because apparently (unknown to us, who had to go to every dealership in the local counties) they had to pay a fee to get accepted to the program... Then, once we had gone through a year+ of getting accepted to the program (hours upon hours of speaking with government offices, providing papers and proof we were in poverty, had no good car, improved our credit score etc.) we spent another half a year getting various dealerships to hear us out(spending hundreds of dollars driving out to dealerships, spending the whole day negotiating and convincing them etc.) The car had to also be an EV, Hybrid or Plug-in hybrid... So finally after ALL that and searching for cars in our budget (Something incredibly difficult when the requirement is an EV or Hybrid and our budget was like 10K~) We... lost the grant because it expired before we could use it- with no ability to appeal for more time... very cool!

[@cut_and_cover]

Was it the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program?

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

Yes, and it was horrible- one of the worst bureaucratic shitshows I've ever seen, it felt like they were just using us to get dealerships to sign up then kicked us to the curb right at the end of around 2~ years of trying to get the grant.

[@lowrads3653]

A car with a note on it also requires comprehensive car insurance. The money I pay just for liability would easily cover a daily bus pass.

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

@@lowrads3653 I mean taxes and gas alone (hell even charging an EV which is about 5$~ for 100~ miles of fast charging) cover a daily bus pass if you drive everyday.

[@robertlunderwood]

That's sounds exactly like Section 8 housing.

[@AMacProOwner]

This channel has some of the greatest storytelling about transit. Truly quality before quantity!

[@shingshongshamalama]

We should really start calling these schemes what they really are. "Buy the auto industry more customers."

[@ruslbicycle6006]

#CarsAreATrap #EndCarEra

[@LightCrasher]

@@ruslbicycle6006 Cars are needed, but I hate they pretend its the only way to get around. Its not, and it should not be.

[@laxfich_gecko]

nope, primary driver is the finance industry: more loans = more interest payments. and also the goverment smiles, because credit creation = money creation = game goes on a little longer

[@ATClouse]

If the busses are underutilized then the transit system needs fixed, cars are convenient but expensive and ableist

[@kelly2631]

As a student, I could either: A. Set a timer for 8:40 to catch the 8:45 bus every day on the way to campus, or B. Book a ride at 8:20 for a van to arrive sometime between 8:30 and 8:50 to take me to campus I think that I'd take the more reliable option.

[@truedarklander]

For my particular campus of my Faculty of my university there an hourly shuttle-bus connecting the two campi of the faculty, but in many times it isn't enough. It's nowhere as bad a problem as in America, but it's still very terrible service that's caused by even more terrible public transportation in the area the campus I have classes at has.

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

I thought these were video time stamps xDDD

[@averagejoey2000]

I live 5000 feet due east from my school, my first class is at 8am. there is a bus stop at the corner, and it's a 10 minute walk from my pad to the bus stop. there's a bus stop at the top of campus and it's a 30 minute walk from the bus stop to class. to drive to school, it's 15 minutes, 4 miles. to take the bus would take an hour and 21 minutes. it's only two busses, but there's a quarter mile walk and a 30 minute layover between the two.

[@Immortalcheese]

I live in a rare transit-friendly area of North America and, despite having a car, I choose transit because of how much more efficient it is than driving. I walk to my bus stop and never check the times. I know a bus will be there at most in 10 minutes (and that is if I see one leaving the stop when I get there). When I used to live in the suburbs, transit was so unreliable (every hour but sometimes can come 30-40 minutes late or even 30-40 minutes early) that I never took transit despite living next to the bus stop. Reliable and predictable transit works.

[@goury]

That's some reliable bus service you have there. In my place buses can be up to 15 minutes early down to 40 minutes late with a chance to not arrive at all. 90% of times they are trackable, but every tenth bus isn't tracked and you don't have a way to know that because the tracking service is just lying about its location.

[@JARV9701]

Americans and canadians will try every techno futuristic idea sold to them before doing public transport. Is like a brain disease.

[@Mr-pn2eh]

As an American I agree. I think governments do this on purpose in order to make it harder for Americans to move around.

[@clydedoris5002]

I dont deal with steet performers in my car

[@JARV9701]

@@clydedoris5002 yes you do, car drivers are their main target, and they are quite skillful at what they do.

[@fernthaisetthawatkul5569]

we ALL are living with this disease, & it seems the only cure is forced temporary relocation to civilization! (going on holiday to a city in europe or east asia)

[@gencreeper6476]

Vancouver did techno futuristic transit and it seems to be ok

[@MattMcIrvin]

My impression is that the people who really have contempt for public transit also hate dense cities and would rather somehow eliminate them. So the argument that replacing transit with cars doesn't work for dense cities probably won't convince them of much.

[@abcdeshole]

You’re right, they assume that it’s intrinsically bad to live in an apartment or townhouse and to have many people per square km. They would like to transform cities into the ersatz countryside of their bucolic fantasies, with the results that we all know and hate. They get mad when new housing is built next to transit lines, because it means more of that terrible density. It’s surreal.

[@lowrads3653]

It is usually exurban communities which are holding city planning hostage, politically. Bicameral state legislatures give excess representation to rural and exurban voters. Between the two extremes are low assessment suburbs, which politicans actively try to woo as inexpensively as possible, via fare free highways, and minimum parking mandates.

[@Sparticulous]

These are generally the same people who bitch noone wants to work or bitch noone wants to have kids and the human race will somehow go extinct because noone is reproducing…

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

I don't want to eliminate dense cities, I just want the leftists who populate them to be miserable in the foreseeable consequences of their policies, while not being forced to contribute anything.

[@Sparticulous]

@@MilwaukeeF40C there is not enough land on earth to fit everyone in a detached single family dwelling. Buy a condo if you hate apartments. Better insulated usually

[@weatheranddarkness]

The idea of everyone owning a car in a city is just geometrical madness. It can't fit. You'd need a 15 story basement to give everyone in a 30 story high rise apartment block a parking space, and that's assuming we're just saying one car per household.

[@highway2heaven91]

This is one of those “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” situations. You rarely see solutions like these in transit havens such as Denmark, Switzerland or the Netherlands but because Americans drive cars and have next to no concept of what good transit is actually like the try to propose solutions from a car-centric point of view instead of consulting urbanists or transit advocates to create a solution from their point of view. Fixed route transit is fine, we just need more of it in the form of higher frequency, more subways, more LRT/BRT, etc. Not solutions proposed be people who may have never taken transit in their lives.

[@railotaku]

In the UK we have some demand response in Rural areas, with mixed results (some require booking the day before, others at least 30 mins before travel - guess which is generally more successful). The VIA style app based shuttles have popped up in a few places here as well in addition to normal transit and have generally done terribly.

[@Ranked_Journey]

North American transit systems are arguably broke in many places, at least from what I can see. Although, buying everyone a car is not the solution. That, and that you can't walk anywhere without serious risk of bodily harm due to poor road/urban planning.

[@carmenl163]

We have on-demand response transport for old and/or invalid people in the Netherlands. Both my mom and my aunt use it. When it works, and you don't mind spending some extra time because they won't take the most optimal route for you, then it's okay. But they both have been waiting for hours because of a shortage of drivers. They also both have experienced being 2 streets away from their house, but the driver wouldn't or couldn't adjust his schedule, so they had to wait to get another person home first and then drive back to their house. Also, there is an entirely different atmosphere in those minivans. People are always talking to each other, contrary to regular public transport where everyone minds his own business. This is incredibly stressful for my aunt.

