• Serinus@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Because you have to pay a good chunk of a year’s salary for one, store it around your house somewhere, and then when you finally do get to use it, there are a million other people with the same idea and you have to compete just for space in which to use it.

    And that’s before you get to all the maintenance the government has to spend on the paths (and make you pay tax for all that). Oh, and it’s incredibly dangerous, so dangerous that it’s one of the leading causes of death in the US.

    • ikt@aussie.zone
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      3 days ago

      We are talking about an equivalent ‘pod/train car’, not a car but I’ll bite anyway

      Have you ever been on a train? It sucks, a bus 10000% more, buses fuckin suck so much, I’m sorry for you to hear this in the echo chamber which features ‘fuck cars’.

      Like I said, trains and buses have 2 big negatives:

      limited availability and is extremely restrictive in where it can go

      Trains especially so, my local train would be a 20-30 minute walk away and it goes far south and to the city, if i don’t want to go to either of those I’m in for a 5 hour marathon of a trip at best

      But we should invest more in trains you might be saying, and again the question goes back to, why would a train be better than a pod/car that can roll around on train tracks

      This whole thread took the original meaning and warped it into a circle jerk about trains which is not what the OP was saying

      • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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        2 days ago

        Have you ever been on a train? It sucks, a bus 10000% more, buses fuckin suck so much

        Skill issue. Japan, Korea, China all have extremely comfortable and efficient trains. Trains can be quite nice if the government is interested in having good trains instead of making infinitely dollars for the shareholders while spending nothing on maintaince and charging as much as possible.

        • ikt@aussie.zone
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          2 days ago

          Thanks for mentioning Japan and Korea

          https://files.ikt.id.au/y0q8ls.webp

          Japan, South Korea and North Korea would all fit into a space the size of our second smallest state Victoria but that state has a population of 8 million, the combined Korea’s and Japan would be 200 million

          Speaking of large population sizes:

          We are nearly as big as China but with 1.4 billion, if you took their desert which has fuck all trains and transposed that onto Australia we’re actually pretty close in terms of trains and public transport

          But regardless:

          One in Four Japanese Households Do Not Own A Car

          https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00416/auto-appeal-fades-one-in-four-japanese-households-do-not-own-a-car.html

          Which leaves 3 in 4 who do own a car, so much for skill issue right :)

          • Jiral@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            I almost thought you were American given your “rail doesn’t work, look how big our country is” BS argument. I guess it works for Australia too, though. Funnily enough your own map shows how Australia is actually perfectly siuted for extensive rail infrastructure connecting most of the metropolitan regions with each other.

            Adelade-Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane covers most of Australia’s population and is a model case for an HSR corridor, certainly also has the population to support one as well. Add to that a Dutch style multimodal urban model and Australia could be on par with the rest of the developed world infrastructure wise. Perth and Darwin are self contained urban islands anyway, too far for attractive rail but also road connection

            • ikt@aussie.zone
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              1 day ago

              Funnily enough your own map shows how Australia is actually perfectly siuted for extensive rail

              Yes, it has been attempted many many many times, it’s now parodied in our own parks and rec style comedy program:

              Is A High-Speed Rail Possible In Australia? | Utopia

              https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8av3knflbQo

              certainly also has the population to support one as well

              I don’t think you are noticing just how sparsely populated we are and how big those mountains are in between the cities

              • Jiral@lemmy.world
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                1 day ago

                That is exclusively a problem of politcal and may be incompetence. It doesn’t change the fact that Australia is extremely well suited for HSR covering the majority of its urban population. All with a single line.

                  • Jiral@lemmy.world
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                    1 day ago

                    You are aware that your link confirms my point, aren’t you? Countless studies showing that the corridor is feasible and makes sense, yet not a single project in 50 years, where the government has shown the political will to get serious about it, never mind showing long term commitment.

                    If you want to bring up actual arguments why what is possible in Japan, China and much of Europe is impossible on the Melbourne-Sydney corridor, be my guest.

          • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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            2 days ago

            if you took their desert which has fuck all trains

            They run hundreds of trains a day between population centers in that desert, I took them to get to Kazakhstan and back.

            skill issue

            The skill issue is being able to build efficient, comfortable, cheap trains, which Japan has the first 2, but they could be cheaper.

            • ikt@aussie.zone
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              2 days ago

              I mean that’s fine but that doesn’t answer my original point when 3/4th’s of people are using cars to get around, this public transport paradise is limited to inner city and highly dense locations, and even then 50%+ of people are still using cars

              Doesn’t scream public transport is a winner

              I also much prefer driving in my car listening to music and not having little shits on the train making a racket and running around and my car is more comfortable and when I want to go down to GYG at 11pm for a cheeky fries run I’m not standing out in the dark and cold in my suburb (not the nicest) waiting for a bus to turn up and then the same thing on my way back, that would be the pits

              Maybe this works in a big urban centre but the whole world is not a big urban centre

              • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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                1 day ago

                3/4th’s of people are using cars to get around, this public transport paradise is limited to inner city and highly dense locations, and even then 50%+ of people are still using cars

                They own or have access to a car, but the bulk of travel is public transit. You like not having to sit in traffic? So did the japanese, despite being a major car manufacturer. Solution is to remove as many trips as possible via alternative transit. I would not call Japan a public transit paradise, but there are things they do well we can learn from.

                listening to music

                Earbuds.

                not having little shits on the train making a racket and running around and my car

                Never seen that over here, what are yall doing differently?

                my car is more comfortable

                You must have excessively shitty trains if having to pay attention to traffic while sitting in 1 position can be more comfortable than sipping tea in a dining car, free to stretch your legs or just using a laptop at your seat.

                • ikt@aussie.zone
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                  1 day ago

                  Earbuds.

