Comment by IFC_LLC | Hacker News Reader

Comment by IFC_LLC | Hacker News Reader

It's all fine and dandy until you realize that economy pays a big buck for faster and more comfortable ways of transporting a body. (And it's been this way since time memorial).

You either transport your body fast, or you are missing out. And the greatest thing to miss out is an opportunity. While programmers can live in one room for years and just use Zoom for everything, others can't.

Sorry to say, but most of my European friends who were much anti-car, have changed their opinion after... buying a car. Being able to move in whatever direction at whatever time and being able to carry some stuff in your trunk makes your life convenient. Add to that the privacy and your personal AC and you won't be able to top it off. In South Africa personal vehicle means security at night.

The only places where this works are the places where: 1. People live for retirement and pleasure. 2. The road infrastructure is just straight hell. (Like Portugal. It's bad in Lisbon. It is terrible in there). 3. Where you are not under any circumstances can be robbed by a random person on a street.

So, the so-called cars problem is not something solvable. You just have to handle other factors to and cars will follow. I've seen cities where improvement in economic and social conditions led to the development of nice pedestrian and bike infrastructure.

You can transport your body faster by walking than by taking a car. But of course, this depends on how you design a city. If I have a supermarket 5 minute walk from home, is going to be faster than taking the car out, and finding a parking lot and finally walking to the supermarket.

And let's not forget, that if you want a more fair society, you cannot assume that just everybody can afford a car. I went to university by bus and it was a horrible experience. I could only dream of the modern cheap electric vehicles. But still, the city I studied has barely any infrastructure for this, and you risk your life every time, even though it would be PERFECT for this.

Car infrastructure isn’t faster though, because it pushes everything apart. Noth America is a vast sea of parking with a building sprinkled here and there, so a five minute bike ride to shops with little parking is replaced by a thirty minute drive to a big box with 12 acres of parking.

> You either transport your body fast, or you are missing out. And the greatest thing to miss out is an opportunity.

This is such a modern take on life, we have to run everywhere to consume as much as possible as fast as possible. The irony is that you're probably missing out more of what makes life "life" by being entirely driven by FOMO and checking boxes of the infinite TODO list.

What's funny is that the faster the means of transportation the more time we spend time in them, commute times are getting longer, you're most likely literally missing opportunities due to cars more than anything else.

In any city the shortest distance in total time spent is by bike.

Even if it is widely dangerous to do so (most american cities i've ever visited)

You can hem and haw - but its pretty bang on

When you then add finding parking at the ends of your trip to it it is crazyly more efficient timewise.

Now even copenhagen denmark has rain causing many more to take a car or public transport (that works).

But it is very clear that the time argument is simply not true.

Now you can argue convenience at the start of the trip vs agony in the end (finding that parking space)

Or for "need to lug an ikea sofa across time"

Or even for "my kids and familiy needs to go as well"

That's super fine, and all true - but 70-80% of ALL trips in cars are by 1 person sitting in 1 car. So moving just 10% of car users to alternate means free up a tremendous amount of space in the city.

I love my car, my bikes and my public transports and each does something nice for me - but seriously do you think cities like l.a. are even livable on a human scale - people don't even walk if the distance is over 1000meters.

I certainly agree with the idea of "uhm lets try to plan for otherthings than cars going forward"

Agreed. What's the way forward though? https://www.romania-insider.com/insurance-union-one-cyclist-...

'In Romania, one cyclist dies every two days'

What's the number for pedestrians? Half of all road deaths are of people not in cars. That's not an argument in favor of cars.

It's not as straightforward as that. Sure, a car gives you more freedom - if you need to go further out for stuff. But if you live in a dense city, you won't need it - your job is in walking / cycling distance, all shops are, etc.

The other factor I found is that quality and affordability of housing is inversely proportinal to access to services/public transit; that is, in the Netherlands you can live like a king in eastern Groningen for the same amount of money you buy a starter home in the Randstad, but to get to the nearest city you're looking at at least an hour's travel (by car or bus/train).

What a shitty take.

> You either transport your body fast, or you are missing out. And the greatest thing to miss out is an opportunity.

This is what’s known as "fomo". Arguments driven on fear never sustainable.

Also apparently you have never been stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in the aftermath of a massive event. Or maybe county closes major roadway for repairs. Or a _single_ motor vehicle accident brings an entire highway to a halt for _hours_ (many people rubber necking as well …)

Ah yes because massive events happen everyday therefore I should need to never ever have a car and choose the way I want to travel.

Tell me you have never driven during rush hour traffic in a major US city without telling me directly…

> Where you are not under any circumstances can be robbed by a random person on a street.

I will be very surprised if there's anywhere in the world where the expected loss from being robbed on the street while walking exceeds the expected loss from being in a car accident while driving.

Getting in a car is by far the most dangerous thing most people do routinely.

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