I live in the LA area. By car, 45 minutes to work. By bus, 3 buses and 4 hours one way.
Comment on California auto insurance costs set to rise by 54%, new report says
hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months agoMost of them it’s probably still not needed.
return2ozma@lemmy.world 3 months ago
the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world 3 months ago
In my city, if I want to arrive at my office at 8AM, I need to leave my apartment by car at 7:45. If I want to be within a block or so of my office by that same time, I need to leave my apartment at 6:15 to find a bus stop and ride on three different buses. Getting home by bus after ending my shift at 5:30 (I work 9 hour shifts and get every other Friday off), I would get home about 7:15.
Consider that I’m paid roughly $35 an hour pre-tax. If I do this every day for a month, the time this costs me would be equivalent to more than a two week paycheck.
Why would I take the bus?
hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
If you have 15min drive to office, that would be ~15-45min with bicycle and save you a good bunch yearly if you want to put it that way
the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world 3 months ago
It would take me about 45 minutes one way. It could work, assuming it never rained or snowed (both will absolutely happen here in upstate NY) and my exercise-induced asthma didn’t prevent me physically from doing so. Don’t get me wrong, I love my ebike for quick zips around town, but it’s no replacement for my car at this point. It can’t function in the rain or snow and, even if it could, I don’t want to risk injuring myself by riding on un-shoveled sidewalks or the slurry of death that accumulates on the sides of the road from the snow plows. Plus I have to keep my work laptop dry, and I’d be much less safe against the US’s notoriously brutal cyclist ignorance.
InternetUser2012@lemmy.today 3 months ago
I have zero interest in riding a bus for the same reason and I’ll add that I’d rather not sit in a bus with a bunch of other people. Hard pass.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
You need a personal cage to feel safe? Maybe the problem isn’t the bus.
Saledovil@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Car manufacturers have lobbied to make America only accessible by car. As a consequence, you now have no sensible choice but to drive everywhere. Imagine if gas prices were to double tomorrow. What would you do?
the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world 3 months ago
It would still be cheaper to drive.
T00l_shed@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I couldn’t do public transit like that. My anxiety wouldn’t let me. The amount of sick people crammed into busses and trains like that. It makes me start to panic. Like in Japan where they force you in an over packed train…I get for many people it’s NBD but I couldn’t do it.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
It’s amazing how car dependency is so ingrained that it induces agoraphobia, anxiety, and mental illness.
T00l_shed@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Nah, it’s that people are shitty and gross.
grue@lemmy.world 3 months ago
How is it anybody else’s fault that you chose to live stupidly far from your job?
return2ozma@lemmy.world 3 months ago
If I moved closer to my work, my rent would increase about $800+
grue@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Or your square footage could go down. Or instead of moving closer to your job, you could find a different job closer to your home. Point is, you do have options. They might take compromises, but they’re there.
smokin_shinobi@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Who were they trying to blame?? They are just saying for their situation they need a car to survive.
Linktank@lemmy.today 3 months ago
Maybe you haven’t noticed the infrastructure in America. Try doing that some time.