[robswc]

Not OP, my issue with public transport is mostly the "public" part. At least on the DC metro, its not uncommon to see people getting harassed and MPD doing nothing about it. I've personally seen a drunk man pissing in the corner and watching it get carried by momentum through half the car. Sure, it's probably like a 1/50 trips you see something bad happening... but its still enough for me to prefer personal transportation.

The other half is the stuff you can't do, like carry large items or eat on the train. Just got some large boards for a DIY project and stopped by in-N-out. ~10 minutes there and back. Would have taken an hour w/PT, couldn't carry materials and couldn't stop for food. With a driver-less car, I could still do that.

I'm not suggesting any money go towards paying for driver-less lanes atm though. Still feels way too early for that.

[alistairSH]

The answer to those problems is more public transit (in the US, it's mostly working class - if we make it normal across the socio-economic spectrum, people will demand more of it), more bike lanes, and safer spaces for pedestrians.

If it took you ~10 minutes to get to the store, it's probably ~2 miles by car. Maybe a bit further. That's easily done on a bicycle (not for large boards, but easily doable for moderate grocery runs or other regular errands). Or, a bus/tram - might take a few minutes more waiting for it to arrive at each end, but still not an hour (if it runs regularly enough, which it obviously doesn't).

[robswc]

>If it took you ~10 minutes to get to the store, it's probably ~2 miles by car

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but its closer to 7. Speed limit is 70 mph for most of the drive, haha.

Even if it was 2 miles, that's gonna be close to 30 min each way, an hour spent just on commuting for groceries. I don't think I could justify it tbh, and I like biking enough. I'm usually just carrying stuff though, if I'm leaving the house to go shopping.

If it was going to/from the exact place, perhaps. It's just so convenient to grab the keys and not have to worry about schedules or arranging how you'll carry everything back.

Perhaps if I lived in a city and it was my only choice though.

[danielvaughn]

I fail to see how more public transit would solve the drunk-guy-pissing-in-the-corner issue.

[alistairSH]

If public transit is normalized (used by the majority of people, particularly those with money and some political power), those people will demand enforcement of "don't piss in the corner" laws. The problem today is mass transit (outside NYC and a few other places) is largely used by working class with neither the means, power, or time to push for change.

[danielvaughn]

It's not bad reasoning, though I just want to point out that NYC has tons of public transit, used by both working class and non-working-class people, and those problems persist.

[alistairSH]

Well, that stinks. I haven't been to NYC since I was a kid.

How do other countries solve this? Is it just an off-hours thing, or a problem mid-day?

[robswc]

The DC metro is also used by lots of "elite" types.

The problem is nobody does anything because nobody else cares enough, tbh.

Nobody cares enough to call the police because they know the police won't do anything. The police won't do anything because they'll arrest people and those people will be let out a few days later with no punishment. Why? Ask the elite representatives in DC I guess. They probably just don't care to solve it or don't want to solve it. There was a dude who vandalized a store and stole some stuff in DC, got arrested, let out 2 weeks later and literally 2 days after being released did the same exact thing.

I've unfortunately seen creeps doing awful things in front of innocent people too and its one of those things that nobody will spend time tracking down I guess.