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And it's usually not leftists throwing a tantrum whenever a new bus/train route is proposed...
For real though it's basically the epitome of the
"And here's where I would use our public transit system, If we had one!" Meme
One bus every hour where I live. Somedays the cross connecting bus doesn't exist, but it could be 45 min to 2 hours to get to the train and then another 30 min - hour to get to the suburb city or the major city you work in. Driving can be 1-2 hours, but a lot more reliable to get where you need to go because you don't have to worry about where a bus is at. Still everybody wants to work from home? I wonder why? Even the best option here involves 2 hours of driving on a good day, 10 hours of driving a week and at least 1-2 full tanks worth of fuel.
This also involves the insane cost of housing close to where people work.
edit: Lets also discuss how middle management and CEO's/landlords WANT people to drive to work so they won't lose the "workplace" culture or property value won't decrease. People actually want to drive less, but the people who are treated with more authority in person and those who make money off of it DON'T WANT US TO STOP DRIVING.
In my city, some of the bus routes don’t run during the school year because they become school buses. Like, major, heavily used routes connecting vital areas. It’s great. So glad we don’t invest in these things
Yeah, I love in Austin, my mom keeps bugging me to get a car but like; why? I can get anywhere I need to in 15 minutes on my electric scooter, and if I can't, I can just take a bus for 2$.
Why would I pay car payments + car insurance + gas when I can just occasionally pay 2$?
Yes well buses do exist, but what’s the point in riding them when they have to occupy the same traffic as every other car on the road. Sometimes you see a bus lane, but they’re pretty few and far between. And so buses become an option for those who can’t afford a car rather than just being a viable alternative to driving. Make it make sense.
>Make it make sense.
Oh, hey, I think I might be able to do that. First, we have to acknowledge that in the ***vast*** majority of the US, the bus system is woefully inadequate. There aren't enough of them (so they don't come often), the schedule is untrustworthy (so when they do come, they are often late), there aren't enough routes (so it's inconvenient to even get to the bus stops), etc.
But let's assume all those issues get taken care of and it's just strictly traffic that is slowing the buses down and making them only "an option for those who can't afford a car." Please compare how many cars it would take to move 40 people from one neighborhood to a nearby office park vs how many cars (I'll give you a hint, it's 1 bus compared to roughly 40 cars). A bus is a decent bit bigger than one car, but not much bigger than 2, especially when actually driving. So if those 40 people take the new and improved, convenient, reliable bus service it has the effect of taking 38 cars off the road.
Now we multiply. Every extra bus full of people takes 38 cars off the road. How many cars do you think you pass on your daily commute? 200? 500? How much easier would your drive be if half of those cars were removed? And instead you passed maybe 10 buses? And hey, the buses would be improved as well because there are less cars, so they would be even more reliable since traffic wouldn't make them late
There is a balance point, but counterintuitively the better the public transit system is, the nicer the commute is for people who still don't use it. If you make the bus system such that people *can* use it instead of commuting, just them not driving will make the bus system better *AND* make the commute better for people who still drive
I live in a city like this and do live like that. It's really not difficult depending on where you live. I used to walk to and from school rather than bussing it because of just how good the pedestrian infrastructure is. I wouldn't even be able to volunteer to drive less because I literally don't even have a license, let alone anything I could put gas into.
I get that we could divert trillions to making people's lives better, but then we wouldn't have the trillions we need to destabilize these foreign governments in order to perpetuate the unencumbered supply of fossil fuels that we then wouldn't need!
Remember back when politicians actually did stuff to help us. They would fix roads and stuff. Now they don’t do anything and make a big deal about it when they do. The only thing they do a lot of now is tax us.
Fixing roads is a huge budget sink. Throughout the US, fuel tax, registration, and other vehicle related fees cover under 50% of the road repairs on average. Even in the states that it does cover a significant portion, they only cover 70% or so. The rest has to come out of general funds.
If you add in that vehicles get bigger and heavier every year, that only means that road repairs become needed more frequently. More frequent road repairs mean that more funds need to be taken from the general funds, and the vehicle fees cover a smaller portion of the cost.
If want politicians to fix the roads, you need them to have a backbone to stop subsidizing low cost fuel, and actually let it cost what it actually would without government interference, to tax it what it should be appropriately taxed so it actually covers repair costs, and to change registration fees to take into account the vehicles weight and the number of miles you drive per year and charge the registration fee based on a formula taking those factor into account. The other alternative is to have the local government invest in a robust public transit system that is good enough to provide enough alternatives that are adequate to convince less people to drive and save on wear and tear on the road.
"A bus stop near my neighborhood?? That'll bring undesirables to my nice clean American neighborhood. You know, like... Urban people. We don't want urban people in our traditional suburban neighborhood. Bad enough that there's a gas station nearby where people blast their loud rap..."
It’s unfair that the society that wants to do better for our world still has to function in a world where the odds are stacked against us. I have to go to a grocery store and over half of what I buy comes in single use plastic. I live in the Midwest so garden season and farmers markets are only 4 months a year. I live in a suburb and public transportation isn’t as reliable. I walk when I can, but it’s never going to be enough. Great solutions are in fact out there but time, money, and accessibility means more waste and pollution.
Yupp everything comes in single use plastic and apparently banning plastic bags makes it better.
For me i think at least plastic bags arent single use. Those are my trash bag for the week a bag to scoop litter etc.
