I have done so several times and never got mugged, not even while making the connection to the airport at Willowbrook. Same for my fianc?e who isn't exactly what you'd call "burly". Since you're positive that "nobody takes it", what's your experience with the system?
Two things: parking and maintenance. With public transport, you don't have to care about either and you can use a highly flexible and proven personal transport solution to get from a train station or bus stop to the final destination: your feet.
Because it's communisticalish.
By my estimations, the electricity cost will be at ~1/3rd of my current fuel costs. Also no tax. And I'm quite excited for the Autopilot. I've driven several cars with adaptive cruise control and various lane keeping assists, and having a combination of both that actually works properly would further relax my commute significantly. Not talking about any higher-level self-driving here - that something I'm not expecting to be legal in Europe during my ownership of the first-gen Model 3; just what the currently available Teslas offer would already make me quite happy.
Parking highly depends on destination but even in the shit show that is NYC it is typically at least on par with trains/buses distance wise.
I'll weigh in on the public transport thing... the public transport in Germany is widely considered one of the better systems, with wide reach, reasonably good vehicles, and connections being mostly on time. I live near and work in Frankfurt, a city with a vast local transport network that allows to get from anywhere to anywhere at any time.
And I still hate it with a passion. Despite parking situation being difficult in the city center and traffic being really bad at usual rush hour times, I much prefer taking my car to and from work. My reasons are as follows, in this order:
- Time. Even when perfectly on time, my connection with the U-Bahn or S-Bahn from work to home takes between 40-45 minutes, including walking or bus connection time to stations (which on both ends amounts to roughly the same). I've had rides of over an hour, when something happened on the U-Bahn. In heavy traffic (multiple stop-and-go jams) the drive takes the same at most, and with light to no traffic, I can make in under 20 minutes.
- Comfort. In the U-Bahn, I have a small seat, headphones for music, and am usually surrounded by a crowd of people. In the car I'm alone, comfortable, and don't have to turn the music up to drown out the train and crowd noise.
- Flexibility. I don't have to stick to any certain time, just get up and go whenever. I can spontaneously decide to go wherever before or after work, and don't have to worry about connections, changing lines. I can also take stuff with me that's more than a bag/backpack.
- Finally, cost. Public transport here is expensive. I used it a lot while I was a student and had a very cheap student ticket. But now, buying full-price yearly tickets would cost me nearly the exact same as the fuel I spend for work commute. Monthly and weekly tickets are more expensive than that. Total ownership cost for the car is, of course, ultimately higher than that - but I have my car anyway, it's not like I would give it up if I decided to always commute on public transport.
This is all of course specific to my situation. Obviously public transport works for many others, otherwise the U-Bahn wouldn't be nearly as packed every morning as it is.
Also, on-topic - the Model 3 will improve my commute a lot, once it finally rolls around
Do you get the difference between these two statements?
It's yuge. The yugest ever.
Do you get the difference between these two statements?
It's yuge. The yugest ever.
Why do you keep stating your opinion as fact? Mass transit works very well for millions of people who would otherwise face the inevitable collapse of the road infrastructure in their cities. Just look at the wonderful road traffic in the LA area to see what happens without proper mass transit.
Again: opinion does not equal fact. I love many aspects of the mass transit systems that I use most days, that doesn't mean everybody else does; the same goes for your hatred of the concept.
In other words: if we build roads for trillions of dollars instead of mass transit for billions, my theory may just stand. You cannot build your way out of congestion; it's been tried many times and it has never worked long-term.
Because it's not an opinion it is a fact. No matter how great a mass transit system is, it will always have the following characteristics:
So you are saying that if you had the ability to be driven around in a car you would choose mass transit?
Stop sticking millions of people into small ass spaces and congestion goes away very quickly. Rochester, NY rarely has any traffic and it is the second or third biggest city in the state. Boston's big dig had a very good effect on congestion in that city, I've driven there before and after. Also keep in mind that roads are universal by design, they can be used for any type of traffic, including buses, subways are only useful for moving people and nothing else so no matter how many trains you build you will STILL need to have an extensive road network.