[@yaush_]

It is not because Americans “don’t know what good transit is” just go to any city in the northeast. It’s just that these companies offer one stop solutions for an entire transit network and Americans are obsessed with anything technology novel. And it’s even to do with the fact that a vast majority of Americans actually can afford to drive so people narcissistically think that the only people who don’t want to must be poor. In any country in Europe except for Switzerland, Norway, Monaco etc a majority of the population can simply not afford to drive everywhere so the public can’t develop this skewed perception.

[@Cousinduck01]

That’s the problem, if too many people buy cars then it will become a worldwide traffic. It will also affect the environment because more cars mean more traffic, and more traffic means more areas being torn down for highways. That’s why we have public transportation… But transit in the US needs to improve better on transportation…

[@highway2heaven91]

That’s true. The solution isn’t that people need to get cars, it’s that cities need to get serious about how to solve their transportation issues.

[@Mgameing123]

@@highway2heaven91 The problem is cars!

[@highway2heaven91]

@@Mgameing123 Fixed and edited 👍

[@michah321]

​@@Mgameing123people like their cars, they choose cars

[@vitordelima]

You just want to be hysterical, you have zero interest in any of the many solutions for this.

[@AustinSersen]

Another benefit to big buses: bike racks. A few days ago, I was out riding my bike, and got a flat. Sure, I had a replacement tube and mini pump with me, but I could pay CA$3.60 for a one seat service from where I got a flat to a dropoff point a 20 minute walk away from home (would have been a 2+ hour walk from where I got the flat if I didn't have a spare tube and pump) where I could change out the tube much easier and quicker than on the side of the road. The bus service was running every 22 minutes at the time...pretty good for a very suburban route! If the government were to theoretically buy me a car, I'd still be S.O.L in this scenario. Cars are a huge burden logistically; buses aren't!

[@SuperRat420]

Literally never seen a bus in my entire life that could handle more than one bike. Oftentimes means I just bike the whole way

[@AustinSersen]

​@@SuperRat420 Almost all of the buses in Calgary have bike racks in the front for two bikes. I've seen lots of them in either BC or Seattle that have space for 3 bikes.

[@TysonIke]

@@SuperRat420most busses where I live in NJ can take at least 2 on the exterior. And keep in mind this is NJT who is one of the worst providers for bike users. But when a bus is like 30% full you can often easily take your bike inside

[@SuperRat420]

@@TysonIke well a friendly Wawa to you cause those are the exact busses I was thinking of. I always stress the bike situation.

[@SuperRat420]

@@TysonIke moved to West Philly which has excellent trolley coverage but no way to take your bike, and on weekdays the last one through the tunnel is around 11pm. Made me bike both ways most time rather than deal with the time table

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

It's a shame Jersey City thinks Via is a great partner, because otherwise Jersey City is an amazing place when it comes to North American cities making a ton of urbanist progress. Thanks to both the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and the PATH, so much development has popped up Downtown. Jersey City has been adding more people per square mile than more famous US cities through rapid housing growth with high-, mid-, and low-rise buildings. You can go from old rowhouses to mid-rise pop-ups with repurposed faces and Vancouver-esque high-rises. This is on top of pedestrianizing the area around Grove Street PATH and adding bike lanes. Via was brought in to solve a transit desert on Jersey City's West Side, but they don't need to do that when the 87 already does a good enough job of unifying The Heights with Journal Square and Greenville. Not to mention the route goes to Hoboken Terminal, which is a big hub for the HBLR, PATH, NJT rail, and NY Waterway. The 87 uses both Central Ave and Palisade Ave in The Heights, and besides the 87, the Heights has solid routes through important corridors like Central Ave with the 88 and 119, and Palisade Ave with the 84 to JSQ, 86 to Newport, and the 123 which goes all the way to the PABT from Christ Hospital! The West Side has the HBLR West Side Ave branch as well! So neither of them are true transit deserts!

[@justaguy6216]

Giving everyone a car is genuinely the dumbest policy position I've heard. And our country spent billions on nuclear submarines.

[@ursulasmith6402]

No, nuclear weapons don't exist (MAG BITTER TRUTH).

[@heyno3306]

Aussie

[@JasminUwU]

at least nuclear submarines look cool af

[@justaguy6216]

@@JasminUwU True but highspeed rail looks cooler.

[@bishop51807]

We spend 200 billion on a nuclear waste storage facility made with wooden beams😅

[@mioszlupinski4652]

As an European currently living in France but from Poland which is one of the most car centric countries in EU and currently has the highest rate of cars to population I really don't this idea and what these ceos are talking about. All over the place ridership is increasing as it was never and ofc cost of living crisis is one of the reason. But the issue is not only money, huge problem are emissions from personal vehicles and vans are not a solution. this is why more cities are building tram or metro extensions and regions providing more frequent regional train service, especially point that you have wait for other bus is out of place where I almost never wait more 5min and even in smaller town where I work busses are mostly going every 25 min. So I really don't get how stupid must be people buying these ideas and investing in them

[@ianhomerpura8937]

I don't get why this is the case. Curious how the tram systems are working there, as well as PKP.

[@Erintii]

Polish expat living in Switzerland here. I hate growing car dependence. Having two cars per family in Warsaw for ppl who commute to office and back is stupid. Living in Switzerland car free in a small town made me aware how damaged transit is in Poland. Mentality is worse. Car is just a way to get from point A to B and not for everyone.

[@PiotrPavel]

@@ianhomerpura8937 PKP is expensive, I have many friends that are going full car and is much chezper than buying 4 or 5 tickets.

[@PiotrPavel]

@@Erintii They argument is "I take my child to school and then I go to the office". Not hust bikes had video and people to conference about public transport went by cars..... You cannot change mentality

[@Erintii]

@@PiotrPavel I am not sure it is impossible but hard. The idea that car dependence is a freedom was implemented by automotive industry. They simply wanted to sell as many cars as possible and public transit was obstacle to them. US cities used to have good public transit and country was build on railway network, all changed after WW2. Surely there are car enthusiasts who simply loved cars and driving them but many ppl drive as they had to or were told they need to grew up and get a car. Sure car can be great but is not always superior and public transit is more efficient to move larger group of ppl.

[@FreeBurd0620]

Newton, MA is a good example of a Via system that has collapsed under its own weight. They just stopped letting most people ride it in September, and are paying just as much as they were before.

[@cut_and_cover]

Whoa, I didn't realize NewMo had been paratransited already! I totally would have included that.

[@mbengambenga-xi6dp]

Via is inefficient, Uber has lower costs so use that?.. Ugly truth is even in Europe cars get 80% of workers to their jobs, statista com, so cars are preferred by all rich countries. It's annoying for anti car people to act like Europe is 80/20 the other way. My Finnish cousins drive while I walk cuz I force myself, most EU picks cars to get to work, so sorry cars have won in every rich place..... Google cars per 1000 adults and in France its 1:1, Jesus do people like cars ... My grandparents hated the train and cars just are nicer, us humans get bad habits fast, my great grandparents used horses and refused to walk .....

[@cut_and_cover]

@@mbengambenga-xi6dp I am very much aware that in most european countries, more trips are completed in cars than on transit. I am not discouraged one bit. Think of it this way. If 70% of trips in a city are by car and 10% of trips are by transit, then you could make the transit twice as good by convincing just 1/7 of motorists to switch. What an incredible opportunity! History is not over and so many cities across the world have turned the tide against car dependence, while still allowing some in. There's no call for pessimism.