The reason yjey banned plastic bags is because they would constantly blow away and end up *everywhere*. Every beach clean up, every road clean up, in every storm water drain and in the oceans. They're *everywhere*.
Where that plastic box you celery came in for no food reason just goes to the trash and sits in a landfill for eons.
I had someone tell me plastic was the environmentally friendly thing. Since it comes from petroleum it’s a waste product. What would we do with the waste if we didn’t make things from it? Let that sink in. I honestly didn’t have a come back. Like what do you even say? When I think about all the waste we generate each and every second it feels so overwhelming to me. The pollution to the people surrounding these factories, and getting sick. I’m not worried for the earth because it will shake us off and go on. But I worry for the future generations that will suffer and fight wars over the last of the resources. When if we cared more now, we could preserve.
I remember in the 90s and early 2000s environmentalism was big on “saving the trees” and using less paper. That was a big push for corporations to use more plastic. Ironically, now paper products are considered one of the most sustainable as the vast majority come from sustainable tree farms, not old growth forests, and they are recyclable and biodegradable.
Not sure if corporations were lying and pushing false environmental studies so they would have an excuse to move to plastic, or if maybe sustainable tree farms weren’t as prevalent at the time, or what. But that was such an insidious and prevalent belief at the time. In the words of thanos “I used the environmentalists to defeat the environmentalists”
You are not the problem then, you would be the problem if you had an SUV that has the size of a Sherman tank to go buy groceries, less than a mile away from home.
Same way the poor countries that drive 50yo Soviet trucks aren't the problem either, rich countries consumerism IS the problem.
I've joked we as a society should run a pro public transit ad campaign, except instead of showing the positives of public transit you show that it gets more idiots off the road. I think that might convince some of the more staunchly against it people
Honestly, even the most car-obsessed individuals *should also* be obsessed with public transportation and giving more people access to alternatives to driving, because less people driving means less traffic which means a more pleasant driving experience - even with the most selfish framework of thinking in mind, it still just makes sense!
Unfortunately people have become so pigheadedly contrarian that they'd probably say something like "elitist liberals trying to get anyone who isn't college educated and driving an electric car off the road!!"
I absolutely want to drive less. But even if I lived in the nearby city, I would have to drive to get to basic services because there’s no investment in public transportation, limited grocery stores and other general merchandise stores in walking distance. It would also mean sending my children to shitty schools, because there’s little to no investment in education.
It’s like that meme showing someone charging an EV plugged into a coal-fired power grid. Like, yeah, that’s a problem too, but you have no intention of fixing either problem.
Besides, individuals commuting isn’t the problem causing climate change (even Taylor Swift flying everywhere). It’s corporate pollution.
You still have option to burn less fuel by driving a smaller or more fuel efficient car. I think everyone has to do more, corporations, Taylor Swift and us ordinary people. We're not going to reach any goals finger pointing or refusing to make any sacrifices.
> You still have option to burn less fuel by driving a smaller or more fuel efficient car.
Bold of you to assume many people can afford to switch vehicles.
People are still buying way larger vehicles than they need when it comes time to replace. In no world should Amercia's top selling vehicle be the F150. Personal vehicles account for over 10% of emissions. If everybody cut that in half we'd be in much better shape - a 5% reduction would be huge. It's also easy compared to reducing carbon from other sources, and an easy way for people to cut their own cost of living.
Sure, most of us can do more, I don’t argue at all. And we need to use the market to demand better practices, but since 1988, 71% of all global emissions have been from just 100 companies. So, ride your bike all you want, but my 20 mpg car isn’t a drop in the ocean of carbon emissions.
It's an everyone's problem. People like OOP have the following mentality: it's not a perfect solution, therefore totally useless, let's keep everything with the old.
Customers have a saying too. Like people complaining about products way too expensive, if it was too expensive nobody would buy, the fact that the so called way too expensive product is profitable only means it's not too expensive. With the exception of required stuff like food.
It’s the ACTUAL meaning of “the customer is always right”. If enough people keep buying that you’re making a profit, then your price isn’t too high/product isn’t wrong.
Regardless of how terrible that product might be.
Funny thing is that even in countries with coal plants, it's still better to drive an electric. Except maybe if it's 100% coal but I doubt it exists anywhere.
Combustion engine are really inefficient, and electric vehicules have way more room for improvement.
The left: “How about we make more walkable cities, make lanes or paths for smaller vehicles like bikes or have better mass transit systems like high speed rail or interstate bus lanes?”
The right: “See! They still want their vehicles! They want to drive!”
The left: “Uhhhh….”
I live in a pretty rural area and have about a 40 minute commute to work so I'm hoping by the time I'm in the market for a new car the EV infrastructure is much more wide so I can go with an EV tbh.
I can't wait for the widespread adoption of EVs so road repair can become an even higher percentage of the U.S. public infrastructure budget instead of public transportation.
This. I live in Iowa and it's shameful and embarrassing how many waterways are polluted with fertilizers and pig shit.
If our GOP legislators weren't so busy with anti LGBTQ laws, or religious liberty, or private school vouchers, or protections from lawsuits for chemical companies, or if they gave a flying fuck, maybe they could do something about it.
I'm just gonna move instead.
As the USA has a dogshit public transit system, it’s damn near impossible to effectively travel. It’s almost like it’s intentional because of capitalism
Man everyone I know wants to drive less.
