this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
1395 points (94.3% liked)

Fuck Cars

9603 readers
851 users here now

A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

Rules

1. Be CivilYou may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.

2. No hate speechDon't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.

3. Don't harass peopleDon't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.

4. Stay on topicThis community is about cars, their externalities in society, car-dependency, and solutions to these.

5. No repostsDo not repost content that has already been posted in this community.

Moderator discretion will be used to judge reports with regard to the above rules.

Posting Guidelines

In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:

Recommended communities:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Image transcript:

Calvin (from Calvin & Hobbes) sitting at a lemonade stand, smiling, with a sign that reads, "Trains and micromobility are inevitably the future of urban transportation, whether society wants it or not. CHANGE MY MIND."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Burp@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This has been my sticking point with trains. In theory, it sounds fantastic and I’m all for it. The problem is is that Having a vehicle is so much nicer. Air conditioned and private transportation, whenever you want. Listen to what you want, go where you want.

Maybe if the train was much more convenient? I like the idea for travel more.

[–] Fried_out_Kombi@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you look at old maps of streetcar networks in cities (before they ripped up the tracks to replace them with cars), one thing that stands out is just how dense the networks were. For instance, here's the old Montreal streetcar map:

Versus the modern-day Montreal metro map:

And Montreal has some of the best modern-day urbanism in North America, mind you; most cities are far worse. But it really makes you imagine what our cities could be like if we made many/most streets car-free and just had ultra-dense networks of trams again. Maybe even cargo trams to deliver goods to stores as well. Trains would be ubiquitous and ultra-convenient.

[–] AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

It's because we built everything to be car-scale and then the metro states had to adapt to that

Crappy.

[–] Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Air conditioned

Public transit has this technology.

Listen to what you want

Headphones.

whenever you want [..] go where you want

Public transit can solve these problems with more frequency and routes. Sometimes public transit goes places private transport can't!

private transportation

Can't do this one.

[–] Fried_out_Kombi@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can’t do this one.

For long-distance travel, sleeper cars on trains are even better -- you can't close the curtains and go to sleep if you're driving across the country.

For short-distance travel, bikes and scooters!

[–] Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Great point! Sleeper car rail in Canada is so terrible I tend to forget it exists.

[–] Skepticpunk@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Public transit can solve these problems with more frequency and routes. Sometimes public transit goes places private transport can’t!

Or, hell, just get one of those foldable ebikes that are all the rage these days. Technology is coming for cars just as it came for horses and nobody even realizes it.

[–] Burp@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Ehh, it’s more like comparing a hostel to a hotel room.

Would you trade your private bathroom for a public one? Considering you already had a private bathroom, going to a public one is a downgrade.

[–] AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

I recently bought a car for the first time in a decade. Driving is hell.