[@mbengambenga-xi6dp]

... I respect your thoughts. But, no, the EU numbers when 80% of French or Italians or Finns with jobs drive to work show cars have won and there is no real hope this will change . RICH PEOPLE PREFER CARS, EVEN IN EUROPE, DESPITE ATTEMPTS TO BUILD AND PUSH NONCAR USE ..... I don't like it, but it's a fact. I NonCar Life is about same numbers as Veganism in Europe adults.. and likely it's the same 20% single and young extreme leftists. I count myself as 1 of these and we aren't convincing the other 80% much.. Us humans mentally hate walking/waiting/rising via complex transit schedules vs. car, it's just a fact based on all countries data. Asking person not use car is SIMILAR TO ASKING PEOPLE TO BE VEGAN AND GIVE UP CELLPHONE, it may be better but despite pushes it ain't happening. So let's not deny failure after decades of effort with brainless hope.. I am not happy to say this. But all countries that are rich no govt has found way to get most to not use cars, no solution has been found........... if even in denser smaller Europe there is SO MUCH CAR usage then this shows wow do rich westerners prefer cars over transit and walking. Wow. It seems us people at a deep level of our mind are built to prefer zipping in a car. I myself walk hour to library and work sometimes BUT IM WEIRDO NOT LIKE AVG WESTERNER, and it takes mental effort to not feel pathetic walking... .. . Basically in EU despite what is claimed only the 20% of workers deep downtown in dense 5 story areas without lawns and parking (Paris or Amsterdam), like when they live and also work within 5km of downtown, will they choose not to use car. Importantly this is true even if countries THAT TRY TO PUSH TRANSIT AND HURT CAR USE so don't keep building roads and try to add a little transit, even these countries it seems the people prefer a slow congested car ride over a transit trip..... And this makes sense, humans prefer warm comfy cars, in a car is comfy and can drink coffee and listen to music and have DEEP CONVERSATIONS W FAMILY and have warm air, while walking/waiting/riding transit in February in Europe or Canada is less pleasant. .. .. . And despite pushes the % of car use is staying same. It seems we have more and more old people and these people especially prefer cars, not risking falls on icy sidewalks .. Statista com "'"' Most common modes of transportation for commuting in France 2023 Published by Umair Bashir , Nov 17, 2023 74 percent of French respondents answer our survey on "Most common modes of transportation for commuting" with "Own / household car". The survey was conducted in 2023, among 1,780 consumers""''

[@mbengambenga-xi6dp]

...I appreciate your thoughts.... But. You can't be intellectual and then focus on densest 20%, Paris or NY or Amsterdam, where basically impossible to own and use cars unless millionaire. If the 80% outside deep downtown areas in EU outside these spots for decades show deep preference for cars, then sorry this is a deep human instinct and EU and we have not found way to change this for 80% . . . It seems it's a deep human preference even in EU to feel bad or pathetic walking/waiting/ride some govt vehicle like a slave, while friends zip and are independent in own car. In Europe, like my Finnish cousins, despite all claims only the losers are seen as not having and using car. Just a fact which conversations and numbers support ..... I don't like it, but it's true. It's like "strict veganism", most don't and won't do it, and claiming No Europe Is Mostly Vegan WeVe Found Way MOST People Prefer Without Meat is a falsehood. Humans love cars and meat.... SIGH... AGE WISE the 50% of people over 40 people slip when walking a lot, truly, not sure we will ever get old to not ride car 5 miles to work but walk and take transit, in the half of West that has ice half the freaking year. Ice exists any place not within 10 miles of warming ocean.... The 20% of families with kids under 10 wow really prefer a car..... That leaves the single hipsters, so 20%, and half of them are too busy to waste a minute, and prudish single women, another 10%... Yes I'm stereotyping but these types do control most..... To say Europe or anyone has a "path to low car use" is just not true looking at the numbers. No place has!!! Human nature wants to zip and nothing has budged this, it's sad but true. PS. I have no car, and frankly only a mental revolution of training people to mentally slow and enjoy slow pace will change things, but EU and US arent changing. Doing vids whining is not gonna change shit . Go do a whiny vegan video too, it's about as helpful.. I mean this helpfully, intending to help us all fight to find truth not self-deluded hope based on ignoring facts... I would love a real solution!!

[@stevens1041]

You seem like a young guy, and yet you're the only one I've heard that seems to get it on this issue. I've talked with many transit advocates, city and provincial/state workers, and so on, no one quite understands what is going on much. That's where I come in: I was a technician for a major mobility company. Its owned by a major car company, you can guess which one. They have been promising mayors and leaders that autonomous driving is coming, and on demand taxis using self driving technology will someday get us all around. Those promises are now over 10 years old, and transit in many of these cities is showing its age as a result. Guess what? The technology still isn't ready for prime time. The accounting of the major company I worked at? Lost half a billion dollars US per year plus (public figures, not revealing anything saucy here) for its parent. Its all a giant venture-capital trap that doesn't work now that interest rates are soaring. But us citizens and transit advocates will be left with transit systems in ruins. Even if their vision for the future did succeed, it will only be affordable to the upper middle class anyways--who can commute in a robot taxi to and from work 5 days per week?

[@cut_and_cover]

Woah. Thanks for sharing the story.

[@FullLengthInterstates]

As autonomous cars continue to be delayed, pizza delivery bots take over the sidewalks. These are 2 converging technologies, and sidewalk delivery bots are racking up miles with much less risk/ cost to the operator. Eventually they will get good enough to go faster, maybe use bike lanes, carry people.

[@Dexter037S4]

How much did you want to punch the Muskrat in power?

[@Project2457official]

Let me add to this with my own anecdote: I’ve known friends and mutual friends who insanely Uber to work in the car centric hell I currently inhabit (South Florida). Imagine, spending upwards of $20 on your commute there effectively cutting requiring you to work 2 hours to recoup your investment. Shit situation, right? Don’t forget the commute back! Effectively 3 hours of work (about 1.5hrs per way) are needed to even have a net neutral gain.

[@mattcroft]

I'm pretty car-pilled, but Uber can go to hell.

[@zephaniahgreenwell8151]

Americans will do anything to avoid building trains.

[@ghalfsharp0]

Or even just sticking a piece of paper with the words "bus stop" to a utility pole

[@officialgreendalehumanbeing]

we tore down our streetcar systems and build highways through city neighborhoods because it became illegal to openly segregate

[@MegaLokopo]

People should stop arguing that transit should only be implemented if it is profitable, cars aren't profitable. Maybe we should increase the gas tax until it pays for all of the expenses related to maintaining road systems, maybe then people will start to use and vote for public transportation.

[@sigmascrub]

Cars are insanely profitable... to the companies that build, fix, and fuel then. As well as those who construct and maintain the infrastructure needed for a car-centric society.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@sigmascrub Cars are very profitable to those who sell them, but the gas tax does not pay for roads, property tax does.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@MegaLokopo plus the federal gas tax has not been raised since 1993, and some states haven't for even longer than that.

[@kaymillerfromTX]

Are people making that argument? Thats wild. Thats like saying water treatment or sewage plants should make profit smh. People don’t think. Plus for the car centric people, less cars on the road is a win for drivers too.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@kaymillerfromTX Yep people frequently do. Yep, car centric people should be the biggest advocates for more public transit, because they don't have to deal with anyone being forced to drive getting in their way. Many politicians on both sides make that argument, and many people on the internet make that argument, they are convinced they won't be able to leave their house or do whatever they want, because transit doesn't always run 24/7. They don't realize that cars are the reason everything is so far away in the first place, and with less cars and less parking everything would be so much closer together.

[@MisterVercetti]

I live in a city with the worst of both worlds: its already shoddy transit system is being hacked and slashed like a horror movie victim due to post-pandemic ridership plunges, but there are no alternatives being proposed to replace what's been lost. The end result is a network slowly shrinking away into nothing, and a city government too complacent and indifferent to do anything about it.

[@trainsandmore2319]

What city?

[@TheHoveHeretic]

Signs in the UK (at least) are post-Covid ridership is bouncing back .... mostly. I'm always wary of short termism in areas which by their nature need long term thinking. It's normally an indicator of some dodgy bright ideas from some shady opportunists and we've certainly seen that in full measure during the pandemic.