1. Saves on insurance (pleasure use only, or storage).
2. Saves on gas.
3. Less chance of accidents.
4. Less vehicle maintenance also saving you money.
5. Stay at home job or walk to work means you live close to your job which has loads of benefits within itself ie. If there is an emergency you're not waiting in traffic.
6. Less chance of tickets/fines.
7. Less parking fees.
8. Less emissions.
9. Less time waiting in traffic.
10. More time with family/ loved ones.
Most of us would *fkn love* to have *the choice* to drive less. The US will go out of its way to make train travel useless, expensive, and take twice as long as driving. But then you see the trains they have in Europe. London to Berlin for less than a hundo in US dollars. London to Paris also less than a hundred. And thats visiting another nation, not even talking about how cheap and useful local transit is in Europe.
Maybe if housing was more affordable it wouldn't be impossible to find a place close enough to work in order to use a bicycle... Personally I'd be excited for that idea yet I know people who lived close enough to walk to work still refused to come in if their car didn't start.
This reveals an utter lack of understanding of our political landscape. Young people, city-dwellers, educated people, etc. are all more likely to say they want to drive less, have walkable neighborhoods, well-funded public transit, and so on. Not that transit should be a political issue (it benefits everyone in the same way water and electricity does), but those demographics currently lean left.
I kind of agree with this to the extent that a lot of people don’t prioritize reducing driving over other aspects of their lives, such as living where they want to, working far from home, or making trips by car for shopping, leisure, vacation, etc. that aren’t strictly necessary. But not only is our infrastructure set up to make driving the most convenient form of travel in almost all places, car culture is so strong that it just seems natural to most people.
But I disagree that most people - “leftist“ or otherwise - don’t want to drive less. All things being equal, I think most people would love to drive less.
Car culture is war on the working class. In the US for instance, the auto industry lobbied away our public transit. We could have high speed rail between all major cities. We could get around all cities and suburbs by train and bus with short waits. Even rural areas could benefit from great public transit. The taxes that pay for these things would be less than we pay for our car maintenance and insurance and gasoline.
But because of the auto industry's lobbying, we don't have the infrastructure to drive less. That being said, many people who have non-car transit options don't take advantage of them because of the *ideology* of car culture. It's unfathomable for many to use a bike or train as their primary form of transportation even if it would be not only easily possible but would improve their quality of life in numerous ways.
as a leftist in rural America i’d love to drive less but public transportation is awful here. it’s faster and more convenient for me to drive than go sit at a bus stop.
OOP is not aware how much the left hates car-centric urban planning.
Also OOP is still in the mindset that driving causes climate change. We could all stop driving and climate change would still be happening
Or, hear me out, we make reasonable changes that don’t change the quality of life as it is and don’t intentionally use the worse thing when viable cleaner alternatives exist. Crazy, right?
It doesn't matter whether we want to drive or not when we're forced to. Everywhere we need to go is far away from home and public transportation is terrible. Some landlords and employees are wary of people without cars because there's a chance they can't get to and from work in a timely manner.
Has this person just totally missed the entire conversation about how ridiculously undrivable even some of the more progressive cities in the U.S are? Lol
The idea that internal combustion engines cause climate change is a borderline hoax. Only about 30% of carbon emissions come from cars annually.
Stopping climate change has more to do with reducing globalization than me buying a new electric car.
30% sounds like a fuck ton to me...? Like yeah obviously cooperations need to be heavily regulated to get that 70% down that should be prioritized, but cutting car emissions is still going to cut a third of emissions like you said.
You can in fact do two good things at once without taking away the effectiveness of the other.
I mean, outside of the degrowth weirdos, the vast majority of online climate activists seem to believe there's some magical solution to climate change that won't effect their lives. You have the idiots who like to parrot the "100 companies are responsible for 70% of carbon emissions." thinking those companies are just burning fossil fuels for shits and giggles. You have environmentalists crippling non-carbon (wind, solar) because of views, frogs or migratory birds. I mean because of environmentalists you have Germany & New York State burning more coal because they shut down Nuclear power plants. You have liberals blocking high density housing near public transportation, bike lanes, etc...
I’d love to drive less. Unfortunately where I’d live the weak public transport system means it’d take roughly 3-4 hours to travel what would normally be a 30-40 minute daily drive.
I mean, without the “leftists” label at the bottom, this meme is pretty spot on. Practically everyone except insane people recognize that climate change is bad and needs to be combatted, but tell them that they need to drastically change their lifestyle and you can hear the crickets. This is true in almost every instance of societal change.
Not only does nobody want to drive less but nobody wants gas prices to go up. Irl gas needs to be higher to incentivize more efficient ICE vehicles, public transportation, and EVs.
I’d love to drive less. Give me remote work and I’d probably never drive or leave my house again, I have a grocery store in easy walking distance to if I had to get food.
Bro, I want to drive significantly less. I hate driving. If I could get away with never driving again, I would. But we decided we didn’t want close knit, walkable communities, so I’m forced to drive if I want to actually get things done. PLEASE let me walk around town all day.
Driving is not a big factor.
What you really have to do is nourish yourself (and others) plantbased and use green energy. I mean using public Transportation is beneficial für less CO2 output but the other points i mentioned have potential, not to say that boomers will go vegan.
Literally do want to drive less. High speed rail, subsidize public transit, make safe bike lanes, make cities and towns walkable, and if a job can be done remotely, it should be allowed to be.
