Do cars ever just seem wasteful to you?

[Syringer]

Having lived in college the past few years, a year of which I spent without a car..I've gotten very accustomed to simply walking everyday and everywhere I need to go. I now fill my car once every 5-6 weeks, and at $70+ each fill-up trip after driving well under 300 miles..it seems like it's just a waste. Particularly here in LA where freeways are parking lots, it's not just a waste of resources, but time, energy, and patience as well.

I'm about to graduate and I'll likely be driving at least 20 miles each way to work everyday (unless I get a job that's near a BART station..the transit system in the Bay Area), and I don't know how I'll adjust to that sort of lifestyle again. Especially since I'll be in Europe for about 5 weeks beforehand and will undoubtedly be spoiled by the transportation system over there.

And it's not as if I'm against cars or anything..I'm a huge fan of cars, I d/l Top Gear every week, and if it were more cost efficient and weren't such a hassle around here..I'd drive as much as I possibly can..but as it stands, cars, from buying them, insuring them, maintaining them, filling them up, etc..are about the biggest wasteful things that we have to deal with--not that there are many practical alternatives for many people in the US..

 

[jlee]

No. I work over ten miles from home, and it's not friendly when it's 20 below..

If you want to talk about wasteful, let's talk about insurance companies.

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: Syringer
Having lived in college the past few years, a year of which I spent without a car..I've gotten very accustomed to simply walking everyday and everywhere I need to go. I now fill my car once every 5-6 weeks, and at $70+ each fill-up trip after driving well under 300 miles..it seems like it's just a waste. Particularly here in LA where freeways are parking lots, it's not just a waste of resources, but time, energy, and patience as well.

I'm about to graduate and I'll likely be driving at least 20 miles each way to work everyday (unless I get a job that's near a BART station..the transit system in the Bay Area), and I don't know how I'll adjust to that sort of lifestyle again. Especially since I'll be in Europe for about 5 weeks beforehand and will undoubtedly be spoiled by the transportation system over there.

And it's not as if I'm against cars or anything..I'm a huge fan of cars, I d/l Top Gear every week, and if it were more cost efficient and weren't such a hassle around here..I'd drive as much as I possibly can..but as it stands, cars, from buying them, insuring them, maintaining them, filling them up, etc..are about the biggest wasteful things that we have to deal with--not that there are many practical alternatives for many people in the US..

My boss won't let me walk or take the bus when I deliver pizzas...so I kind of have to have a car.

 

[torpid]

There are cities / areas of cities with good public transportation. I would probably rarely use my car and might even just sell it if I got a job in NYC, for example.

Anyway, the saying goes, waste not, want not. But it would suck to never want anything, so it's necessary to waste things so that you want things and aren't some copacetic lemming. Therefore owning a car is important. (Edit: I just realized my little speech here which is only amusing to myself sounds eerily like something Carl would say on the ricky gervais podcasts when asked what the phrase means).

 

[Mo0o]

Seattle metro system is pretty good so i have no problem bussing to u district for work everyday.

 

[AbAbber2k]

Ya, back at school my GF always wanted me to drive her EVERYWHERE (she didn't have a car), even if it only took 10min MAX to walk. After living on campus for a while and only ever driving for groceries, I got to the point where I'd walk just about anywhere instead of drive.

 

[FoBoT]

no
talk like that seems anti-technology to me

 

[radioouman]

yes.

But I drive 60 miles one way for work. I couldn't do that with mass-transit.

 

[RichieZ]

no, i want to buy the new 3 coupe even though b/c of my job i'm pretty much going to park it at the aiport.

its for fun and the weekends

 

[imported_LoKe]

Hardly. If we didn't have the luxury of speed that cars provide, we wouldn't have advanced to the point we are today. Furthermore, we'd just be advancing slower, but with the exception of having more time. Technically speaking, the use of cars, regardless of their pollutents and what have you, are helping us save the planet.

Mind you, this is just something I'm thinking, and I'm in no way basing it on any studies.

