BUFDRVR wrote:

Transport is one area I'd say we Americans have missed the boat on.

Every time I'm in Europe, I grow to love the public transport system
more and more, and wish we Americans hadn't destroyed our public transport
infrastructure.

Not me. The example I gave of sitting next to the chain smoker while a child
screams the entire trip that seemed like it was on a train that stopped every
block was my experience coming back from Oktoberfest two weeks ago. I love the
independance and freedom my car gives me. I could take a metro (train) to work
everyday, but it would increase my commute from 20 minutes to 60 minutes. I

That's pretty typical of American thinking. But increasingly, we're going to
find that car is making demands on us that we aren't going to like. In some
areas, that's already the case.

There are people spending 4 hours or more in their cars for round trip commutes
to work! That's by no means typical, but as the numbers of cars proliferate,
the congestion increases.

It is not unusual now for me to be able to ride my bike to work in the exact
same time it takes to drive, due to congestion on the main road. In many
communities, you MUST have a car to get around and it's not a particularly
people friendly experience getting out and about. Given American's propensity
for obesity, heavy car use isn't especially healthy either.

Socially, I note in Europe how much more people friendly cities and towns are
than American ones. That's because European centers are set up for people, while
American ones are for the convenience of cars. Some American city centers have
undergone renovation that are quite nice, but those renovations have tended to
be more restrictive of car movement in them.

sit in my car, listen to the radio at whatever level I'm in the mood for. I
stop-and-go often due to the traffic, but when I do, no one is pushing me to
get in or out of my car. On the way home, I put my sun glasses on, crank up
some music or listen to a sports talk radio program and wind down. Public
transportation? Not for me.

Sure it's great. I love my truck, and I have no problem driving miles and miles
and miles. But for me, it's not a great driving experience just going to work.
In fact it can be a source of irritation and annoyance, and becoming moreso in
many places.

I'll save my enjoyable driving experiences as you describe above for a genuine
trip/vacation/excursion rather than the work commute. For that, I actually
prefer my bicycle, and besides a great mental state such as you describe coming
from its use, I also gain some health benefits, and restrict my contribution to
pollution as well. Not too shabby.


SMH