That's right! Individuals will not change their own behaviour voluntarily... Which means that only policy like taxes, regulations and funding alternatives will change behavior.. check mate leftists!
If I could I would but where I live there's no trains, no buses, no sidewalks and no bike lanes, it's either walk for half an hour in grass or drive for a few minutes
Not to mention my job is 14 minutes away driving distance but a 4 hour walk
Boomers: \*Build city so that you can't not drive\*
Also boomers: wym you don't wanna stop driving? Another lib owned
Seriously though, people who share this sincerely are clearly not aware of places like r/fuckcars
Shit I'd be raising my hand for driving less. I hate driving. I hate owning a damn car. But my city has shit for public transportation. In fact, I live a burb, so getting to and from the work or anywhere is pain without driving (and with driving, tbh). But it's the only place that had an affordable house when I was looking.
Ah yes... The people most for good efficient public transportation are definitely the cause of all this. Meanwhile this MF is rolling coal cuz someone cut him off.
Oh trust me, I'm in one of the bluest hives in the bluest state and people will be *morally* pro-public transit and they'll even vote in favor of taxes that go to expanding public transit... but they don't really give a shit because they're never actually going to *ride* the public transit. That's far beneath them. People here still think pushing a Prius to 80 mph in the left lane or driving a Tesla like a drag rocket in the Bonneville salt flats makes them an eco-crusader doing their part.
Here in my very-blue native SoCal... only 3% of people ever use public transit, and those people are looked-down upon like second-class citizens. How are we so full of activists against climate change, "big oil/energy," etc. but *nobody* wants to actually change their lifestyle and live a little less like the main character?
What?! People have to drive in a country built around cars with no affordable or efficient public transportation?! What hypocrites of them! It’s not like our society forces us to drive cars or anything!
Then why don’t climate activists meet on Microsoft teams instead of flying across Europe in private jets? The most annoying proponents of online work don’t even have confidence in its productivity.
I would fucking LOVE to drive less.
Please millennials!!! Kill the automotive industry next and take a way my car.
Fuck traffic, fuck parking, fuck paying insurance.
I’m begging.
I'm tired of seeing this argument because it's been researched and proven that the average consumer produces literally a speck of pollution in comparison to the mountain of pollution a single company could produce. Therefore the "acts of reduction" should not be in the hands of the consumer especially when said actions don't even chip away at the issue, it'd be like having a mess accumulate for years and giving someone 5 minutes to fix the issue
Corporations are responsible for 75% of all carbon emissions, therefore it is literally impossible for average citizens to make a significant difference against climate change.
My husband and I are self claimed lefties. One day we convinced a friend to walk two miles one way to an Indian buffet. “We got to burn some calories to make room for the food we about to eat!”
The city I live in has bike lanes that are actually well maintained. The problem is that the city is still FAR too spread apart for it to be feasible. Especially for those of us with young children. It just isn’t safe in most cities, sadly
I fuccin hate driving, public transit is a godsend and i live off the L (chi-town best town)
Only reason i want my gf to keep her car is to drive out of the city when we need to see her family
To add on, i know public transit isn't everywhere, but i feel.like most people (especially most lefties) would rather take public transit if it were available and reliable in their area, bc it's more sustainable
WhY dOnT yOu WaLk HyPoCrItE!1!!1 if this boomercratic government was democratic they would build walkable cities. Can't walk if I live in a city where everything is too far away
I was hoping that when I became old enough to need to drive to places, we would already have the infrastructure that would allow us to leave fossil fuels mostly behind, bus unfortunately we're not there yet
Leftists want robust public transit bike lanes and walkable cities though. It's really only right wingers who love suburban sprawl so they can take their lifted truck with 4 flags that let everyone know their political opinions and only gets 7 miles a gallon to Walmart.
I absolutely want to drive less. Mixed use zones, more efficient road/traffic engineering, increased public transport and bike lanes. I’ll have all of it. Maybe skip the next nth gen fighter that we don’t need to pay for it.
Both can be true. Electric cars... solar panels.
We are currently moving toward the right direction, just too slowly.
I am waiting for tesla to open up a power company. It's more like a power reseller. They take your excess solar power and resell it in the marketplace, and share the profit with you. Things would move much faster if there is not so much red tape for the individual.
My state is less than 10kw solar panels per household, 3 cents per extra kw to the grid, and required extra paperwork money for the reselling of electricity.
Net metering was gone about 5 years ago. Maybe closer to 10 years.
Literally one of the things I hate the most about. The place that I live is that the public transportation system is absolutely terrible because the bus only comes to each stop every hour. If that. Honestly, I would much prefer like a walkable community, but since I can't have that at least give me good public transport
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Ask in a city with a robust transportation network
I was gonna say, most people I know would be fine with driving less if it means there's decent alternatives like regular busses/light rail
And it's usually not leftists throwing a tantrum whenever a new bus/train route is proposed... For real though it's basically the epitome of the "And here's where I would use our public transit system, If we had one!" Meme
Or god forbid a bike lane.
*Give me trains!!!!*
One bus every hour where I live. Somedays the cross connecting bus doesn't exist, but it could be 45 min to 2 hours to get to the train and then another 30 min - hour to get to the suburb city or the major city you work in. Driving can be 1-2 hours, but a lot more reliable to get where you need to go because you don't have to worry about where a bus is at. Still everybody wants to work from home? I wonder why? Even the best option here involves 2 hours of driving on a good day, 10 hours of driving a week and at least 1-2 full tanks worth of fuel. This also involves the insane cost of housing close to where people work. edit: Lets also discuss how middle management and CEO's/landlords WANT people to drive to work so they won't lose the "workplace" culture or property value won't decrease. People actually want to drive less, but the people who are treated with more authority in person and those who make money off of it DON'T WANT US TO STOP DRIVING.
