Not at all. I think it's because HN attracts systems thinkers and
You're looking at it from the perspective of someone who has an immediate problem to solve: how to get from point a to point b. Sure, use a car for that.
A lot of HN readers are looking at transportation not from an individual user with an immediate problem to solve, but rather from the perspective of how do we systematically move people and things efficiently.
From that perspective automobile centric transportation networks make little sense.
Clever mathematics can demonstrate this, but so does common sense.
> What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away?
Ummm, planes, trains, buses work. And sure individual use cars make sense. But this isn't the typical use case for a cars, the typical use case is commuting and other short to mid-range distances.
> What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day?
Not a lot of jobs requires this. But for professions that do, they could get a permit that would allow them to use a car.
>I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between visiting them via public transport and using a car is 3 hours vs 40 minutes.
Public transportation is horrible in part because there are so many cars on the road. Just think of when you see buses trying to navigate rush hour traffic. Additionally, if more people are forced to take public transportation then that means public transport can support more routes and more frequent stops. Furthermore, if you're driving a car that means you mental bandwidth is pretty much 100% wasted. If you're on public transport, you could conceivably do something like reading or watching a show while traveling, so the times aren't comparable in terms of productive use.
>This is also NYC which is considered a model city for public transport.
Maybe by US standards, definitely not by global standards.
> If you're on public transport, you could conceivably do something like reading or watching a show while traveling
Maybe you can, but I can't. I tried it for 5 minutes this morning and remembered again why I just stare out the window when on transit instead of trying to read.
It is still better than driving myself, if only because I'm not the bad driving doing something stupid.
You're looking at it from the perspective of someone who has an immediate problem to solve: how to get from point a to point b. Sure, use a car for that.
A lot of HN readers are looking at transportation not from an individual user with an immediate problem to solve, but rather from the perspective of how do we systematically move people and things efficiently.
From that perspective automobile centric transportation networks make little sense.
Clever mathematics can demonstrate this, but so does common sense.
> What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? Ummm, planes, trains, buses work. And sure individual use cars make sense. But this isn't the typical use case for a cars, the typical use case is commuting and other short to mid-range distances.
> What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? Not a lot of jobs requires this. But for professions that do, they could get a permit that would allow them to use a car.
>I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between visiting them via public transport and using a car is 3 hours vs 40 minutes.
Public transportation is horrible in part because there are so many cars on the road. Just think of when you see buses trying to navigate rush hour traffic. Additionally, if more people are forced to take public transportation then that means public transport can support more routes and more frequent stops. Furthermore, if you're driving a car that means you mental bandwidth is pretty much 100% wasted. If you're on public transport, you could conceivably do something like reading or watching a show while traveling, so the times aren't comparable in terms of productive use.
>This is also NYC which is considered a model city for public transport.
Maybe by US standards, definitely not by global standards.