                  Yes they are in my ears 24x7, I do like listening through my speaker though

                  Never seen that over here, what are yall doing differently?

                  Where are you? I bet I can find out pretty quickly you have security teams on your trains at night

                  You must have excessively shitty trains if having to pay attention to traffic while sitting in 1 position can be more comfortable than sipping tea in a dining car, free to stretch your legs or just using a laptop at your seat.

                  It’s really not that hard to drive and I would rather get to work in 30 minutes than sit around for an hour, the comfort difference is minimal to me, especially so if it’s busy and trains are packed, then nobody is stretching your legs

                  • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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                    1 day ago

                    Here’s a map of most of where I’ve been in asia, mostly travelling by train or ferry, except in vietnam, where I switch from train to motorbike in Hanoi. I have seen the occasional security guy in China and Korea, never in Japan.

      • jtrek@startrek.website
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        2 days ago

        Have you ever been on a train? It sucks, a bus 10000% more, buses fuckin suck so much, I’m sorry for you to hear this in the echo chamber which features ‘fuck cars’.

        Have you?

        Trains and buses, when funded, are fine. Millions of people take them every day.

        I work from home but I used to daily commute by train. Walk to station. Wait a few minutes. Get on. Arrive at destination. I read so many books and finished so many games.

          • coffee_tacos@mander.xyz
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            1 day ago

            The facts you are using to support your argument point largely to a failure of the particular transit system currently implemented in your country and area.

            When a country invests heavily in car infrastructure, cars are easier to use.

          • jtrek@startrek.website
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            2 days ago

            That’s not a general problem with trains that proves they suck. The suck is places have been built out for cars with other modes as after thoughts.

            I live somewhere with much better train and bus coverage, and it makes it easier than driving for the vast majority of trips.

            The day to day suffering is because of cars. So fuck cars. Fuck the culture that made them primary.

            • ikt@aussie.zone
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              2 days ago

              I mean if you are only going around the city sure but even in not just bikes favourite country the limitations are obvious

              With a total road network of 139,000 km, including 3,530 km of expressways,[2] the Netherlands has one of the densest road networks in the world; much denser than Germany and France, though not as dense as Belgium.[3]

              On the roads it has grown continuously since the 1950s and now exceeds 200 billion km travelled per year,[8] three quarters of which are done by car.[9] Around half of all trips in the Netherlands are made by car, 25% by bicycle, 20% walking, and 5% by public transport.[9]

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_the_Netherlands

              But that’s a tiny country country that is extremely flat

              As soon as you get out into a real world the problems are obvious

              Is A High-Speed Rail Possible In Australia? | Utopia

              https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8av3knflbQo

      • Zarobi@aussie.zone
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        2 days ago

        The only reason cars are good right now is because countries like US and AU went 100% all in on cars. Do you have any idea the astronomical cost of public roads and car infrastructure? Imagine if we invested the same amount into a really really good train and tram system. Or, alternatively, imagine if we underfunded roads the same way we do public transport.

        • ikt@aussie.zone
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          2 days ago

          The only reason cars are good right now is because countries like US and AU went 100% all in on cars

          Not 100%, Melbourne kept its trams around and Victoria still has massive car use

          We’re just a huge massive low density country so it’s hard to compare to inner western europe

          • Jiral@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Melbourne’s trams are terrible because cars are given priority even though having much lower capacity. The “low density” argument is meaningless. Most people live in metropolitan regions and they are as well suited for transit as you build it. Turns out, Australia went all in on car only design on new projects. Surprisingly that makes anything other than cars unattractive.

            • ikt@aussie.zone
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              1 day ago

              Please don’t downvote just because you have a different opinion, it makes you look like a dick

      • Grail@multiverse.soulism.net
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        2 days ago

        I take the train and the bus all the time, it’s awesome. No traffic, no road rage, no anxiety, no danger. I just shitpost on My phone until I’m at My destination.

      • Culf@feddit.dk
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        3 days ago

        Sure badly built or unprioritized public transit infrastructure might suck, but busses and trains sure are amazing when prioritised, built correctly.

        Many European cities combine well functioning train, bus and cycle infrastructure, which together makes it possible to go anywhere at any time for cheap.

        I think it really just comes down to prioritizing to develop the infrastructure (costs money and requires political will to move away from car based infrastructure).

        Also I don’t think a pod system would solve any of the problems of either cars or trains/busses and would be much more expensive…

        • ikt@aussie.zone
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          3 days ago

          can you name all these European cities combining well functioning train, bus and cycle infrastructure outside of the netherlands? (where the average person/household does not have a car as they don’t need it)

          • iknewitwhenisawit@fedinsfw.app
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            2 days ago

            Public transportation seemed to work well in Brussels, Paris, Prague, Copenhagen, and even Edinburgh. Just thinking of the last few cities I was in outside of the Netherlands (leaving out the USA, which is obviously a nightmare for transportation of all kinds). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Buses are the worst (actually, pneumatic tyred ‘trams’ are the worst)

        Trains are great though.

        • ikt@aussie.zone
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          2 days ago

          yeah tbh i was being a bit hyperbolic, i don’t mind my train trip to work despite it being slow af

          but it would take an insane public transport network to service south east queensland, until we find an infinite money glitch it’s only going to be used for a minimum viable amount of very popular trips, eg between brisbane and the gold coast and soon the sunshine coast

          but for example if you want to go to crows nest from brisbane there will never be a train that goes that way because of low numbers

          • Grail@multiverse.soulism.net
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            2 days ago

            Brisbane was built by car users for car users. If you go to central Melbourne, that’s a great place to catch the tram because it was built for the tram. On the other hand, the Melbourne suburbs stink ass because they were built after cars became popular.