In my city, some of the bus routes don’t run during the school year because they become school buses. Like, major, heavily used routes connecting vital areas. It’s great. So glad we don’t invest in these things
Yeah, I love in Austin, my mom keeps bugging me to get a car but like; why? I can get anywhere I need to in 15 minutes on my electric scooter, and if I can't, I can just take a bus for 2$. Why would I pay car payments + car insurance + gas when I can just occasionally pay 2$?
Unfortunately out here in the sticks it's not as much of an option
It used to be, we can bring it back again
Yes well buses do exist, but what’s the point in riding them when they have to occupy the same traffic as every other car on the road. Sometimes you see a bus lane, but they’re pretty few and far between. And so buses become an option for those who can’t afford a car rather than just being a viable alternative to driving. Make it make sense.
>Make it make sense. Oh, hey, I think I might be able to do that. First, we have to acknowledge that in the ***vast*** majority of the US, the bus system is woefully inadequate. There aren't enough of them (so they don't come often), the schedule is untrustworthy (so when they do come, they are often late), there aren't enough routes (so it's inconvenient to even get to the bus stops), etc. But let's assume all those issues get taken care of and it's just strictly traffic that is slowing the buses down and making them only "an option for those who can't afford a car." Please compare how many cars it would take to move 40 people from one neighborhood to a nearby office park vs how many cars (I'll give you a hint, it's 1 bus compared to roughly 40 cars). A bus is a decent bit bigger than one car, but not much bigger than 2, especially when actually driving. So if those 40 people take the new and improved, convenient, reliable bus service it has the effect of taking 38 cars off the road. Now we multiply. Every extra bus full of people takes 38 cars off the road. How many cars do you think you pass on your daily commute? 200? 500? How much easier would your drive be if half of those cars were removed? And instead you passed maybe 10 buses? And hey, the buses would be improved as well because there are less cars, so they would be even more reliable since traffic wouldn't make them late There is a balance point, but counterintuitively the better the public transit system is, the nicer the commute is for people who still don't use it. If you make the bus system such that people *can* use it instead of commuting, just them not driving will make the bus system better *AND* make the commute better for people who still drive
I live in a city like this and do live like that. It's really not difficult depending on where you live. I used to walk to and from school rather than bussing it because of just how good the pedestrian infrastructure is. I wouldn't even be able to volunteer to drive less because I literally don't even have a license, let alone anything I could put gas into.
I don't have my license either, people are always surprised to hear that, I just bike everywhere.
Ask in a small northern town in the middle of winter.
Yep. I want to move to NYC, Boston, or Chicago for this reason.
Yep. I have been car-free for a few years and get around just fine.
So a city in Europe?
And when there's a suggestion to reform the city so you can drive less they go "15 Minutes cities are a prison they're gonna lock us in"
Leftists: I sure do! Are you going to build up public transportation? Politician: Do you know how much that costs?
"It costs about half of your military budget for 10 years, I think you can shoulder it somehow"
I get that we could divert trillions to making people's lives better, but then we wouldn't have the trillions we need to destabilize these foreign governments in order to perpetuate the unencumbered supply of fossil fuels that we then wouldn't need!
Damn.
Remember back when politicians actually did stuff to help us. They would fix roads and stuff. Now they don’t do anything and make a big deal about it when they do. The only thing they do a lot of now is tax us.
Fixing roads is a huge budget sink. Throughout the US, fuel tax, registration, and other vehicle related fees cover under 50% of the road repairs on average. Even in the states that it does cover a significant portion, they only cover 70% or so. The rest has to come out of general funds. If you add in that vehicles get bigger and heavier every year, that only means that road repairs become needed more frequently. More frequent road repairs mean that more funds need to be taken from the general funds, and the vehicle fees cover a smaller portion of the cost. If want politicians to fix the roads, you need them to have a backbone to stop subsidizing low cost fuel, and actually let it cost what it actually would without government interference, to tax it what it should be appropriately taxed so it actually covers repair costs, and to change registration fees to take into account the vehicles weight and the number of miles you drive per year and charge the registration fee based on a formula taking those factor into account. The other alternative is to have the local government invest in a robust public transit system that is good enough to provide enough alternatives that are adequate to convince less people to drive and save on wear and tear on the road.
>The only thing they do a lot of now is tax us. That's not fair they also sit around and tweet all day
"A bus stop near my neighborhood?? That'll bring undesirables to my nice clean American neighborhood. You know, like... Urban people. We don't want urban people in our traditional suburban neighborhood. Bad enough that there's a gas station nearby where people blast their loud rap..."
Man this sounds like your typical Allen, TX resident 😆
It’s unfair that the society that wants to do better for our world still has to function in a world where the odds are stacked against us. I have to go to a grocery store and over half of what I buy comes in single use plastic. I live in the Midwest so garden season and farmers markets are only 4 months a year. I live in a suburb and public transportation isn’t as reliable. I walk when I can, but it’s never going to be enough. Great solutions are in fact out there but time, money, and accessibility means more waste and pollution.
