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From: Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: The insane progress nobody is talking about
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2024 08:50:45 -0700
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On Tue, 25 Jun 2024 15:42:48 -0400, Cryptoengineer
<petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 6/23/2024 9:12 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
>> On Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:07:21 -0600, John Savard
>> <quadibloc@servername.invalid> wrote:
>>=20
>>> On Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:15:56 -0700, Paul S Person
>>> <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Kind of like Rapid Transit, which promises that, in 30 years, there
>>>> will be 30% fewer cars on the road /than there would be without it/,
>>>> not 30% fewer than there are today.
>>>
>>> Here in Edmonton, a couple of years ago we had a massive change to =
all
>>> our bus routes.
>>>
>>> The main upshot for the inner city is that the routes have been
>>> "optimized", but their frequency of service has been reduced in many
>>> instances, meaning a bus trip needs to be planned ahead, not done on
>>> impulse. (This makes it easier to comply with the single-use bag
>>> bylaw!)
>>>
>>> This was done to free up resources to increase bus service to the
>>> suburbs. The hope was that this would result in the people whoi live
>>> there, who pretty much all have cars, taking the bus more often.
>>>
>>> It is a good intention, since reducing carbon emissions is important,
>>> but expecting people with cars to start taking the bus? Anyone who
>>> lived in the real world would have known this was ludicrous. So they
>>> just ruined the bus service for people who need the bus for no =
reason.
>>=20
>> I will start using the bus service when it takes me from where I am to
>> where I want to go, and picks me up when I have my coat on, no sooner
>> and not much later.
>>=20
>> Doesn't matter, since this town has no bus service -- and can't have
>> any.  Mass transit works only when masses want to transit.
>
>For someone who already has a car to switch to public transit would
>require the PT to be *substantially* cheaper, faster, or more
>convenient.
>
>It can happen, but, for example, a commute to my last workplace by
>PT would take over 4.5 hours, vs 45 minutes to an hour by car. It
>would include about 20 minutes of walking, commuter rail, Boston T,
>and a bus.
>
>It would be hard to persuade me to do that.

And so it should be.

I haven't driven since 1983. I haven't owned a car since 1982, and
that was in West Germany. I really like public transit.

But someone with the commute you describe cannot be expected to use
it. And other situations exist, such as weekly grocery shopping for a
large family, or having to transport entire 12-year-old soccer teams
around.
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"