 

[Scouzer]

YOU ARE A LUDDITE

BURN THE LUDDITE

 

[TripleAAA]

When I traveled in Europe, it seemed rather convenient to NOT have a car. I wish the US would adapt a similar form of transportation, but obviously that isn't going to happen and everything is much more spread out.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: LoKe
Hardly. If we didn't have the luxury of speed that cars provide, we wouldn't have advanced to the point we are today. Furthermore, we'd just be advancing slower, but with the exception of having more time. Technically speaking, the use of cars, regardless of their pollutents and what have you, are helping us save the planet.

Mind you, this is just something I'm thinking, and I'm in no way basing it on any studies.

saved planet != capatalist expansion.

on the contrary, actually.

 

[newParadigm]

I agree. Ninja Bikes are were its at man. You can sneak btwn the lanes on those real busy days, and they get good mileage, ad are friken dank to drive.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: RichieZ
no, i want to buy the new 3 coupe even though b/c of my job i'm pretty much going to park it at the aiport.

its for fun and the weekends

sure, if you call sitting in a rolling vagina "fun." seriously, when you go to dealer, they'll ask for your driver's license and your man card before you can take a test drive. you'll get your license back. your man card will be confiscated forever.

/thread crap

 

[notfred]

Tada!

Don't want a car? You can live without one, especiallyin a place with weather like the SF Bay Area.

here's a forum for you.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: LoKe
Hardly. If we didn't have the luxury of speed that cars provide, we wouldn't have advanced to the point we are today. Furthermore, we'd just be advancing slower, but with the exception of having more time. Technically speaking, the use of cars, regardless of their pollutents and what have you, are helping us save the planet.

Mind you, this is just something I'm thinking, and I'm in no way basing it on any studies.

saved planet != capatalist expansion.

on the contrary, actually.

I'm sorry. I was under the impression that the hydrogene and electric cars were actually doing a favour to the planet. Am I not correct in that?

 

[Epic Fail]

car is a waste, we should all learn to crawl like spiders.

 

[RichieZ]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: RichieZ
no, i want to buy the new 3 coupe even though b/c of my job i'm pretty much going to park it at the aiport.

its for fun and the weekends

sure, if you call sitting in a rolling vagina "fun." seriously, when you go to dealer, they'll ask for your driver's license and your man card before you can take a test drive. you'll get your license back. your man card will be confiscated forever.

/thread crap

um okkk

 

[Dirigible]

The Bay Area is pretty bike friendly - you can use notfred's links to help. It depends on where you'll be living and where you'll be working, though, and how much time you're willing to spend in the saddle. I live in Oakland and rarely use my car. I mostly drive my car to go mountain biking, which seems extra silly, but there it is.

 

[CStan]

I think about this often. A huge mass amount of people travel from the 'burbs to downtown or industrial areas everyday. It seems natural to move these people more efficiently. Here's my view:
-people had horses and crap to get around, horses were slow and shat everywhere
-cars were invented! people went everywhere faster, and their cars didn't sh!t everywhere! The conveinience was uncanny!
-Years went by, cars got faster, quieter, more comfortable! Hurray!
-Then alas, populations grew. The reckless development of "The New World" has taken its toll, and driving wasn't so convienient anymore. Now thousands of people are stuck in traffic everyday, wasting their lives, while watching bicyccles, pedestrians and old grandmas go past them with ease.
-These highly evolved machines are now being wasted, with single passenger cars saturating the roads, rendering beyond use.

So whats the next step? make bigger and more roads? Wait until those get jammed with traffic from bad development? No. To rectify this problem, a mass transport system is desperately needed.

 

[bonkers325]

its wasteful when i see only one passenger in most cars on the highway.

 

[clickynext]

Yes, seems wasteful, but when it saves you half an hour or an hour at 7:00 AM in the morning, it also seems sort of worth it.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: bonkers325
its wasteful when i see only one passenger in most cars on the highway.

FTL, indeed. The way cars are used is in fact quite wasteful.

 

[erub]

you try waiting for a bus when its 110 outside in PHX..then taking 40 mins to get home rather than 15..money = time!

oh yeah, what about going for lunch? guess its cafeteria everyday for you since no restauraunts are within comfortable (non-sweaty) walking distance