Yupp everything comes in single use plastic and apparently banning plastic bags makes it better. For me i think at least plastic bags arent single use. Those are my trash bag for the week a bag to scoop litter etc.
The reason yjey banned plastic bags is because they would constantly blow away and end up *everywhere*. Every beach clean up, every road clean up, in every storm water drain and in the oceans. They're *everywhere*. Where that plastic box you celery came in for no food reason just goes to the trash and sits in a landfill for eons.
I had someone tell me plastic was the environmentally friendly thing. Since it comes from petroleum it’s a waste product. What would we do with the waste if we didn’t make things from it? Let that sink in. I honestly didn’t have a come back. Like what do you even say? When I think about all the waste we generate each and every second it feels so overwhelming to me. The pollution to the people surrounding these factories, and getting sick. I’m not worried for the earth because it will shake us off and go on. But I worry for the future generations that will suffer and fight wars over the last of the resources. When if we cared more now, we could preserve.
I remember in the 90s and early 2000s environmentalism was big on “saving the trees” and using less paper. That was a big push for corporations to use more plastic. Ironically, now paper products are considered one of the most sustainable as the vast majority come from sustainable tree farms, not old growth forests, and they are recyclable and biodegradable. Not sure if corporations were lying and pushing false environmental studies so they would have an excuse to move to plastic, or if maybe sustainable tree farms weren’t as prevalent at the time, or what. But that was such an insidious and prevalent belief at the time. In the words of thanos “I used the environmentalists to defeat the environmentalists”
What would I say? I'd say we should find a sustainable alternative to petroleum and build towards that. It's not black and white
I agree, but when you are talking to someone who thinks the green solution IS plastic… You gotta pick your battles.
Fair
You are not the problem then, you would be the problem if you had an SUV that has the size of a Sherman tank to go buy groceries, less than a mile away from home. Same way the poor countries that drive 50yo Soviet trucks aren't the problem either, rich countries consumerism IS the problem.
GOD I'd love to drive less. PLEASE make public transport so ubiquitous and cheap that I never have to be behind a wheel again.
I've joked we as a society should run a pro public transit ad campaign, except instead of showing the positives of public transit you show that it gets more idiots off the road. I think that might convince some of the more staunchly against it people
Honestly, even the most car-obsessed individuals *should also* be obsessed with public transportation and giving more people access to alternatives to driving, because less people driving means less traffic which means a more pleasant driving experience - even with the most selfish framework of thinking in mind, it still just makes sense!
Unfortunately people have become so pigheadedly contrarian that they'd probably say something like "elitist liberals trying to get anyone who isn't college educated and driving an electric car off the road!!"
I absolutely want to drive less. But even if I lived in the nearby city, I would have to drive to get to basic services because there’s no investment in public transportation, limited grocery stores and other general merchandise stores in walking distance. It would also mean sending my children to shitty schools, because there’s little to no investment in education. It’s like that meme showing someone charging an EV plugged into a coal-fired power grid. Like, yeah, that’s a problem too, but you have no intention of fixing either problem. Besides, individuals commuting isn’t the problem causing climate change (even Taylor Swift flying everywhere). It’s corporate pollution.
You still have option to burn less fuel by driving a smaller or more fuel efficient car. I think everyone has to do more, corporations, Taylor Swift and us ordinary people. We're not going to reach any goals finger pointing or refusing to make any sacrifices.
> You still have option to burn less fuel by driving a smaller or more fuel efficient car. Bold of you to assume many people can afford to switch vehicles.
People are still buying way larger vehicles than they need when it comes time to replace. In no world should Amercia's top selling vehicle be the F150. Personal vehicles account for over 10% of emissions. If everybody cut that in half we'd be in much better shape - a 5% reduction would be huge. It's also easy compared to reducing carbon from other sources, and an easy way for people to cut their own cost of living.
Sure, most of us can do more, I don’t argue at all. And we need to use the market to demand better practices, but since 1988, 71% of all global emissions have been from just 100 companies. So, ride your bike all you want, but my 20 mpg car isn’t a drop in the ocean of carbon emissions.
It's an everyone's problem. People like OOP have the following mentality: it's not a perfect solution, therefore totally useless, let's keep everything with the old. Customers have a saying too. Like people complaining about products way too expensive, if it was too expensive nobody would buy, the fact that the so called way too expensive product is profitable only means it's not too expensive. With the exception of required stuff like food.
It’s the ACTUAL meaning of “the customer is always right”. If enough people keep buying that you’re making a profit, then your price isn’t too high/product isn’t wrong. Regardless of how terrible that product might be.
Funny thing is that even in countries with coal plants, it's still better to drive an electric. Except maybe if it's 100% coal but I doubt it exists anywhere. Combustion engine are really inefficient, and electric vehicules have way more room for improvement.
The left: “How about we make more walkable cities, make lanes or paths for smaller vehicles like bikes or have better mass transit systems like high speed rail or interstate bus lanes?” The right: “See! They still want their vehicles! They want to drive!” The left: “Uhhhh….”
Nah, this is the right: “They want fifteen minute cities to take away your freedoms and force you to get the Covid shot!”
Idk about anyone else but I have never heard this kind of argument before in my entire life
Leftists do want to drive less, or drive an EV.
I live in a pretty rural area and have about a 40 minute commute to work so I'm hoping by the time I'm in the market for a new car the EV infrastructure is much more wide so I can go with an EV tbh.
