Path: ...!news.mixmin.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Paul S Person Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Re: The insane progress nobody is talking about Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2024 08:50:45 -0700 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 65 Message-ID: References: <8thh7jh8hsoacsen6mqf46i8lqpa6rjkep@4ax.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Injection-Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2024 17:50:49 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="e557c2e7d3fe2a519a39b7ecc9522b61"; logging-data="2323572"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/2zKlB8VAHlXnyiRLJi7ZGq5xN40NXYfA=" User-Agent: ForteAgent/8.00.32.1272 Cancel-Lock: sha1:0KnuY/DV9HtFH3zGfU22g4AFdHg= Bytes: 3984 On Tue, 25 Jun 2024 15:42:48 -0400, Cryptoengineer wrote: >On 6/23/2024 9:12 PM, Joy Beeson wrote: >> On Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:07:21 -0600, John Savard >> wrote: >>=20 >>> On Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:15:56 -0700, Paul S Person >>> 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.'"