Nobody likes to hear this, including me,

But a car with no traffic is the overall best form of transportation.

Anything that reduces traffic, just makes driving a car more palatable.

So we are stuck forever at an equilibrium of tolerable traffic. More people taking the bus, train, bikes, and walking? Great! I'll zip down the highway and get a parking spot right in front.

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cryptopian 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

Urban planning has a term for this - the Downs Thomson paradox. Over time, traffic tends to increase up to a point at which equivalent journeys on transit/bike/foot are quicker.

What this means of course is that an effective way of reducing traffic is by speeding up the alternatives.

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arethuza 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"But a car with no traffic is the overall best form of transportation."

Not if you are like me and likely to take a short nap after a long day at work...

Edit: I own a car, I use it all the time. But I also use the train a lot - all depends where I want to go and what I will be doing when I get there.

Edit2: I sometimes even drive to the train station, get out of my car and into a train!

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bluGill 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> But a car with no traffic is the overall best form of transportation.

I hate driving even when I'm alone on the road. I'm forced to stare at the road when I want to be doing something else. I can't even take a break, since a simple 5 minute nap has high odds of killing me even if I'm the only car on the road.

Plus cars are slower than trains or airplanes. Even on the autobahn with unlimited speed allowed, most people are not going nearly as fast as a high speed train, much less an airplane.

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Workaccount2 6 days ago | parent [-]

Don't get me wrong, I ride my bike to work, but it's abundantly clear that (at least americans) really fucking love cars.

To make matters worse, in the near future it looks like most cases of self driving will be solved, so now people will have their personal pod that moves them around.

	▲	bluGill 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		No it isn't clear that Americans love cars. Some Americans love cars or course, but for many they are something they think they must have but they don't really care about the car. People want to get places, people need to get food, and so one - a car enables all of those things, but they are a tool to get things done, not the point. They do not think there is any other tool that will work, but that doesn't mean they care about that tool. They are against transit because they think it is a waste of money since even after spending that money it still wouldn't work (this may or may not be true) and so it isn't worth it.

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marcosdumay 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes.

That's why everybody should heavily subsidize public transportation.

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hammock 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

There is a reason everyone zips around in them on Wall-e. Wait until we have full self driving and drone delivery. Then even when you are in traffic you can get your burger, soda and TV in without wasting any time!