[nxsynonym]

> It's freedom and independence

This is why I assume people embrace it. Is it really freedom and independence when 90% of your time spent in the car is in traffic to get to work and home?

Freedom to me is not wasting 5-10 hours a week on getting to work, unpaid. Even if that means sacrificing my 'freedom' to drive around the countryside on weekends.

[roughcoat]

I don't see how having a long commute somehow diminishes the benefits of having a personal vehicle. For most people, having a personal vehicle means, partly, being able to live where they want instead of having to choose a home based on accessibility to public transportation, or alternately, to be able to take a job that may be lucrative but totally inaccessible by public transportation. A personal vehicle offers a good deal of flexibility and antifragility that I think you're ignoring here, given the way the real world is set up.

And perhaps all you do is drive around the countryside on the weekend, but that is hardly the only use for a personal vehicle. At least half the really interesting things I've done in my life would not have been possible without my own vehicle.