[@truedarklander]

​@@TheHoveHeretichere in Lisbon, bus ridership hasn't recovered, but train and metro ridership is at record breaking numbers. There are a few reasons, but some of the might be that people are going out to the periphery making them ride more trains than Carris' buses.

[@vitordelima]

Then if anyone proposes a private ride sharing service for cars, minivans, vans or microbuses to replace this, you react as usual. They always existed all over the world by the way.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

I think the alternative is people are bailing. Problem solved.

[@Matty002]

thinking critically for beginners: step 1: ask why. Why do these people *need* cars? step 2: keep asking why until you get to the actual problem

[@StephenSmith-ge1qf]

And here in Europe as usual we are years ahead. Changing cities to keep cars out. Cheap and regular public transport. High speed railways. Cycle paths linking suburbs and villages. All very much better, I think, than cluttering everywhere with endless damn cars.

[@Clyde-2055]

You keep letting in all those illegals, and your transit systems won’t be as safe and efficient as they are now. Look at the violence over in the US which hampers the growth and desirability of public transit.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@Clyde-2055 they had to. Locals are having fewer and fewer children. They need cheap labor to maintain their standard of living I guess. Same case in the US. Were it not for constant immigration, the country would have fallen into demographic decline decades ago.

[@Clyde-2055]

@@ianhomerpura8937 - Regardless of the reason, the idyllic European lifestyle will change with the introduction of these culturally diverse immigrants.

[@KeVIn-pm7pu]

@@Clyde-2055 yes thats how culture works. It changes.

[@fszocelotl]

Just for reference, here in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, 70% of daily commutes are done with public transportation. Just think about having 3 times as much cars as there are in this lakebowl to cover that demand.

[@Clyde-2055]

Places like that are not what the proponents of alternative methods to transit are talking about. Many small towns have such a small demand for transit that there are cheaper ways to meet the demand than a fleet of buses.

[@Piterdeveirs333]

@@Clyde-2055 then why do all these proponents of alternative methods keep trying to to force their shit into large dense cities?

[@fszocelotl]

@westvirginiaglutenfreepepp7006 Yes, we are a mess, we would need to implement and maintain the metro to an extension like the one at New York, and the Suburbano to an extension like GO, then we could just get enough trains to overcome our car traffic issues. Even with that the image I described at first would be hallucinating.

[@AWSMcube]

​@westvirginiaglutenfreepepp7006CDMX is super interesting and challenging in terms of urban design because it was founded 700 years ago on a lake. Nowadays the lake is completely dry and the city occupies where the lake once was, resulting in issues with water/erosion and susceptibility to earthquakes. It's at a high altitude so there's less oxygen in the air, resulting in fuel not combusting properly and polluting the air; this effect is exasperated by the fact that it was built in the lake's bowl shape, causing smog to sink down into the city.

[@NationX]

As a Jersey City native who took the 87 for most of my life I can say despite its flaws, which were...usually the people on board...that that bus route was very convenient and could take you throughout most of the city and nearby cities. Most importantly of all, there were plenty of them running in both directions. Anywhere it couldn't there were plenty of transfer points to a bus that could.

[@stevenroshni1228]

You can plan your life around an infrequent bus schedule. You can't plan based on transport you don't know how long it will take.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

Hence why transit companies should have better and more frequent trips. Maybe not the 3-5 minute headways seen here in Asia, but 15 minutes might work.

[@bluemountain4181]

But why would you want to plan your life around a bus schedule? I like rapid transit systems where you can just turn up and wait for 5 minutes for the bus/train to arrive but if the bus is only coming every 30 minutes or an hour then I prefer to drive even if it is more expensive

[@johns.8220]

@@bluemountain4181 I plan my life around a 30-minute bus schedule because I hate car dependency with the heat of a thousand suns. I know I could get to work quicker by driving, but I will be super angry and stressed from the commute.

[@fernthaisetthawatkul5569]

that's why uber doesn't work nearly as well as a bus that's guaranteed to come every fifteen minutes

[@seeitsayitdoggo]

I work sometimes in a UK town called Sevenoaks. The local bus company uses both timetabled routes AND viavan. My experience with demand response buses is: it's unpredictable. Sometimes I can get a bus within 2 mins as I step out of the railway station, other times it would be quicker to wait for the scheduled bus in 40 mins. The system is great when it works but if everyone leaves work at 5pm and wants a bus, you could be waiting over an hour for a van to return from the suburbs to get you.

[@famitory]

there's also the problem of riders who are either legally (minors) or mentally (anxiety, dissociation, severe adhd, ect) unable to drive but can take transit very easily. you'd need to expand paratrans a LOT to cover all of the second group and the first group would be essentially stranded until they hit the age where they can get a driver's liscence.

[@artirony410]

SEPTA's monthly pass being $115 is wild to me. I remember being in Taipei and their 30 day pass that allowed unlimited use of the MRT and buses cost the equivalent of $40

[@appa609]

Taiwanese currency is vastly undervalued.

[@Clyde-2055]

SEPTA? Is that one of those big tanks that folks in rural area bury in their back yard ??

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@appa609 mainly because it is an export-oriented economy.

[@Mgameing123]

SEPTA is a big agency. Its not limited to 1 city.

[@artirony410]

@@Mgameing123 yes, this is true, but the Taipei MRT has 7.86m daily ridership compared to SEPTA's 450k and serves an area with twice the population of the area SEPTA serves.

[@CasualCommuter_]

Thank you for making this video, my city of Ottawa Canada has been starting a pilot project for “on-demand transit”, and my techno-bro warning lights were already going off. They’re claiming the same things from your examples: reduced operating costs, shorter wait and travel times, etc. Will be taking a closer look at it as it launches this fall

[@erickpalacios8904]

Well that's depressing. What's the name of the service?

[@CasualCommuter_]

@@erickpalacios8904 The transit agency is OC Transpo, their tech partner is Pantonium. It hasn’t launched yet, so waiting to see how they’ll try and spin it to riders

[@Clyde-2055]

As a senior, I’d prefer on-demand transit picking me up at home over having to walk 500-2k meters to a bus stop.

[@eechauch5522]

I don’t think it has to be a bad thing. On-demand transit is completely fine as a supplement service to an existing transit system, just not as a replacement. Taxis have been running door to door services alongside transit forever, just at a significantly higher pricepoint. Having a middle ground solution to serve journeys not well served by the current routes, but at a price point not just viable for business travelers and rich people is a good thing, if you want people to rely on the system. My city has been running an on demand service during certain times for around a year now, especially on weekends and nights where regular service is less frequent and some routes stop. It’s priced at the same price as a regular one way fare, but it’s not included in monthly passes or discount passes as far as I understand. I haven’t used it so far, because I am well enough served by the scheduled services to not have a regular need for this service. But it’s great to know I would have the option to use this, if I needed to do a badly served journey without paying like 20x the single fare for a taxi.

[@KeVIn-pm7pu]

​@@Clyde-2055thats called a taxi

[@EdwardChan.999]

"Micro Transit" is just minibuses. In Hong Kong, they have fixed stops for boarding (usually start and end in different train stations/bus hubs, travelling through residential/ commercial areas), but passengers can request to stop anywhere along the route (on any streets, not on highways obviously), so there are more "stops" than buses for people to get off "on demand". We think of them like a shared-route taxi. Their smaller size also allows them to accelerate faster and turn corners without slowing down much. Although they carry less passengers (19 people max), this is more than enough for low-capacity bus routes since they can make more round trips, and the high frequency naturally attracts riders. The drivers are paid per trip so they are seldom late (although this causes over-speeding). They also serve as an important feeder (last-mile delivery of people) for double-decker buses, which travel on longer routes between towns.

