Driving 8 hours round trip today to pick up one person, and I’ll never understand why Americans think this is more convenient than my colleague taking a train.
#FuckCars #WarOnCars #TheWarOnCars #Urbanism #CarBrain #PublicTransportation #lightrail @fuck_cars #PublicTransit
@scrubbles
I think it also has something to do with sharing space with other people, which they’re not used to.
I have midwest friends who have admitted this, that they don’t like sharing a space. This is generally just a problem with rural people, they shut themselves out from the general public for so long that they get fearful of anyone outside of their social norms.
Which of course I say “Get tougher and deal with it”, your fear of other people shouldn’t drive society. (But that’s human history - aint it)
Is it a strange thing to admit to? I spent half my childhood in New York City (including taking the subway every day) and I still don’t like sharing a space with other people. It’s a common preference and I don’t see why it should be respected less than, for example, a preference to avoid loud noises and noxious odors would be when choosing how to live.
Except the alternate is a very selfish, inefficient, and oversized method of transit. Cars mean that we need massive highways that take up millions of acres of space, we need huge parking lots that make it difficult to walk and also again, take up massive amounts of space, and they are horrible for the environment. By being pro car you’re also for all of those side effects.
Instead of saying you don’t like mass transit, you don’t like those aspects of it. I’ve seen clean mass transit, but it needs to be enforced. Be upset with those who don’t enforce it, not the transit itself.
Preferring private spaces doesn’t mean being “pro car”. I very much prefer private spaces, but still overall prefer public transit. That just means I spring for a private roomette on amtrak even when it’s a non-overnight 8 hour trip to Chicago.
Not as a “well actually” but just a different example: I regularly see Mennonites on Amtrak, which is maybe out of necessity, but their norms are very different from the diverse people on the train. I don’t like sharing space on the road. I’m generally a calm pacifist until I’m around other drivers