Definitely agree.
One way to show that car transport is much more "valuable" than public transport in terms of convenience and comfort is to observe that very rich people almost universally travel by private car.
One way to show that car transport is much more "valuable" than public transport in terms of convenience and comfort is to observe that very rich people almost universally travel by private car.
Do they? I thought this would be hard to know, has there been a survey? And is this true even in cities with decent public transportation?
Yea, exactly, there is no good public transit, anywhere, in America.
There are cities throughout Europe and Asia where the thought of needing a car to get groceries is comical - the grocery store is right there, or a short hop on a bus/metro away, and it comes every 3 minutes so no big deal.
The USA desperately needs infrastructure help.
I live in Chicago within a 3 minute walk I have my choice of Jewel/Osco or Trader Joe's (which are both right by an L stop, so they're accessible to other people near the L as well). An extra few minutes and I can go to Target. An extra 10 minutes and I can walk to Whole Foods or Mariano's.
My rent isn't super low (~1650/month + electricity for a ~700 sq ft 1 br; parking would be $200+ extra if I had a car) but a CTA pass is only $100 / month and it's pretax. Of course not every part of Chicago is like this.
The light rail is 1 block away and goes directly to University of Minnesota or Mall of America with stops between.
During the winters, rain, or bad weather, the entrance to the Skyway is across the street.
I don't see how it can get any better.
I sold my car and lease out my parking spot for $150/month. I have a Metro Transit GoToCard [0] I fill up with $20 or weekly/monthly day passes.
Most of them will occasionally take the subway, depending on time of day and where they are traveling. However, all of them travel by car when more convenient (which is often). They also tend to schedule calls during private vehicle commutes (impossible on the subway) and they'll sometimes put up with longer travel times in order to do so.