[@SpiceFox]

Thanks for mentioning the drawbacks of paratransit. I am blind, and paratransit is one of the most degrading things I have ever done. You have to schedule your ride days in advance, sometimes it arrives late, sometimes it arrives early sometimes you arrive way too early at your destination and you have to wait Hours to do what you need to do. Sometimes you arrive late. Sometimes when you tell people that you use paratransit they get snooty and start treating you as though you are less than human. When they actually arrive to pick you up, it’s usually in some Old, loud, badly maintained vehicle like a shuttle. You’re lucky if your paratransit service offers payment by app. Frankly, I would rather they expand fix routes to stop at places like doctors offices. Buses at least follow our regular schedule and don’t randomly stop at McDonald’s because the driver is hungry. If you want to travel to an area managed by a different paratransit service, the leadtime becomes even longer. Closer to a week, and God forbid that you have a minor schedule change or an emergency or something just pops up in that time. People who casually throw out paratransit as a solution for those of us who can’t drive Have never used it and probably don’t even know how it works, but I would expect nothing less from the good old car centric US of A

[@phillipstafford2410]

Not to mention no 2 systems are alike, many don't cross municipal borders and are very restricted to who they serve requiring often several interviews and medical documentation

[@martinbarnes6853]

I've been in the trucking and busing lines of work for 30+ years, the last 18 as a city bus driver in a city of about 60,000 plus the surrounding suburbs. The quality and content of this video fantastic! A big thumbs up!

[@nuouokuyovksuoakrsv]

Curious on the inverse too, what if all the money we spent on cars was spent on public transit? How good would it be (or not?)

[@krunkle5136]

There'd be better service, and if we're talking about trains there'd be much less traffic. Additionally mixed use developments can be built around the stations to create a more walkable environment.

[@SocialDownclimber]

Just have a look at any city before widespread use of cars. It worked pretty well.

[@Sparticulous]

Everyone would be better off. Something unacceptable to the rich. Poor people must suffer for being poor

[@henrikleppa7632]

It could be pretty good. As an example, the channel: "Not Just Bikes" just released a video called "The German City with More Bikes than Cars".

[@Ratcher.]

smoothest writing in the transit videos space. soon he will topple the big guys.

[@officialmcdeath]

Agreed, the quality is deep - 15 storeys deep \m/

[@stephenkeever6029]

Buy everyone a car... what an insane idea! Thanks for doing a video essay on this topic.

[@Clyde-2055]

Yeah, but if I had a subsidized Uber service, I’d never buy a bus pass again …

[@joerionis5902]

@@Clyde-2055 sure if its effective for you... If you're on a city though... goodluck with the traffic once it becomes mainstream.

[@Clyde-2055]

@@joerionis5902 - Where is the point at which a US city is considered big enough to really benefit from major expenditures for transit? The US is a nation of small towns. People from large cities preach transit, but small cities don’t need it, especially if there was a door-to-door service to benefit those that need it. I’ll wager an 80 year-old woman would prefer to catch an Uber at her home than walk to a bus stop and wait for a bus that may or may not be on time. And she would like it even more if she had some type of voucher to at least partially defray the cost. How many cities in the US are above a population of 250k? I think it’s like 75-80, so under two per state. Towns of that size don’t need NY-styled transit systems. That’s my opinion. Most of the year I live in a major Asian city with a population of 12M. For inner-city travel, use of public transport is generally preferred. The worst aspect of driving my personal car is parking. The fastest way to do short trips is on a motorcycle taxi. We spend a couple of months a year in a US small city, and the thing my wife likes most about it is going everywhere in our own car. The convenience is unrivaled by any form of public transit because parking is plentiful. What is a chore in the big city is a breeze in the small town. Frankly, when we get too old to drive, I do hope that self-driving cars have been perfected, because I can’t imagine taking the train when I’m 90 …

[@zerotwo_.002]

​@@Clyde-2055it's a terrible idea for people, cities, and the planet

[@Clyde-2055]

@@zerotwo_.002 - The planet doesn’t give a rat’s arse …

[@worra123]

And you havent even touched on the cost of building streets and other car Infrastructure like parking lots etc.

[@MilesinTransit]

WE MISSED YOU KING 👑

[@MilesinTransit]

autonomous pods

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Don't let our Tribal King Jordan see this post

[@cut_and_cover]

"This race is rigged for fixed routes to win and microtransit to lose!"

[@eric2500]

UBER and LYFT ruined traffic in my big city. It takes two and a half hours longer to get out of town than it used to -and the taxi drivers who were already in deep financial trouble, are doing even worse. *That's even BEFORE the pandemic choked our streets with Outdoor Eating Spaces and Delivery Everything.* Yes, my city is NYC.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

As a paratransit user on Long Island, Suffolk County's accessible transit is a wonderful thing for me to have! Being able to go between anywhere in Suffolk for just FOUR bucks is an absolute steal. The positive outweighs the negative because of their coverage, are relatively on-time, and I typically use it for the LIRR. For urbanism, Suffolk has a long way to go, but they have a sizable paratransit fleet and I'm blessed for it. The ADA really is an incredible piece of legislation. Suffolk Transit has been experimenting with micro transit in the rural East End as well. This was launched in June 2021 with an on-demand zone created that serves Southampton as a solution for the 10A route that once served it (discontinued in 2016; low-ridership). Under the Reimagine Transit plan to change their bus network in Fall 2023, they added another on-demand zone in the Hamptons between East Hampton and Montauk to replace the 10C...an every THREE-hour bus! During the summer, it went to the lighthouse just four times a day, on top of the already limited schedule. So changing it to a more flexible thing benefits locals and tourists alike.

[@zeldadinosaur]

Why do I see you everywhere?

[@PASH3227]

Shuttle buses would be a GREAT alternative to park and ride, great point!

[@eric2500]

Then is works WAY better than in the City, where they give you a pickup window and they make you wait until they are 20 minutes late before you can ask for another pick up. If you are not outside and waiting when they come you are lucky if they phone you to say they will wait for five minutes while your elevator comes. You have to give yourself two extra hours as a cushion. Planes have nearly been missed, concerts and doc's appointments. *You folks out there on LONG ISLAND did not have enough public transit in the first place. Still don't.* Of course the paratransit is better there. But I have been to Montauk in summer ONCE - never again, thanks. Any other season. Busses or paratransit or private cars, there is just too much traffic.

[@eric2500]

They work almost the same way, so ???!!!. @@PASH3227

[@eric2500]

You see who everywhere?@@zeldadinosaur

[@mattsmocs3281]

People forget that cars are not a 1 time cost. A car is far more expensive with gas, oil changes, repairs, *INSURANCE* and more. AARP did research stating that in most states we are talking almost 10k a year in cost. This is before we get to taxes for maintenance of roads which are a massive money loss.

[@iskerop]

Great video! I love the way you wrapped it up, most of our problems can be traced back to car oriented city planning, that needs to change

[@vitordelima]

Most problems come from annoying repetitive people pushing more harassment and waste of money and time.

[@megabuilder15]

Brilliant video mate! I remember being so confused about how to get around when I visited the US - I’ve always been used to at least some form of public transport, so when I asked where the shuttle bus from the airport to the city was I was laughed at and told to call an Uber. Subscribed! I hope you go far.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

Holy crap Alex, this video is a masterpiece. I can't imagine how much effort it was. I think a good application of microtransit is to free transit planners from the requirement of area coverage. Rather than having lots of loopy squiggly infrequent bus routes, there can be a smaller number of direct frequent routes, with the geographic gaps filled by microtransit. In practice very few people would actually fall in those gaps, so although the cost recovery of the on-demand transit is terrible, that is more than offset by the improved productivity of the scheduled bus routes. This strategy was part of Durham Region Transit's network reconfiguration, which has been so successful that the rural/suburban region has more ridership now than pre-pandemic. Some of the rural on-demand areas are popular enough that they are now being supplemented with new fixed-schedule rural bus routes.

