Poll of the Day > Does society need to eliminate driving?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't think I could ever give up driving entirely. Just having the freedom to go where I want, when I want, the way I want is worth more than the convenience of the bus or train. Like a few months ago, I had an hour free. So on a whim I just decided to drive two towns over, find the duplex my parents lived in when I was born, and just drive around the neighborhood seeing what it was like nowadays. Then on the way home I stopped at the convenience store, picked up a bag of chips, and was home with 10 minutes to spare before I had to get online to meet some friends. If I had to take the bus to do that, it would have been a whole day affair.

That said, if public transportation in my area wasn't favoring just travel to and from downtown, I would gladly take the bus for my everyday commute. Although, I think the best thing for that was the work from home stuff we have been doing recently. I didn't put more then 5000 miles on my car in 2020 because of that, and this year I don't think I have even cracked 2500 yet. I am supposed to go back into the office in a few weeks, but only 2 days a week. Then again, who knows if that will even happen.

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LinkPizza posted...

Mine are 6 am - 6 pm And only one an hour

Imagine if they ran every 10-20 mins all day! The possibilities are endless if cities invest in public transportation

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Clench281 posted...

Imagine if they ran every 10-20 mins all day! The possibilities are endless if cities invest in public transportation

Not really. The stops feel too spread out. Had to get to. And the city already invest a lot of money. So much they they actually lose money running the buses. To have them run every 20 minutes, wed need to triple the buses. And to run every 10, wed need 12 times the buses. We have trouble getting one new buses with the citys help. They could never have enough money to do that within the next couple of decades. Not only that, but the vans are where more of the money goes. Not to mention the storage issue. We barely have room for the vans and buses. Technically, they own the empty lots across the street, but havent done anything with it. But thats partly because they dont have money
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Dikitain posted...

Although, I think the best thing for that was the work from home stuff we have been doing recently. I didn't put more then 5000 miles on my car in 2020 because of that, and this year I don't think I have even cracked 2500 yet.

I have to say, I kind of enjoyed the full lockdown in 2020 for that. I gassed up for $0.75 per litre in March (normal is in the $1.15-1.25 range, currently it's $1.35), and that tank lasted until July (well after I went back to in-person work). Going for groceries once every two weeks just didn't add up to much by way of car usage.

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LinkPizza posted...

But thats partly because they dont have money

The self fulfilling prophecy of austerity.

Robust government spending in public transit breeds benefits downstream that far out weigh the cost of service.

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KodyKeir posted...

The self fulfilling prophecy of austerity.

Robust government spending in public transit breeds benefits downstream that far out weigh the cost of service.

very good point

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KodyKeir posted...

The self fulfilling prophecy of austerity.

Robust government spending in public transit breeds benefits downstream that far out weigh the cost of service.

Pretty much all our money already comes from them. The problem, which isnt really a problem, is that they make the bus rides super cheap to help out the city rather than make money. A lot of people get cheap, or even free, rides. Like when they have medical things going on, for example. And students and seniors. Basically, it would cost the government a huge amount of money that they dont have to help out more than they already do. Getting more money from the government wouldnt help that much, tbh And would probably raise taxes significantly. Which would hurt more people. Not to mention, it doesnt matter much for
Military personnel as they have to get on base quite often. And the base is a decent size. Buses dont go on base. And people arent going to walk around the base from the gates Not to mention that the closest stop isnt close at all. Shopping at the commissary would be a nightmare. And while the vans can, and do, go on base, theres would be enough to cover base and off base like they do now. Plus, theres still the hours of only 6 am - 6 pm
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Remember in Final Fantasy 8 one of the last cities in the game had that elevator that takes you anywhere you want in the city? Was like a rollercoaster but for transportation, and the rails were high up in the air so it didn't interfere with traffic.
An idea like that implemented IRL would be great.

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LinkPizza posted...

And would probably raise taxes significantly. Which would hurt more people.

Raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals provides a net societal benefit, they are literally making money on making money; hyper capitalism has proven we can literally make money out of thin air and prosper because we all collectively agree it does. When we apply resources to infrastructure there is a always an exponential net benefit to society as a whole, applying adequate funding across the board to modernize infrastructure to a modern standard is necessary for the survival of the state and government as a whole.

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KodyKeir posted...

Raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals provides a net societal benefit, they are literally making money on making money; hyper capitalism has proven we can literally make money out of thin air and prosper because we all collectively agree it does. When we apply resources to infrastructure there is a always an exponential net benefit to society as a whole, applying adequate funding across the board to modernize infrastructure to a modern standard is necessary for the survival of the state and government as a whole.

The problem there is while we have some wealthy individuals here, I don't think there's enough to pay for everything. Unless you're talking about the US as a whole. Which them doesn't mean much unless they actually do something about it... Which there's a high chance they won't... And even if they did, I don't think out small town would get much, if any, of it...

And they already began modernizing some stuff, and are trying to fix the town. The main problem again is money... And the old council who fucked some shit up...
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LinkPizza posted...

And they already began modernizing some stuff, and are trying to fix the town. The main problem again is money... And the old council who fucked some shit up...

The solution is not austerity, we have to accept that there is a budget that will always be spending greater and greater amounts. We have spent too long describing how a budget works and then calling it fundamentally wrong to provide funding on that basis.

The fundamental of the market is trust; trust in the government, trust in each other, when we trust in the agreed upon fundamentals, we ultimately can trust in the solutions.

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KodyKeir posted...

Raising taxes on the wealthiest individuals provides a net societal benefit, they are literally making money on making money; hyper capitalism has proven we can literally make money out of thin air and prosper because we all collectively agree it does. When we apply resources to infrastructure there is a always an exponential net benefit to society as a whole, applying adequate funding across the board to modernize infrastructure to a modern standard is necessary for the survival of the state and government as a whole.

First we gotta get the rich to pay their taxes

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KodyKeir posted...

The solution is not austerity, we have to accept that there is a budget that will always be spending greater and greater amounts. We have spent too long describing how a budget works and then calling it fundamentally wrong to provide funding on that basis.

The fundamental of the market is trust; trust in the government, trust in each other, when we trust in the agreed upon fundamentals, we ultimately can trust in the solutions.

You can only trust the solution when the solution will work. The financial problem is that we already make barely any money from public transportation here since the main people using it are getting super discounts and stuff. The government is already basically paying for everything as is. Its not like the government isnt giving us money. But we still need money for everything else, as well out town just doesnt have extra funds to give out
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