me_irl

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Nah because they know it would be close to the same after having to wait for the train to arrive.
- Just check the schedule and leave at the right time?
  
  But you can't make that schedule. If you're running late in a car, there's nothing wrong. Be late for a train and it's like being late for a plane. Imagine that every morning trying to get to work.
  
  I spent a few years getting a school bus that only came once a day, I just got to the bus stop on time and it was fine. In most places your urban transport runs at headways of less than 15 minutes, and even down to 90 seconds, missing that isn't a huge issue.
  
  I had to wake up 2 hours earlier than the kids that got driven in by their parents to make the bus, then I was home later than everyone too. Fun.
- Driving time is dead time. Train time is time that can be used for reading, napping, watching something on your phone, whatever
  
  I mean waiting for the train to arrive because they are on very exact schedules, so most people won't be able to get everywhere at the time they need to be.
- End to end travel time is the biggest drawback of public transportation. Getting from my city to the next major city is an 8 min train ride or a 20 min drive. But getting from my home to my friends in that city is easily twice as fast by car.
  It's a huge problem. If you live next to the train station and like to go to a pub right next to your destination's train station, all is well. But for those who like to visit friends instead of going to the nearest pub, public transportation just kinda falls apart.
  My wife wanted to pick up our dog that was staying with me at a friend's place before coming home from work. Because the friend lives a little bit outside of the major city it would have been a 2h20m train ride for the whole trip. Or 30 min by car.
  
  My brother in Christ, this is the exact reason why we are pushing for better public transportation and reduced car dependency.
  We dream of a world where, god forbid your car breaks down, you can make it to work within roughly the same amount of time whether you walk, bike, or take the bus. And this isn't even a fantasy, this dream is alive and well in The Netherlands, Japan, even fucking Disneyland.
  We just need to actually start taking Public Transit seriously in this country so that it can improve.
  
  Not just that, but also the occasional trip that does end up needing a car will be much less annoying with fewer people on the roads
  
  Getting from my city to the next major city is an 8 min train ride or a 20 min drive.
  No it's not. You're talking about getting from one part of your metro area to another part of the same metro area. It's all the same city, regardless of arbitrary jurisdictional boundaries. High-speed rail (what this thread is about) is for traveling between different metro areas that would be hours apart by car.
  Anyway, you're not complaining about rail so much as you're complaining about poor last-mile connectivity (which is better served by micromobility than transit).
  
  Yeah it’s the question of how do I get from Cincinnati to DC, and how much does it fucking suck. 9 hours of driving or 4 hours on a train. But I’d take similar time on trains to driving because holy fuck does driving across mountains suck.
  
  It’s a huge problem.
  It really isn't. The solution, if it's even required, is quite simple - just build train stations where people are, and the problem is gone. It's like good universe "one more line bro" solution, but it's works in this case.
  
  I'm not even sure what you're saying by build one where people are... Because that would mean building a train station like every second? But I'm assuming you mean build it in popular places or build more. All of these mean more stops and higher time to arrival.
- Tell me you've never used Amtrak without telling me you've never used Amtrak. Waiting on the train is not the part that takes time. There are no security checkpoints or any of the security theater that goes on at airports. You don't have to arrive 45+ minutes early to a train.
  
  I've been on Amtrak before. I also remember it being that there were very specific times you could get on and off, which don't align with many people's schedules.
  
  there were very specific times you could get on and off, which don't align with many people's schedules.
  I'm glad you agree it should be better funded to actually serve the needs of the people who want to use it and offer more trains with more lines.

156 comments