Comment by gizmonty | Hacker News Reader

Comment by gizmonty | Hacker News Reader

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I live in Melbourne and drive a Tesla, but without a wanky number plate. I would love to use public transport, but it's completely impractical for me. It takes me 25 minutes to drive to work or 45 minutes (or more) on public transport. That 40 minutes a day is very valuable to me. I also often finish work very late when the frequency of public transport drops which further increases the travel time. I also often have to take children to school or other events and public transport is very poorly set up for that type of travel, and quickly becomes much more expensive than driving (once you already have the sunk cost of the car) when you have to pay for 3 trips. Melbourne is a primarily suburban city with very limited public transport available to substitute for the vast majority of journeys. If I was a single person with no children who worked in the city I would ride my bike or take the train every day. But I'm not, and I don't, so I drive. I drive a Tesla so I'm not contributing to the foul stench of burnt hydrocarbons that is increasingly choking this city.

> It takes me 25 minutes to drive to work or 45 minutes (or more) on public transport.

Keep in mind that you only have a 25 minute drive because so many other people are taking public transport, if it was ripped out you'd have a much longer commute so it is very practical for you, albeit indirectly.

> That 40 minutes a day is very valuable to me

Depending on how crowded the tram/train is that 40 minutes can usable time with a smartphone or laptop, it's not in a car.

>Depending on how crowded the tram/train is that 40 minutes can usable time with a smartphone or laptop, it's not in a car.

I have never been in any train or tram that has anywhere near enough room to use a laptop. In peak hours I try to even avoid using my phone - there's simply not enough room to have a raised hand near your face without the hand also being in someone else's face.

The long-distance trains (like the Quiet Carraiges to Geelong) have more room, and in Perth I could use a laptop for the first ~30min of my journey before the train filled up.

If you can get a seat you've got enough room for a laptop, back when I was doing a cross Melbourne commute a got a 10" one that was perfect for coding, watching movies or browsing the web. Getting a seat is the real challenge but if you can adjust your hours then getting on before 8AM or after 10AM you've got a good chance. Once your out of the CBD it's pretty rare to not have room to use your phone.

That's horseshit. Granted, peak hour trains from Flinders are packed and using a laptop is a bit difficult since your elbows keep bumping into the next person sitting, but not being able to use a phone? People are always on their phones, reading, or knitting.

Yeah, I read the above comment with a four block to myself coming out of Flinders on the Blackburn line. Never? Come on.

Not in my experience of peak hours, no, never. Certainly not within the CBD, where I'm based.

Outside of peak hours is an entirely different story.

Personal space in Perth is much better than most places. The glut of replies you're getting is more representative of what people in general will put up with on public transport. There's some nice trains in Madrid's metro and england though if you go outside London.

I would 100% rather drive 25 minutes each way instead of sitting on a train for 40 minutes each way even if I could use my laptop/phone the whole time

> I would 100% rather drive 25 minutes each way instead of sitting on a train for 40 minutes each way even if I could use my laptop/phone the whole time

To each their own. I'd always take train, even if I couldn't use the time for anything.

I take the train as well, but only because it would take me just as long to drive + parking costs in the city are insane

It's only the wanky number plate I'm commenting on.

You're not doing anything wrong by driving a Tesla, and it's preferable to an ICE.

But you aren't doing more for the environment than someone who only takes public transport, which is practical and quite common here.

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