[@Alejandro-vn2si]

Hopefully, we can continue to make sure this concept supports and encourages transit. I feel in suburbs and rural areas would actually work to connect the last mile destination that a train or a bus might not be able to connect well. Especially if it's connected to regional transit, it could have tremendous benefits.

[@georgekarnezis4311]

Yeah but isn’t Raleigh also going hard changing their zoning and land use to higher uses that support transit.

[@mikemotorbike4283]

oh that's rich! Effectively a loss leader to get people over their perceptual inertia regarding public transit- "try before you buy." That was the effect if not the intent, but very telling. This may be used strategically as a technique to jump start ridership. like "free beer!"

[@PASH3227]

AMEN! Houston's (yes Houston) bus realignment is another great example. It's one of the few systems that saw ridership going up pre-covid.

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

@@PASH3227 Agreed. It was a bit of a shock when Houston Metro eliminated the local bus route I used to use, but the network is actually more convenient overall now since the routes are more direct (faster) and more frequent.

[@yukaira]

they complain about empty buses when the cars and street design (no bus priority) makes the buses shit!

[@APJTA]

When I lived in suburban Maryland (albeit near to a WMATA metro stop), I downloaded Via to see if it was cheaper and more useful than Uber and Lyft. Whatever personal values-based objections I had to Uber or Lyft were secondary to the fact that sometimes I had to go somewhere deep in the suburbs where one bus passed every 90 minutes. To my knowledge, Via wasn't subsidized in my county. I didn't end up using it once. If I needed to make an on-demand trip, Uber or Lyft was the better option. If I wasn't pressed for time or needing to transport something cumbersome, I'd get an Uber Share and just wait. For everything else, public transit was much better. Uber and Lyft are just cabs with an app (that lose a ton of investor money). Cabs and transit serve two different transport needs and coexisted without competing for most of the 20th century. If you try and blend both, you get something that's not as good as either. This is also why Uber's reported plan to replace public transit is completely futile.

[@andir7374]

Obviously the content of the video was great, but I really appreciate the editing and writing of the video. There is such a natural flow to it and you never get bored and always stay interested. I instantly subscribed

[@mattderynioski1434]

The small city of 50,000 where I went to college had a solid fixed-route bus system that got most people wherever they had to go within city bounds. Students at the big school ride for free, those under 18 or disabled paid a reduced fare, and all other adults paid $1 per trip, with transfers. I used it to get to (ironically) an auto shop to pick up my car once on a weekend and there was still a fair amount of people on it. When covid came along, the city made bus service free for everybody and I think they’ve kept similar amounts of service since then. With so many students looking to get so many different places, it would be incredibly easy to warrant the switch to “dynamic schedules” and microtransit, but I haven’t seen anything of the sort when I go back.

[@junirenjana]

This is incredibly well-made, probably one of the best urbanism- and transit-related videos I've seen in a while!

[@ChristopherMartin-e8r]

What really frustrated me when seeing NIMBY's block dense, Transit-Oriented housing is that most times the number one concern is fesrs over increasing traffic congestion. In reality people who live in these types of developments are MUCH less likely to own cars or drive nearly everywhere. Don't make assumptions based on things you know next to nothing about.

[@TereniaDelamay]

Bikes are just the best of all world for well built cities. Cheap, door to door transport, healthy, environmental, low space usage, relatively fast.

[@kiwenmanisuno]

"But, But, my lazy ass gets tired using a bike!!!"

[@gencreeper6476]

@@kiwenmanisuno Exactly though. Ive never seen the appeal over walking. If I have to go through all the hassle of being responsible for dragging a vehicle around with me it better be powered. E bikes and motorcycles make more sense. Id rather walk and not have anything to have to park or lock up or be stolen or potentially cause an accident.

[@hectorquinones5579]

As someone who grew up in a place where you needed to own a car to go anywhere, the best feeling in the world is not having to own a car and just being able to walk or just take the metro.

[@fernthaisetthawatkul5569]

the sweet, sweet sound of freedom is the sound that my oyster card makes as i tap it on the yellow card reader thingy that guarantees that, by only paying a few bucks worth, i can get pretty much anywhere in central london w/out ever getting stuck in traffic!

[@stekra3159]

In vienna, you can not park for more than an hour unless you live there ore you pay for your time bejond that. This rule has increased parking spot ability for by I kid you not like 2/3s. Because now all the commuters take the S Bahn.

[@bificommander7472]

If it weren't for the human cost, I would like to see a just-buy-everyone-car politician get his way, just to see how quickly that same politician starts cutting on the car buying once they got their wish of scrapping the transit. Cause let's face it, the ven diagram between politicians who oppose tax money going to public transit and those who oppose tax money going to welfare looks a lot like a single circle.

[@galaxystar8232]

Coming from switzerland this really shocks me if i compare it to our extensive punlic transit system, busses are extremly important here especially to bring people to trains to bring them into the city

[@EastGermany-pc2lw]

please save us. There are people here that don't know what a trolley bus is.

[@boomoperator90]

Have these tech bros and public officials ever experience traffic??? More cars means more traffic, you gotta be kidding me!

[@WillowThomkin]

As a former urbanite who couldn’t drive to save their life, public transit was a lifeline for when I need to travel long distances. I can get work done when riding it, too. Now here in some suburban hellscape that feels a lot like something from the back rooms, I just walk wherever I need to go as public transit’s treated as welfare. Even if you’re qualified, you still have to pay for the service. It’s obvious expanding public transit would be the better way to tackle the problem because of the likes of me who easily panics when behind the wheel. It’s a well known death trap from looking at statistics describing how CAR CRASHES ARE FREQUENT AND LETHAL. Giving everyone a car, assuming you managed to get over the first hurdle, would be a catastrophe waiting to happen as this will raise in frequency and severity from everyone simply trying to get from point A to point B in massive metal caskets moving horrendously fast.

[@freesk8]

Government transit IS a form of welfare. It is heavily subsidized by taxpayers. And do you have a medical reason for not learning to drive? If not, you have intentionally weakened yourself. Made yourself dependent. Made yourself vulnerable. But you should be seeking to make yourself empowered, independent, and capable.

[@AWSMcube]

And my car is my lifeline when I need to travel long distances. It goes both ways

[@EastGermany-pc2lw]

@@AWSMcube just take a train wtf why would ever drive long distances? like you're more productive on a train than in a car

[@EastGermany-pc2lw]

@@freesk8 i can get my license next year. But honestly i don't want to use it. Ill probably get it and move back into a city where the metro systems are good. And nothing screams empowered independent and capable like walking to a metro station and patently waiting 2 minutes for a train to come. Also cars are dangerous and i don't have a deathwish

[@AWSMcube]

@@EastGermany-pc2lw My nearest train station is 30 minutes away, to the south. Even then, it keeps going south, to Boston, which would take an additional 30 minutes of driving. I have no way of taking the train north, to the mountains, and it's impractical to drive 30 minutes to a train station when that's half my trip. Might as well do it all in one go.* *though it would be nice if they extended the rail up to where I live, there have been proposals to extend it but bureaucracy go brr. A rail into the mountains would make no sense though because few people live there :p

[@ssilent8202]

whats so bad about having my own car? what if i want my own car because i dont want to share transport with 10 other people? what if i like the privacy of private transport, and the convenience of being able to drive myself directly to my destination without going to other stops first, or waiting for it to show up in the first place?

