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It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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Forget small cars, we should be embracing non-motorized ways of transit. Make things human-sized again and allow us to walk and/or bike to destinations rather than having to have a motorized vehicle to get around.
Public transit is obviously a good thing to have, but I think it’s also important to have alternate forms of transit as well.
I was just on Block Island, RI the other day. It’s a 10mi^2 island with ferry service and an airport square in the middle of it. Very seasonal economy and the residents are wealthy NIMBY-types.
No trams or trolleys or any mass transit on the island itself. Lots of mopeds and bikes and a surprising amount of cars. We were on foot to a restaurant and approached a 4-way stop and both myself (pedestrian) and the bicyclist next to me were amazed at how hard it was to cross the street with all the taxis and rental cars around.
What a shame. The island should be a model of an ideal “minimal car” community, and could easily become it.
So much this. It's infuriating to have to get in a car every time you want to go outside your neighborhood.
I recommend moving to a city
In the US, it's really only NYC and Chicago that have functioning public transit. If you can't go to one of those, you're pretty much out of luck. It's not like in Europe where every little small to mid-size town has light rail and train connections all over.
You left out Boston
You're funny.
NYC (and presumably Chicago - I haven't been) are the best, that's true. I've also been to Philadelphia and Boston and both had good train systems. I currently live in a medium-sized city that is 90% bus transit, and that can suffice even though it's not great. It's an exaggeration to say NYC and Chicago are the only places you can go without a car.
I have managed Denver and San Francisco many times without a car.
The question isn't about managing, but about convenience. In some cities, public transportation is more convenient than going out and getting a car and dealing with parking and all that noise. That should be the goal, not "it's manageable."
That's all fun and games until weather happens...and weather is going to happen a lot going forward.
I moved to Europe, grew up in New York near the City and decided to get a moped here to commute. It's roughly equivalent to an Ebike but was actually cheaper than one and has a 100km range. It's not highway legal as it has a top speed of 45km/h but can go on bike paths as long as I watch the speed.
After 3 months since I got the moped I am going to get a car because FUCK going to the office in the rain with that thing. The trains and/or busses go on strike about once a month, maybe a little less, and between delays and cancelations I can't rely on them for my commute. I've literally been waiting for the bus and the driver just decides not to stop to pick me up too. Also packages don't get reliably dropped off at my front door so I need to go into town or to the supermarket next to the highway to pick up my things which becomes untenable when they are bulky. Instead I'm taking taxis at a cost of €30 each way just to pick up shit that should be left at my door.
The dissonance is strong, I still need a car, and I still need one big enough to move bulky crap at least once a month if not more.
And before someone says rent a car, it's €70+ a day to do so here and I have a preferred account through my employer. I need to book it in advance so it's not a "same day" thing. Oh and the places they drop the packages off have weird fucking opening times and are often closed when they should be open so I've literally spent €60 on taxis to come home with nothing. That time the seller did me a solid and refunded me the €60 as an apology (it was a €350 item).