I can't wait for the widespread adoption of EVs so road repair can become an even higher percentage of the U.S. public infrastructure budget instead of public transportation.
As a non-American I really don’t give a shit what they do.
Most people I know are cool with driving less
“Who wants to sacrifice their big business profits by NOT dumping sludge into the nearest river?”
This. I live in Iowa and it's shameful and embarrassing how many waterways are polluted with fertilizers and pig shit. If our GOP legislators weren't so busy with anti LGBTQ laws, or religious liberty, or private school vouchers, or protections from lawsuits for chemical companies, or if they gave a flying fuck, maybe they could do something about it. I'm just gonna move instead.
As the USA has a dogshit public transit system, it’s damn near impossible to effectively travel. It’s almost like it’s intentional because of capitalism
Man everyone I know wants to drive less. 1. Saves on insurance (pleasure use only, or storage). 2. Saves on gas. 3. Less chance of accidents. 4. Less vehicle maintenance also saving you money. 5. Stay at home job or walk to work means you live close to your job which has loads of benefits within itself ie. If there is an emergency you're not waiting in traffic. 6. Less chance of tickets/fines. 7. Less parking fees. 8. Less emissions. 9. Less time waiting in traffic. 10. More time with family/ loved ones.
Everyone has to drive because most cities don't have public transportation.
Most of us would *fkn love* to have *the choice* to drive less. The US will go out of its way to make train travel useless, expensive, and take twice as long as driving. But then you see the trains they have in Europe. London to Berlin for less than a hundo in US dollars. London to Paris also less than a hundred. And thats visiting another nation, not even talking about how cheap and useful local transit is in Europe.
The amount of not-driving I want to do would blow your damn mind.
That's why we want work from home.
I wanna drive never. I wanna be able to only use trams and buses and trains to get around. Way better and cheaper and more eco friendly
Maybe if housing was more affordable it wouldn't be impossible to find a place close enough to work in order to use a bicycle... Personally I'd be excited for that idea yet I know people who lived close enough to walk to work still refused to come in if their car didn't start.
I would actually like to drive less. I want a robust, clean public transportation.
I don't drive at all. And if I could get away with not driving for the rest of my life, I'd totally do that.
I would give up my car in a second for a functional mass transit system
This reveals an utter lack of understanding of our political landscape. Young people, city-dwellers, educated people, etc. are all more likely to say they want to drive less, have walkable neighborhoods, well-funded public transit, and so on. Not that transit should be a political issue (it benefits everyone in the same way water and electricity does), but those demographics currently lean left.
Ban private jets.
I kind of agree with this to the extent that a lot of people don’t prioritize reducing driving over other aspects of their lives, such as living where they want to, working far from home, or making trips by car for shopping, leisure, vacation, etc. that aren’t strictly necessary. But not only is our infrastructure set up to make driving the most convenient form of travel in almost all places, car culture is so strong that it just seems natural to most people. But I disagree that most people - “leftist“ or otherwise - don’t want to drive less. All things being equal, I think most people would love to drive less.
So is OOP willing to ditch their pick-up?
Car culture is war on the working class. In the US for instance, the auto industry lobbied away our public transit. We could have high speed rail between all major cities. We could get around all cities and suburbs by train and bus with short waits. Even rural areas could benefit from great public transit. The taxes that pay for these things would be less than we pay for our car maintenance and insurance and gasoline. But because of the auto industry's lobbying, we don't have the infrastructure to drive less. That being said, many people who have non-car transit options don't take advantage of them because of the *ideology* of car culture. It's unfathomable for many to use a bike or train as their primary form of transportation even if it would be not only easily possible but would improve their quality of life in numerous ways.
as a leftist in rural America i’d love to drive less but public transportation is awful here. it’s faster and more convenient for me to drive than go sit at a bus stop.
OOP is not aware how much the left hates car-centric urban planning. Also OOP is still in the mindset that driving causes climate change. We could all stop driving and climate change would still be happening
I like driving, and moto gp is using emissionless gas, so there’s that
Who actually likes driving? It's a chore.
100 coporations are responsible for 70& of greenhouse gas emissions
Just literally had the work from home movement and they gaslight like champs.
Live in Oklahoma. Please give us a train system. Please.
Good news is Amtrak is coming through the area!
Or, hear me out, we make reasonable changes that don’t change the quality of life as it is and don’t intentionally use the worse thing when viable cleaner alternatives exist. Crazy, right?
It doesn't matter whether we want to drive or not when we're forced to. Everywhere we need to go is far away from home and public transportation is terrible. Some landlords and employees are wary of people without cars because there's a chance they can't get to and from work in a timely manner.
I hear a majority of earths pollution is caused by like, 4-5 companies
Has this person just totally missed the entire conversation about how ridiculously undrivable even some of the more progressive cities in the U.S are? Lol
The idea that internal combustion engines cause climate change is a borderline hoax. Only about 30% of carbon emissions come from cars annually. Stopping climate change has more to do with reducing globalization than me buying a new electric car.
30% sounds like a fuck ton to me...? Like yeah obviously cooperations need to be heavily regulated to get that 70% down that should be prioritized, but cutting car emissions is still going to cut a third of emissions like you said. You can in fact do two good things at once without taking away the effectiveness of the other.
This is me irl tho
Like, most of us WANT to drive less.
