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Comment by Tichy | Hacker News Reader

Personally I hate cars and consider it a luxury to be able to get by without one. Living in the suburbs and going everywhere by car sounds like hell to me.

I think in the future it will seem odd that we give so much space to the ugliness and pollution caused by cars. Just as it seems odd to us that people just used to dump their shit on the streets.

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Really depends where you live, in some places it's not really practical to get around everywhere you need to go without a car, either that or it takes a large amount of time longer. For example my girlfriends would take about 2 hours to get to with a combination of trains and a walk yet takes me about 20 minutes to drive.

How long does it take to bike? I find that often the issue is the infrequency or inconvenience of public transit routes, not that there's any inherent obstacle to traveling without a car.

That's my main problem. I would rather take public transportation, but by car it takes me 35-60 minutes depending on traffic, against at least an hour and a half.

So, total time is a factor, as well as restricted schedules. (i.e. no options after a certain time)

On the other hand, the answer to this might be to find a job where public transportation is an option. (near future plan)

Bikes aren't always a viable replacement - my parents travel with large (up to 100 pounds) instruments. Also, bikes are frequently a poor idea in inclement weather, making them non-ideal for things like transit to work if you've got a reasonable distance to travel. If I ride my bike to work, it's 15 miles - I won't bother in the rain. It'd be slower than any of my public transit options, and considerably less safe.

You'd be surprised how much weight you can transport on a bike with appropriate gearing and a trailer. I'm not sure what your public transit options are, but unless I've got a straight-shot light-rail route to where I'm going or it's really hilly, biking is almost always faster than public transit for me.

That's why I consider it a luxury - to live in a place where I don't need one.

Yes, yes, yes. I am seen as an oddity (family friends coworkers) for choosing public transit and walking over using a car. It seems like such insanity to clog the streets and air with car traffic like we do.

Well, I love cars and like having one at my disposal. But yeah, driving to work would be awful, especially if it was more than a few kilometres. I can't fathom why some seem to think it's preferable. Personally I won't take a job that's more than a 20 minute train ride from the station 2 minutes from my apartment, and I resent losing even that amount of time. A hour-long commute in gridlocked traffic would drive me nuts.

Investment in public transport is expensive, sure, but it's better than the other option - forcing the costs to the individual level, where everything is far less efficient, not least in lost time.

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