LogFAQs > #957002762

wolfy42 posted...

Yeah, the whole buss and group transport thing would be a major change, but if you stopped buying cars, didn't have to pay insurance, didn't have to pay gas etc, you could afford to pay for uber trips etc easily when you wanted to go somewhere fast.

Electric cars are also a viable option, but again, it makes more sense as a nation to focus on making public transportation (and using electric buses in the future probably), a more viable/easy option. It won't work for everywhere, but you could improve the system we currently have.

As far as not making it faster then the current setup, it really isn't hard considering how bad traffic is right now. If you halved the traffic and added direct busses, in many places you would have the commute time. To get from olympia to Tacoma alone in the morning can take 1-2 hours, but if there was no traffic at all, you could do it in a bit over 30 minutes.

That would be great if it was just a car you owned, but the problem is too many people trying to do that at once, causes massive traffic jams, so it takes forever.

But what if you halved the people doing that, added busses that did a direct drive from olympia to tacoma in 30 minutes. You could drop an 1 1/2 commute to only 30 minutes each day, and you even get to read/watch a show on your phone etc while doing it.

You wouldn't change everything all at once, but you could start working in that direction, making it easier and easier for people to use public transportation. Perhaps make the commute lane into a bus/carpool lane only for instance (instead of only needing 2 people in the car). That lane would be free of traffic so right away busses could do the trip in 30 minutes while everyone else is taking 90.

Over time more and more people would use the bus, and as there was more demand (and therefore more money being made), more busses would be added.

A fairly full buss is certainly gonna make a decent profit, especially per day.

Anyway, we really need to start making more/easier public transportation options for people, especially as our elderly population keeps getting larger. We are gonna have a ton of people who can't drive themselves anymore.

Sure. I could pay for Uber. But why pay other people and have to wait when I could just use the same money and go where I want to go when I want to go. No waiting, no extra money because I forgot my wallet and have to go back, no having to take every driving to the visitors center to get a pass, etc I like to go where I want to go when I want to go. And many people dont always feel safe with a stranger. Or comfortable. Plus, I like to nap in my car during work sometimes Plus, it wouldnt be fast if everybody was using Uber. As for buses, they do get full sometimes. And thats with the limited number of riders we have since many people here have personal vehicles. I can only imagine what it would be like if everybody had to use them And my town isnt even that big

As for the time, depends on how fast the buses actually travel. Even with a little heavier traffic, the buses can move at full speed. But they usually keep a safe speed since they take longer to stop because of the weight. Meaning that they may not move that much faster just because of less traffic if they were moving the max speed they already were able to already That changes based on where it is, though Either way, thats you assuming the commute will drop. Even if the commute dropped, the amount you proposed (dropping an hour) seems to high an amount. That seems more like wishful thinking Buses can and do go fast. But usually not as fast as cars. So, the trip would be less, but you probably wouldnt be shaving if an hour. Or course, this does depend on the area and why it takes so long

As for making public transport easy, its already easy. The problem is how inconvenient it is for most people And how far bus stops can be from the places they need to go. Why walking down the street and a couple of blocks over to ride the bus, when you can go to your driveway or garage? Why get dropped off at the corner when you can get a parking space in front of the store? Why only by a couple of bags at the grocery store when you need more because many uses have a bag limit? Pet transport is harder, as well Why have to carry all your bags with you when out for a day of shopping since you dont have a car to offload your stuff? Why carry your other bags and stuff when you would normally leave it in the car? Its just more inconvenient than having a personal vehicle in most cases

As for the money, I think you are overestimating how much buses make. We get a bunch of full buses at the station I work at, and dont really get much. For them to get a ton of money to buy many buses, the price would need to rise. Probably higher than the cost of Taxis. At least for a while. Theyd also have to start charging kids, students, and seniors not only full price, but a higher price, as well So, no. A fairly full bus right now doesnt normally make a decent profit everyday. Bus rides are cheap. Ive seen them count the money for a days worth and weeks worth before. Its not good. And thats before you get to the money they need for gas for all of them, and parts, and maintenance, and the people they currently pay
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