Comment by halfdan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by halfdan | Hacker News Reader

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Public transport hasn't solved the problem of "the last mile". How do I get to/from the train station/bus stop? Frequently you still need a car to even get there and then you will need parking - which is often limited and costs a lot.

Then there's timeliness. Deutsche Bahn is known for frequently their trains are delayed. In summer, even on the Intercity connections (IC, ICE) trains will be filled to the brim and air conditioning unavailable.

I love trains. I want to use public transport. It's just so goddamn inefficient.

I live in a small town about 70km north of Frankfurt am Main. A lot of people will commute daily from here to Frankfurt. The drive is 45 minutes to 70 minutes depending on traffic. If I were to take a train I could: - Walk to the bus station (5 minutes) - Take a bus to the train station (25 minutes) - Take the train to Frankfurt (60 minutes) - Take the metro to the closest location for my office (10 minutes) - Walk into the office (5 minutes)

The time given is assuming no delays, and a schedule that matches up perfectly. Realistically you'll lose another 30 minutes just standing around on platforms.

Ultimately the whole trip, even with a daily ticket will already cost you double your fuel costs for the same ride while sacrificing air condition, quiet and comfort.

We need better solutions for a lot of things. I loved seeing how Oxford in the UK has massive parking lots outside the city center with free buses connecting you to the city. It means that people can take the highway to the city but not get stuck in city traffic.

Major part of the problem is working 70 kilometers away. Before cars you would basically just live pretty close to your place of work. I think that's how it should still be, but don't see any realistic way for societies to encourage that beyond building denser cities where every new residential area comes with rail transport from the get-go.

Bikes are great for solving transit’s last-mile problem provided it’s at all close to the last mile and not, say, the last 15. E-bikes especially so.

Beyond that, yes, transit schedules need to be frequent and reliable, with frequency especially being important if you have to make lots of transfers. It’s no big deal if you miss your train if another one will be there in a few minutes; if you have to wait 15-30 though, a slight delay can be a problem. For buses, giving them their own right-of-way is important.

Long-term though, as another commenter mentioned, we need to enable more people to live closer to work. I’m not sure what much of Germany is like (have only visited Berlin and Munich) but in the US we have a ton of sprawling suburbs because it’s not legal to build anything denser than single-family homes in most places here. Especially those places that already have good transit connections need to densify, and then the places nearest them need to do the same and build good transit connections.

Bikes are great for the last-10-mile problem, easily. I've got plenty of friends who cycle commute 15km+ each direction, each day, and are quite happy (and healthy) doing it.

That may be practical if it’s the entirety of your commute, but it’s less practical if you then have 70 minutes of riding the train immediately afterwards, right? I’m talking bikes as a response to transit’s last-mile problem.

Maybe e-bikes do change the calculus a bit there too though.

Many places have spots for bicycles on the trains, and mass guarded bike parking at train stations. Helps a bit with this last mile problem.

Ebikes really extend the range

1. Climate requires that we make some compromise

2. If we used cars less, there is a good chance public transport would have less of those issues you're talking about. It's a vicious circle. Urban planning has been favoring cars for a long time.

> How do I get to/from the train station/bus stop?

By foot, bike, trotinette. If it's too far, that isn't good public transit and/or you live too far.

> trotinette

I believe we call that a scooter in English. Had to look it up.

For me a scooter is a small bike ( moped in American i think?).

It used to commonly be that in the US before those Razor push scooters, and then electric scooters, became a thing.

> How do I get to/from the train station/bus stop?

Having good public transportation would mean having a bus stop within 100m of every house.

I used to live 700 meters away from the subway, there's also a bus stop 100m away from where I lived. The bus came less frequently than the subway, so I got a rickety old bike if I want to go the 700 meters faster. The whole way there's a bike path on the sidewalk, separated by a wide strip of grass/trees from the street.

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