[@neverletmego6414]

There's nothing wrong with owning a car. What's wrong is forcing everyone to drive by not giving them alternatives. This also makes driving worse because it makes traffic worse, turning a 10-minute commute into a 40-minute traffic jam everyday

[@Mcfunface]

​@@neverletmego6414Nothing wrong with providing opportunities either, it's just the mass transit is underutilized because of social safety concerns. If the perception of safety improves, more people will take advantage of both options.

[@johndefalque5061]

I'm autistic, even if I won a car, how could I afford, to insure, fuel, park,maintain? I might be able to afford a 50cc moped and that too would be challenging as a 55 yr old failure. So many residents of Quebec City don't even have a parking space.

[@mugabe2606]

As a European I can't gelp but think: the problem isn't just mobility. With dense urban planning, all people are in one spot, and everything sorts itself out. People travel short distances, and public transport is economical. Like in Manhattan. Poor people who can't afford a car shouldn't be living in a suburb.

[@tannermaerz8437]

Its really crazy because my hometown Asheboro is considering Microtransit as a shuttle between hotels, downtown, and the Zoo. Like, that's a fixed route.

[@thefullmetalmaskedduo6083]

North American logic: high capacity, efficient mass transport like bus and railcrafts (ie trains, metros, LTR, trams) “oh these are old fashioned and obsolete”. Meanwhile low capacity, infrastructure intensive, inefficient and resource wasteful forms of transportation like cars and “micro-transit” glorified taxis are “the future”. Seriously is the US and Canada really this insane?

[@CharlesGorby]

As a Bucks resident, I think you summarized this issue really well! Love your dedication to quality content

[@RickySuper90]

Just plain good video essay Keep it up man!

[@johnsmart964]

We concur.

[@almisami]

Anyone who complains about buses and scheduling has clearly never ever seen an efficient system like Singapore's.

[@thiccum2668]

Yes I agree

[@petersmythe6462]

Keep in mind that cars are not the only cost of cars. Parking, roads, maintenance of those roads, protection of those cars, insurance, maintenance, etc. All of that costs money. It may be the government's money, but in order to legitimate its currency, a government needs to limit the currency supply through taxation. The price of car ownership is way beyond whatever monthly payment you have. The cost to society of car ownership is even higher.

[@petersmythe6462]

We can go further if we include things like the opportunity cost of road land use, loss of economic value from roadkill and habitat fragmentation of wild animals and livestock, injuries and deaths of people and pets due to cars, extended utility lines due to de-densification, loss of community from never interacting with neighbors, etc. There are so many costs to cars.

[@David-TX59]

I lived in Arlington for 7 years. It is crazy that they have so many great entertainment options without trasit. The traffic and parking problems are the worst in DFW area.

[@johnson941]

I saw a clip from the opening of my city's Regional/Inside the city mainline railway form 1973 recently, where the major basically stated that the new rail line never was going to create any direct profit at all, but it could save a whole lot of money that would otherwise be spent on road maintenance, would make the roads safer to drive on, decrease congestion and the economic benefit for the city for connecting itself and the small towns around it would greatly outweight the construction and operation cost. And I think that is a key thing against cars.

[@appa609]

Give everyone a bike. Unironically.

[@Clyde-2055]

Put a motor on mine, thank you …

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@Clyde-2055 that would also work. Taiwan and Vietnam love their motorbikes.

[@Clyde-2055]

@@ianhomerpura8937 - I live in Asia, and yes, we love our motorcycles. But America wouldn’t tolerate them being driven/used as they are in most of Asia, especially SE Asia. Here, we ride between lanes, on sidewalks, on the wrong side of the road … etc., and it’s accepted as normal. In the US, it’s illegal, and wouldn’t be overlooked by law enforcement, and even if it were, many Americans would take offense at the motorcycle using its size and maneuverable to its own advantage. We also deliver everything from McDonald’s to propane tanks with motorcycles, and small bikes like Honda 125’s will haul a family of four easily! The fastest “transit” in our cities is a motorcycle taxi. With the outlandish tort laws in the US, this isn’t going to happen.

[@KeVIn-pm7pu]

@@Clyde-2055 Bikes with electric motors are quiet popular and very useful

[@MAVENdeNYC]

You literally have to be classified Homeless to qualify if the cap is $7,290. Just renting a room at $600/mo. is $7,200, if you could even find something at that price today. No, you still couldn't afford to buy it yourself because at $6,000 a year wouldn't allow to even rent a room. Not even with 7,290 because even if you somehow could possible find a room for $600/mo. you would literally have $90 left for the whole year. Not even a month's groceries for the most reserved frugal person. Even if the person had government assistance, they would lose that car so fast for lack of payment, lack of maintainence, and/or just the price to fuel it up the expense would not be met. You can't be that poor and live in most decent suburbs where buses would have run. Only place people like that could afford are the slums and big cities with government assistance.

[@TransitAndTeslas]

I live in a city with buses (and trains) and Via service. The Via service is next to worthless with ridiculous wait times, etc, whereas the bus is way faster and more predictable. I prefer the bus over stupid via. I would rather just take my car than deal with Via.

[@lbcck2527]

In the city state I live in, residents here (rich or otherwise) are willing to put down $110,000 just to buy the right to own a car. That is not including the purchase cost of the car, taxes, fuel, parking and maintenance. This is despite we have one of arguably the best & low cost public transit system (not paid for by taxes) that reaches almost every corner of the city.

[@KingOfBattle25]

It never ceases to amaze me how america always comes with the worst ideas known to mankind and then call them revolutionary!

[@PASH3227]

Excellent video! I think micro-transit is GREAT for sparely populated rural areas and still important for the elderley and disabled. My grandpa is no longer able to drive and the city's dial-a-ride service is slow and unreliable. We end up calling ubers for him when he wants to go somewhere. The neighborhood is entirely large single family homes and lacks sidewalks on most streets. I'm not even sure where to start in terms of walkability and density.

[@carriebartkowiak]

For those areas that are "too rural, too unwalkable", one option to consider is having busbots pick people up and simply take them to/from the closest transit bus station. And simultaneously put in some damn sidewalks and protected bike lanes.

[@laurie7689]

Rural generally implies that there are miles of vacant land between buildings. Nobody is going to want to walk that. Also, as somebody that has lived rural and is currently in the suburbs, but still knows rural people, we don't like or trust robotic-technology as a general rule to risk getting on a busbot.

[@qoolerade]

This transit-Uber system is what happened in Idaho too this last year, but worse. The US government I believe gave the Idaho state government just shy of $50 million dollars specifically to develop local transit systems that didn't exist. What did they do? They didn't subsidize Uber, they DEVELOPED their OWN Uber-esque app for specific cities with 30,000+ people, then blamed citizens when it flopped (note: there was no advertising for this). They're now in the middle of a 3-5 years development project to add a third lane to the freeway.

[@dal2452]

I became radicalized by urbanism after having to search for parking in the downtown of my city. We need more public transit options so that there will be more open street parking!

[@dylancode]

**INDUCED DEMAND** is there anything else to say?!

[@dylancode]

Like seriously, what do these people think will happen to traffic if everyone drives? THEY'LL MAKE TRAFFIC WORSE!

[@dylancode]

The problem isn't transit, it's the fact that people don't take transit. If people took transit, the buses wouldn't be empty! How hard is it for people to understand??

[@Motwera]

​@@dylancode because they're always told that it is "for the poor or drugged homeless people" and that crowding is "bad because you have to deal with people", it's insane the amount of mental gymnastics and money people and lobbying (i.e. the auto and oil industries) put through to justify it, and it's no wonder why we keep having to fight this kind of policy every time a project/law to fix it.

