Using public transport is a learned habit
news.epfl.ch
Encouraging people to embrace alternatives to the car – still the dominant mode of travel in Switzerland – means factoring human decision-making into the equation.
  • Lovable Sidekick
    2·
    3 months ago

    I gave the bus a solid try for the one job I had where it actually made sense. After a year I decided I preferred the 15-minute drive to the 50 minute commute involving two bus rides each way.

    • sylver_dragon
      3·
      3 months ago

      Ya, I really like the train. But the trains in the US are just downright terrible. I’ve been commuting into the greater DC Metro area this week from near Fredericksburg, VA. Driving I-95 is always a shitshow. But, Id still save almost an hour each way driving, versus public transportation. And driving would be cheaper. And no, trying to account for the cost of the vehicle isn’t useful. I’d have the vehicle either way. That’s a pointless red herring.

      I’m still taking public transport. Literally sitting on the VRE as I type this. But, if this were going on much longer than the week, I’d be back in my car. Also, if I had to pay for my kid to ride the VRE (under 18 year old riders are free) the extra cost would have pushed it right into “nope, I’m driving” territory.

      The study from the article sounds like they are going the right direction. Getting me out of my car comes down to simple factors of time and money. I want to use public transportation. But when public transportation takes half again as long and costs more, I end up driving. Getting people out of cars is going to require public transport which offers a better (or at least fairly close) value proposition.

      I can’t speak for the Swiss. But here in the US, we need to start treating public transportation as public infrastructure, just as we do roads. Make it cheap and ubiquitous and people will choose it.