Case in point: Star Trek's transporters, which pretend to be teleporters but probably just atomize you while building an identical clone somewhere else.
The ideal form of transportation is Indian-style trainpacking.
You can disregard comfort when transporting the communityfolks, but beyond that point the pressure becomes too lethal.
Yes, too lethal. The pressure is already lethal. But within acceptable limits.
You chop them in half. Then you chop them in half again. Then you slice them up very finely. Then you mash them. Then you put them in plastic bags. You put some in the boot, you put some in the back seat, and what's left over you put on the passenger seat.
Some things which have always annoyed me about the original panels:
People walking cannot go nearly as far as they can on a bus or in a car, and any kind of real distance travelled is very slow.
Public transit is also much slower than a car, door to door, when taking into account the first and last legs to get you from your start to public transit, and from public transit to your destination.
People on a bus must all go along the exact same route.
Most people in the US do not live where there are robust public transit options.
In dense urban areas, lots of people from all walks of life make use of public transit.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of public transit, more of it, and in more places. But, fuck, it's not the travelers' fault that it's not always the best option (or in suburbs and rural areas, often not an option at all).
Most of these issues are a funding and infrastructure problem. More funding + better infrastructure to handle it = more direct routes with fewer stops to handle more demand.
Exactly. I haven't met a single person who simultaneously thinks "fuck cars" and "we should get rid of cars tomorrow"
At the moment, there's no way most people could get rid of cars.
I say this as someone who has never had a licence (too disabled to drive), I've always relied on walking, cycling or bus/train.
The way most places in my country (Australia) are set up, you need access to a car. Ideally, your own car or a shared family car.
I don't have that luxury, I've built my life around making that work for me. I've chosen my career based on it, I'm forced to choose where I rent based on it, I have to turn down invitations to events I want to attend because of it, unless a driving friend is attending, or it's not ludicrously expensive to uber - but neither is the solution to our current infrastructure'a dependency on cars.
There are so many options for good infrastructure and systems of public and private transport, but the current rate of implementation means those who can drive are practically forced to, and those that can't are at a genuine disadvantage compared to driving peers.
It’s just to give some perspective about how efficient public transport can be when compared with the number of cars required to transport the same number of people.
The subtext is that all the people in the cars (and only one per car, for that matter, which is definitely common, but not universal) are going to the exact same destination from the exact same starting point, at the same time, and that there is a public transit route that travels between the two places at the time everyone wants to travel, because that's the only way the comparison is honest.
As above, I want more public transit in more places, as well as more mixed residential/light commercial so that people don't have to travel as far. But the fact remains that private automobiles and public transit serve two very different purposes, only really overlapping in that they transport people from one place to another. The other details matter, and they're different for each. "Hurr durr cars bad buses good" is so oversimplified as to be not even wrong.
The cars will be much slower than the buses because the absurd amount of cars will eventually cause terrible traffic jam. And the environmental damage caused by the huge amount of cars is enormous (air pollution + require a huge amount of land to build one more lane & parking space)
Yes! Also a good partial solution, along with motorcycles. Weather and other passenger/cargo/distance needs are still going to require many people to also own and operate cars, but I don't think anything is going to be a silver bullet anyway.
I have two in my garage right now, I'm all for it. Small displacement motorcycles can easily take over a large amount of trips that are currently done in cars. Except that winter weather conditions in the US preclude motorcycling for a lot of people for a good portion of the year. This means that many motorcyclists will have to trade a motorcycle ride for some other form of transportation quite often, which further means that a lot of motorcyclists are going to also need a car. The individual cost of parking, owning, and operating two vehicles is going to be prohibitive for many people.
Yes, small displacement motorcycles should be part of the solution. We have to recognize that they are not going to be a complete solution. That said, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Public transit is also much slower than a car, door to door, when taking into account the first and last legs to get you from your start to public transit, and from public transit to your destination.
Entirely depends on where you live. In my case, the next parking space is ~10 min walking, bus stop to anywhere is 5 minutes and the bus comes every 3 minutes.
Cars are great though (for the driver). There is no better feeling than sitting in your own car, away from the public. After decades of going on public transport, I love being in my car.
But sure, they suck for the environment and how cities have to be planned to allow for them. Totally agree on that. But they do give people freedom to go anywhere without being dependent on public transport and being subjected to the public.
Also driving a car is the most fun I've ever had. It's better than anything. Sex is overrated compared to driving.
It's the best! I love being stuck in stop and go traffic, with hundreds of people who barely know how to drive, and oh my favorite is how no one knows how to merge, and I'm always getting cut off. It's great. I can't wait for them to add more lanes.
Meh, in some places like certain parts of bay area, it's not very usual to get stuck in traffic. So unless you disincentivize it with and provide good alternatives with public transport, people are not gonna even consider it.
Average big city experience. I moved away from all of that bullshit. Live in the far out farmlands and enjoy my own peace, quiet, and no fucking people.
When I had a daily commute and switched to public transportation, I loved being able to do something else with my time than paying attention to the road to navigate and react to other cars.
I find myself reacting to other people on public transport and it's stuff like smelling really bad, making loud noises etc etc. I very much prefers cars...
I get depressed when going on public transport. :)