Any practical reasons to use public transport instead of a car?

[Faboba]

Well for one thing, here at least, bus tickets are printed on ordinary paper. They are, therefore, extraordinarily easy to forge - free travel.

Also the whole not-having-a-car-or-a-license is a convincing argument in my book.

[Az]

Not applicable, since they print them in a machine near the driver after you paid here, and the monthly tickets are printed on two sides on a thin cardboard.

[Faboba]

It was my brother that figured it out. Not only do they have the obvious things ( like the date, route number and time bought etc ) but they have simple codes that the bus driver can recognise after a while if he's unsure if a ticket is valid. Generally the same stuff but put into alphanumeric strings. Once you look at enough tickets it becomes easy but otherwise they'd catch you with minimal effort.

As far as I can tell the reason our buses use paper tickets is just to conserve space. They're on a drum connected to a basic printer - exactly like a till reciept.

[Q Classic]

i love pt. honestly, even though i know how to drive, i don't much like doing it. i realize it's more convenient, possibly cheaper, faster, and it's easier at times, but i don't like having to focus that much attention to moving around a metal death buggy.

i like mass transit simply because it affords me time to do other things while getting from place to place, doesn't make me as angry at incompetent ninny drivers, allows me to people watch, and gives me a bit of exercise because i get to walk places, which is fun.

[Q Classic]

besides, in the two of the three that i've use most often, they have smart cards you can wave over a reader, which eliminates paper waste and lets you breeze through. (seoul and chicago.)

[Faboba]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
....allows me to people watch....

People watch? Feh! A likely story. We all know why you really use it is you like to prod all the poor homeless drunks who ride around in the subway cars, startling them awake into a disgustingly sober state of shock and cackling gleefully as you watch them try to deal with reality.

I think it's reprehensible. You should b ashamed of yourself.

[Buck Birdseed]

With mass transit, you get more excercise, you get to be social, you don't pollute as much, and you get to see more of the world outside.

[Q Classic]

@faboba.

sorry, i didn't know that was you...

[Az]

Originally posted by Buck Birdseed
With mass transit, you get more excercise,

No.

you get to be social,

No.

you don't pollute as much,

Somewhat

and you get to see more of the world outside.

No.

[Zero]

if mass transit didnt exist, I wouldnt have been able to come home last night.

SPeaking of which, I need to go pickup my car... if I can remember where I parked it.

[Boris Godunov]

It would be utterly impractical for me to have a car in NYC. PT is awesome here, and the cost is much cheaper than having a car.

I spend $21 a week on an unlimited subway/bus pass. So that's $1092 a year. Now, in addition to cost of a car, gas and esp. parking would probably cost me upwards of $3000 a year.

Besides, driving in NYC is a pain in the ass. I can just walk where I need to go, usually. I have a 25 minute walk to my office.

[Az]

New York is special.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Azazel
New York is special.

We rawk!

Actually, one of my college friends lives in Washington, DC and doesn't own a car and is quite content that way.

[Proteus_MST]

I like to use Mass Transit.
Every Semester we have to pay around 160 € at the University and can use buses, trains and buses in a large part of NRW (Northrhine Westphalia).
As you have to pay those 160 € regardless of wether you use Public Transportation or not, it would be uneconomic to pay Insurances, taxes and the like for a car.
And after all it is much better, to be able to sit in a train and underground and being able to learn or read something during the ride, instead of having to pay attention to the traffic during the whole ride to university and wasting a lot of time searching for a free parking lot, if you use a car.
And, btw. if you are going out it is always better to use a train, as everyone will be able to consume alcohol (and as in Ruhr Valley most of the larger discotheques can be reached throughout the night at least once per hour by train, there is no problem in getting there and back home again).
And of course, as it was already mentioned, it is also better for the environment.

[Q Classic]

azazel: more exercise, yes. in chicago, not all the stations are in walking distance. not all the buses take you where you want to go. you walk more than if you had a car, which can and often does take you exactly from point a to point be, rather than mass transit, which takes you from a point near a to a point near b.

social, yes. you get to talk to other people, even strangers (although one shouldn't), and your friends without having to worry about the road, other drivers, and traffic; and if you have more friends with you than would fit in a car, you'd be able to talk to all of them, rather than just the ones in the car.



driving in any big non-sunbelt city is a pain in the ass. chicago's the same way, at least in the city.