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Comment by boto3 | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, assume the city is 2 by 3 miles and the station is right at center, then one'd only need to walk at most ~1.7 miles to the train station. That's like half an hour walk before and after work. Do your cardio a favor and start walking and leave the parking space for less fortunate people who are not able to walk.

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And people should also eat their vegetables and floss daily. Even ignoring bad weather, the city needs to plan for transportation the way people actually behave rather than how they ought to behave.

Except the city can have policies that encourage healthy habits. For example, no tax on vegetables, $1 tax on soda.

Sure, in theory they can. In reality the same people who are too lazy to walk 1.7 miles also get to vote on whether those taxes go into effect.

This is why the benevolent dictator is the best form of government.

Winter exists in NJ

Winter exists in Chicago. Never stopped me from walking a few miles. A normal healthy person should be able to walk 2-3 miles down to -10 degrees or so, which would cover 99.99% of the year. Yes babies and the old and the sick need something else, but the bulk of people commuting on these trains are 30-60 year old healthy (if not a bit overweight) individuals.

Summit is suburbia. You don't have sidewalks across the entire city, it's very hilly in places, and the train station is not centrally located. Walking and biking year round is out of the question, and that's not even accounting for people not promptly clearing snowy sidewalks before commuting hours start (usually 6am).

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