Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Unsurprisingly, more cars, even if electric, are not a solution. Yet again, the answer is better public transport.


How do you provide better transport to a village with 30 houses in and services in 4 different directions?

There is literally demand for no more than 30 journeys a day in each direction. An hourly bus service would have more drivers than passengers even if it captured 100% of passenger journeys.


Why are you cherry picking edge cases for a global issue?

Most people in the US are driving from their suburbs downtown or from two close cities.

As an European I lived 6 months in Columbus, Ohio, and it was crazy to me that a trip from suburbs 10 miles off downtown could take you multiple hours.

Dayton to Columbus is connected only through bus, and it's a 2 hours trip!

Should be a 25 minutes train.

In Europe public transport isn't perfect, but it's way better than in US.

I live in a small village not far off Rome.

Going to city center is a 1 hour drive, way more during peak time, but in train it takes you 20 minutes, and guess what, most people take the train. It's comfortable, quick, cheap.

This also means that many people in my village do not need multiple cars per household, me and my SO have just one and it sits in the garage most of the time.

Hell, I remember being in LA and it was impossible to walk 1 mile distance. You had to call Uber for such things. Crazy.


> How do you provide better transport to a village with 30 houses in and services in 4 different directions?

What percentage of the population lives in these kinds of hamlets? (probably 0.1%)

What percentage of the population does live in places where public transport is feasible? (probably 80% of the population)


As better transport thins traffic on roads, driving cars just becomes more desirable.

A personal car in a low traffic area will always be dramatically more preferred than even the most fancy clean bus.

So yes, I hope everyone starts using public transit, so that my car driving becomes even better.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: