Have your tried driving? everyday, in stop and go traffic, bumper to bumper, with assholes waving in and out, impatiently, or sitting there for literal hours on a highway with turns but no distraction besides the podcast about some inane bullshittery? rather be sitting uninterrupted on public transportation, with an app or timer to warn, and then tell me when to get off, than sit in a car as a driver, having to pay half attention. it's enough to drive someone to drink. not that I would while driving, the repercussions are too steep.
Oh no, I sit there and play with my phone on the bus and ignore people. Guess what I'm going to go home to do from my couch. the same except except be lonely while doing it.
I drive every day, and I've made it a point to pick places to live that are near-ish to where I work. Current commute is right around 15 minutes, but, I've lived places an hour from work, commuting every day. It wasn't the best, mainly from a time-optimization standpoint, got in the way of socialization, but, I listened to a ton of audiobooks and podcasts, so, wasn't exactly suffering in any way.
Personally, I don't spend that much time "plugged in" to my phone these days. I don't have social media (HN is as close as it gets), and I keep most of my e-socializing to group messages between various friend groups on signal. So an hour on a train/bus/etc would likely be too much downtime for me.
I do have an uncle who lives in Chicago, at the end of the line, train wise, so, it's over an hour to get into the city. He just catches the train and goes to sleep, because he's riding the whole thing to the end, sets an alarm, earbuds in, +1hour nap. Nice side benefit, but, truth is, he'd drive if he could, but the way chicago is laid out, he'd be walking a half mile from parking, and it's only like a 2 block walk from the end of the line to get to his work, so, makes alot of sense for him. For most, makes zero sense.
Understand that, time is the only truly non-renewable resource. Everything else can be replaced, somehow, someway, but time is irreplaceable. Ultimately, if you're going to have universally viable public transport, it needs to be clean, safe, comfortable, and at least as fast as owning a car. So far, after decades of advancement, it's still none of those things for most people.
No it doesn't. If it takes an hour by bus or 30 minutes by car, that 1 hour is more useful to me and way less stress. Until I didn't have to drive every day due to Covid, I didn't realize how costly driving, especially in traffic or long distances, was to my mental health.
It sounds like you're not able to take advantage of the Internet on your smartphone to the same degree as I am. Between the web browser, and all the apps, especially Gmail, there's enough there that I can take care of some chores/errands. I'm not talking about burning time on social media, though that's certainly available. With hotspot functionality, I'm able to do real work on my laptop, anywhere there's cellphone service and also some company shuttles have wifi.
Look, cars are luxuriously convenient but having to drive isn't. We have Stockholm syndrome with it, and think it's a good deal. But we're commenting on an article about self driving cars because it isn't.
Wow that sounds fun! I think I might try it next time I need to go somewhere.
You have no idea how long I've been sitting on public transit wishing that _I_ was the person controlling the bus in stop and go traffic and having to put my 100% undivided attention on the road in front of me. I stare at the bus driver, and I bet he can feel my daggers piercing his back, my disdain for him that I'm forced to sit here on my phone reading people's stupid opinions on HN and Reddit and pointlessly arguing with them. Trying to change the mind of an idiot who doesn't even want to change their mind.
I had no idea you could go out and buy those things people drive around everywhere. I thought you got them on your tax return if the government owes you > $20k, so thanks for the TIL.
Oh no, I sit there and play with my phone on the bus and ignore people. Guess what I'm going to go home to do from my couch. the same except except be lonely while doing it.