[@dylancode]

@@Motwera Yes exactly. I couldn't have put it better than that - most people just don't understand the idea of public transit

[@Seawiz21]

There’s no such thing as a town, suburb or area too small for fixed route. They make tiny buses and replacing transit with cars is literally working backingwards even if it has a phone tree.

[@haweater1555]

8:48. I'm watching this on a BlackBerry phone right now.

[@cut_and_cover]

It's alright, I didn't get myself a smartphone until I was 18.

[@CanCobb]

I am laughing so much about the person having to work onboard a 6 person automated car. Why? If the vehicle is automated, then paying anybody to be onboard it is ridiculous, and there's no way that service will be cheaper than a driven bus.

[@MisterFro9]

This video is proof that sometimes the KZbin algorithm gets things right pushing videos, as I've never seen your channel before. Very well paced and cut video, super clear. Well done.

[@binedstudiostotalgame787]

If you really wanna make transit better make it worse for car owners and better for public transportation it worked in the Netherlands

[@Will140f]

I used to work for one of the microtransit companies you discussed in this video, but I quit to work for a company that makes route planning and trip scheduling software for fixed-route buses because I struggled to want to sell a product I honestly believed was mostly unnecessary. I couldn't have my heart in in it at work when I was selling some frivolous startup nonsense to people who didn't need it, when now I feel like what I do actually helps buses to run on time, designs bus routes more useable for actual riders, and makes driving a bus a much better job for drivers by eliminating split shifts, making sure breaks are scheduled properly for human beings who need to use the washroom and eat food sometimes etc. It's like the difference between someone offering to sell you a more powerful vacuum cleaner for the carpets you already have all over your house VS. someone selling you some "supercleaner" that's high tech and can also polish floors and mop them as well as vacuum, and there's a model that can steer itself around your house even! Oh, but one little catch, they'll need to first install carpet and hardwood all over your house (on your dollar) because right now it's linoleum. oh, and the supercleaner uses way more KWH so your electricity bill is also going top be way higher now. But come on, this is the future!!

[@madameghostly]

This video didn't make me *quite* as violently angry towards local governments as your last video did, but still, great video! I always kinda knew micro-transit was kind of a crappy replacement for actual transit - thanks for giving us all the facts!

[@tabacum2]

Depends on your goal. If you are trying to get suburban drivers off the road, traditional transit fails. I think you underestimate how far from the nearest bus stop most suburban households are. Most suburbanites have to use a car to get to a park-and-ride lot, and at that point might as well just keep driving (unless you are commuting downtown where parking is a premium). Walking or biking to the bus is great for young fit adults with plenty of spare time when weather is nice, but not practical for families with small children or the elderly. Except for individual commuters, a car is also generally cheaper when there is more than one person traveling, such as families, couples, or groups of friends which represents the bulk of my trips. In comparing the cost per ride, was it taken into account that when someone orders a ride share often multiple people tag along for the same price? I have lived in Europe and Mexico without a car, and found that for 2 people unsubsidized ride share was cost competitive with transit and MUCH more convenient. Public transit in Europe is quite overrated, and even there anyone who can afford a car still prefers driving (outside of city centers). In Mexico they have minibuses (combis/colectivos) that serve outlying areas and generally will drop you off wherever you want on their route for 50 cents / person, much more convenient than major fixed bus lines, but when an Uber for 2 costs $3 door-to-door with no waiting around wondering if a colectivo is coming ride share still wins. Let’s be clear, not owning a car at all is not practical for a homeowner with a family in suburban America (or even in suburban Europe) so transit isn’t competing with the full cost of car ownership but rather with the marginal trip cost. Subsidized on-demand door-to-door would motivate many more suburbanites to leave their car at home. But something else that would help would be giving them family passes for public transit so that they can travel as a group without buying multiple tickets. Considering that transit is paid for by the people who use it least (property and car owners via taxes & license fees), why not just give these people vouchers? They tend to live in areas with light ridership anyway so cost of operating the routes would hardly be impacted. A more convenient on-demand service might cost more per ride, but since the current system offers little value to the taxpayers footing the bill a system that they might actually use might be worth it to them. As it is, public transit offers insufficient cost or convenience benefits over cars for any suburbanite that has the choice.

[@vokzaal]

This is almost as stupid as saying "we don't need law enforcement, just give everyone a gun".

[@CubeApril]

KZbin recommend this channel to me and after watching this video I think you have a very bright future ahead of you. :)

[@kylepatricklewis6345]

Car ownership isn’t freedom if an accident means not having a car

[@robertklose2140]

50,000 Americans die in car accidents every year, and we consider this to be an acceptable price to pay for the "convenience" of owning a car. Why would we want to increase the number of fatalities by stuffing ever more people into cars?

[@heronimousbrapson863]

Certainly, giving everyone a car might be the only option in rural areas. Here in western Canada, inter city transit has disappeared to a very large extent; transportation by private automobile is increasingly the only option.

[@logans3365]

High speed electric rail between major cities and eventually connecting to smaller cities would be great for intercity travel. When I was in Thailand their trains connected tons of cites to the rest of the country, it was fantastic riding in comfort across the entire country for only $30, and it wasn’t even high speed, here in the richest countries on earth we could do so much better

[@FullLengthInterstates]

@@logans3365 The important thing is to lineify the country. encourage people to move onto a small selection of rail corridors (within walking distance of stations), and improve service as demand increases. Eventually we can use high speed rail as an oversized province/ state wide metro system, the same way we use interstates as basically an oversized main street.

[@nhansen197]

If everyone has a car, congestion on the roads would go way up, and until we have all electric, smog would go up. Plus there's the issue of people who just can't drive, and that includes a lot more than just handicapped. Not everyone gets a license, not everyone can pass the test, and some people lose their license. Some people may need mass transit for short turn solutions. So no, a car for everyone just isn't going to work.

[@nacoran]

How do hybrid shuttle systems work out, where you keep the flexible routes in specific areas (particularly when we get self-driving worked out, so you can be more flexible with hours), where the flexible bus is basically a neighborhood shuttle, a last mile sort of solution. The main line takes you across town, but when you get to your neighborhood you have a small shuttle that maybe has a hybrid route where it does a loop of stops, but will also deviate a small amount to pick up people based on request?

[@OntarioTrafficMan]

That is the model which is increasingly being used in suburban or rural areas in Canada, such as York Region Transit and Durham Region Transit

[@Clyde-2055]

That’s a model that makes sense. The idea of making old ladies trudge a kilometer to board the bus is outdated.

[@KeVIn-pm7pu]

@@Clyde-2055 if an old Lady is not able to walk 1 km i doubt she is able to live by her own.

[@DAndyLord]

I'm a city bus driver in a medium sized Canadian city. On my return trip for my last 1/2 loop, I have (since I started this route in September) literally (not figuratively) never picked up a rider. Tonight was the second night since I signed this work (in September), that I dropped off a rider beyond the longstanding detour on the route. For $0.75 a taxi will meet my bus at the EOL and take the rider beyond (within city limits), this service is available to all riders regardless of ability. The problem is that the taxis are so insanely unreliable. God help you if you use a chair and need a taxi at 220a in the middle of nowhere. I don't do those routes anymore, but I hated leaving my regulars (any rider, really) in the middle of nowhere in the snow hoping they'll get a paracab. I can see a utility in subsidizing private last-mile accessible services. I can even see the utility in universal access to rural/suburban folk. I take a bus to a major intersection, and Uber (or whatever) picks me up and drives me home. In light of the unreliability of the current taxi service, there's a clear need to explore subsidizing private last-mile accessible services and ensuring universal access for dis/abled rural and suburban residents.