Driving Less in the United States

Well, you know, I speak with residual umbrage. Our noted governor rejected the federal funding for our high speed rail - being commie Obama infrastructure money and all - but it seems to be moving forward despite his bald-faced idiocy. Not sure exactly how that has been made possible, but I am thankful that his efficacy as governor has turned out to be about as tenacious as the fan following for Grease 2.

 

Would now be an awkward time to admit that I actually kinda love Grease 2?

 

Not really. Assuming you're ok with being in the minority. Which I suspect is ok with you.
And assuming you realize that I hold you, even considering your affection for Grease 2, in much higher esteem than my fuckwad governor.

 

I am not surprised to hear people talk about Toronto being walkable and the transit being great. When you are in Toronto's downtown, this is very true. I grew up in the far reaches of Toronto. Public transit there was the bus or nothing else. It was easily 45 mins to 1 hour to get to the nearest Subway by bus. There is a massive amount of political grid lock to change this (despite there being financing in place for expansion of the system). It's a long, sordid story (it currently involves crack-smoking mayors). I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, I managed to get my license early on and bought my first car after a long summer of hard work.

I loved my first car. It represented mobility and freedom. It was a way to get to where things were interesting. It was a mobile make out location for those awkward years where you don't own your own place but still business to get busy with...

I sold it when I moved to Ottawa for University and didn't buy another until I was back in Toronto and then, it was more my wife's car than mine. She worked outside of the city. We had made every effort to live on the subway line so I wouldn't need a car. I didn't have a dedicated vehicle until I bought my Vespa and that was more than just a mode of transit. It was an accessory.

In Singapore, I will never own a car. There is absolutely no need.

 

I was able to legally drive at 16.5! I was driving long before that though. I've been trying to drive less, but as the kids get older, they need to go more and more places, requiring more gas. I just bought a smaller car to save on gas, a tank for me (work car) lasts a little over 2 weeks, and in my wife's van, it lasts about a week and a half.

If public transport were easier to access, I would love to use it more. Just the places we go make it not feasible. I'm hoping to get a classic car to restore and drive for fun.

 

Cars. A favorite topic of mine. I love cars. I have two, my soon to be ex wife is keeping the two year old van, I am keeping the 162,000 and 177,000 mile cars. And then I have my work car, a 2012 dodge charger. Beautiful black and silver with a big gold seal on the side. Big push bumper on the front. I drove 168 miles in ten hours today. The area I currently reside is tiny, a measly 50,000 rednecks actually in town. The jacked up diesel pickups do annoy the shit out of me. Unfortunately, this area has no emissions laws. I did stop a beautiful 1957 mercedes SL300 convertible today. The guy was driving back to Michigan from the Pebble beach area. Even though he was 73/60, gave him a warning. It would be inappropriate to cite him and then shoot the breeze about his car. At any rate, public transportation is very limited in this area. Cars are a necessity. But on top of that, I love cars and will continue to drive. To me, insurance and gas is a necessity like food and shelter. I dont even think about it.

 

Jacked up diesel trucks annoy the hell out of me, also. Never once have I seen someone in one leave a stoplight normal. Always at full power.

I blame it on having a small dick.

 

No jacked up trucks here. The small dick syndrome is assuaged with super cars (Lamborghini, Ferrari, Masserati, etc.).

 

But £750,000 or more is so worth it for a car that can top 200 and look cool when driven slowly past people. *rolls eyes*

 

Did somebody mention Grease 2?
It hit the theaters in that sweet spot of my childhood where I was beginning to get serious about girls, motorcycles and the music of the 50's-60's.
I saw G2 before Grease so it's first in my heart.

/end threadjack

 

Over 2 decades, I drove so little in my compact city that, my 24 year-old car had only 50,000 miles on it when a cyclist on a dark street ran into it, denting the roof so much that the cost of repair was beyond the salvage value of the car. So, I gave it up, intending to buy another one soon (after getting over the brief belief that she had been killed by the collision).

But "soon" became, by now, 7 years of public transportation and lots of walking. I'm healthier (all the walking), saner (no victim of road rage), more muse-ful (fun to daydream, read, or make notes while on or waiting for a bus—a writer's heart), and I meet lots of people (overhear lots of interesting exchanges—like I'm an ethnographer of my city).

I love life without owning a car: saves money on gas, insurance, lease/loan. When I really want a car, I rent one (easy to reserve online, easy to pick up nearby).

 

I live a couple blocks from the train, and I'd probably take it to work if I didn't ride my bicycle. I drove for a while after I first got the job, but biking is pretty sweet- all my necessary cardio happens on my way to and from work.

I love driving though. Give me an excuse to drive across the fucking country and I'm on it. Stopping and going in rush hour? Fuck that.

I work in Tesla country, so I see those things everywhere. Pretty sweet, but if I had the money for one, I'd feel like a chump spending it on a car.

 

If I had the money for a tesla, I would buy a nissan gtr. Or a porsche 911

 

Oh I know they are very different cars. The tesla has a certain cachet, a luxury feel good car. If I had that kind of stupid money then I could afford to go to the track, ergo porsche or gtr. But at this moment the tesla certainly makes a statement. One other thing, I'm driving 240 miles over the mountains every week to get several days with my girlfriend. A tesla doesn't have the versatility I need. I'm not knocking it, its an incredible piece of tech. And I respect someone's choice to own it.

 

I love driving my standard transmission Mazda 3, now that I finally can (and now that it's officially my car), but I leave it parked outside my house for days at a time just because I prefer, and am able, to get around almost exclusively on my bicycle instead. I'll need it the next time I go to Costco, which is imminent, but I can manage pretty well without it.

It's great for road trips, though.

 

Does anyone have any experience using car sharing services?

 

The article neglected to mention that new cars are boring, well mostly so; they look alike, are hard to tinker with, and brake easily. Hence the term, "Late Model Trash". Throughout the 50s and 60s cars were exciting, they were different every year, makes and models were easily distinguished, and they were constantly evolving in power. Today gas prices are not just up, but insane. Mandatory Insurance made such expensive, instead of competitive. And repairs are as costly as the new car. The greed of the industry is going to price themselves right out of their own market.

 

Automobiles in the '50s and '60s were gas-guzzling impact death traps. Gas prices have gone up (What hasn't?) but today's cars are safer, have more dynamite under the hood and are able to control said dynamite with modern technology. Insurance is a fantastic idea for society. Modern vehicles are designed to crumple to save their occupants instead of be rigid battering rams that kill them. As gnarly as a vehicle from half a century ago might be as a collector's item, it isn't better than today's product.

I think you're confused.