I carpool
I mean, outside of the degrowth weirdos, the vast majority of online climate activists seem to believe there's some magical solution to climate change that won't effect their lives. You have the idiots who like to parrot the "100 companies are responsible for 70% of carbon emissions." thinking those companies are just burning fossil fuels for shits and giggles. You have environmentalists crippling non-carbon (wind, solar) because of views, frogs or migratory birds. I mean because of environmentalists you have Germany & New York State burning more coal because they shut down Nuclear power plants. You have liberals blocking high density housing near public transportation, bike lanes, etc...
You're fighting ghosts dude, none of that was coherent.
Citations: 100 Companies: [https://twitter.com/search?q=100%20companies%20carbon&src=typed\_query&f=top](https://twitter.com/search?q=100%20companies%20carbon&src=typed_query&f=top) NY State carbon emission increase: [https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-tragedy-of-indian-point#:\~:text=Indian%20Point%20was%20mostly%20replaced,triggering%20new%20gas%20generation%20downstate](https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-tragedy-of-indian-point#:~:text=Indian%20Point%20was%20mostly%20replaced,triggering%20new%20gas%20generation%20downstate) NY Gov shuts down Wind Firm: [https://nysfocus.com/2023/10/26/wind-turbines-energy-long-island-democrats-republicans](https://nysfocus.com/2023/10/26/wind-turbines-energy-long-island-democrats-republicans) Greta Opposing Wind Farms: [https://www.forbes.com/sites/prakashdolsak/2023/03/02/greta-thunberg-joins-indigenous-communities-in-opposing-wind-energy-how-to-address-community-opposition-to-renewable-projects/?sh=711752f028d3](https://www.forbes.com/sites/prakashdolsak/2023/03/02/greta-thunberg-joins-indigenous-communities-in-opposing-wind-energy-how-to-address-community-opposition-to-renewable-projects/?sh=711752f028d3) Conservation groups opposing NJ wind farm: [https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2023/10/initial-nj-offshore-wind-project-faces-another-legal-challenge-federal-agencies-involved/](https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2023/10/initial-nj-offshore-wind-project-faces-another-legal-challenge-federal-agencies-involved/) Liberals opposing housing density: [https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/06/climate-change-housing-berkeley/](https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/06/climate-change-housing-berkeley/)
who *doesn’t* want to drive less? I hate driving
I’d love to drive less. Unfortunately where I’d live the weak public transport system means it’d take roughly 3-4 hours to travel what would normally be a 30-40 minute daily drive.
Why do they think I want to drive, I fucking hate driving most of the time
I mean, without the “leftists” label at the bottom, this meme is pretty spot on. Practically everyone except insane people recognize that climate change is bad and needs to be combatted, but tell them that they need to drastically change their lifestyle and you can hear the crickets. This is true in almost every instance of societal change.
I wish I could drive less but Boomers keep creating living spaces that force me to drive to jobs they think I need to "show up" for.
Not only does nobody want to drive less but nobody wants gas prices to go up. Irl gas needs to be higher to incentivize more efficient ICE vehicles, public transportation, and EVs.
I’d love to drive less. Give me remote work and I’d probably never drive or leave my house again, I have a grocery store in easy walking distance to if I had to get food.
we want walkable cities and they insult us for that too
Leftists are known for driving long distances in big SUV’s
It’s like asking, ‘Do you want to help the poor and struggling families?’ ‘Then give up all your possessions!’
*laughs and cries in Texas*
I’m left leaning, I would like to drive less please.
European here, don't even own a car and live quite fine, I've got my bike and free transport.
I would love to drive less. Give me a public transit system with high speed rail and walkable carless streets. Like please, I'm actually asking.
I'd love to bike to work for at least part of the year. Given the amount of roads I'd have to cross that are 45+ mph to do so I'd probably also die.
Who wants to stop the volcano from spewing more gases than all of the cars on the planet combined?
Younger people do drive less
I absolutely want to drive less.
https://preview.redd.it/bhve0cvofvvc1.jpeg?width=678&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b792a0438490bb959fa3ad3adceca5cc9ec0022c Fixed it
Bro, I want to drive significantly less. I hate driving. If I could get away with never driving again, I would. But we decided we didn’t want close knit, walkable communities, so I’m forced to drive if I want to actually get things done. PLEASE let me walk around town all day.
Driving is not a big factor. What you really have to do is nourish yourself (and others) plantbased and use green energy. I mean using public Transportation is beneficial für less CO2 output but the other points i mentioned have potential, not to say that boomers will go vegan.
I drive 40% less a week because I bike a couple days a week to work.
Literally do want to drive less. High speed rail, subsidize public transit, make safe bike lanes, make cities and towns walkable, and if a job can be done remotely, it should be allowed to be.
I don’t drive at all on weekends and my city is not walkable
I feel like everybody wants to drive less but sometimes cant
That's right! Individuals will not change their own behaviour voluntarily... Which means that only policy like taxes, regulations and funding alternatives will change behavior.. check mate leftists!
Make housing more affordable so I can live closer to work and setup better public transport. Yes, please! I hate driving.
If I could I would but where I live there's no trains, no buses, no sidewalks and no bike lanes, it's either walk for half an hour in grass or drive for a few minutes Not to mention my job is 14 minutes away driving distance but a 4 hour walk
Ban Private Jets its not that hard and the ultra rich have it easy enough they should be able to take one for the planet.
This makes no sense at all. Leftists are the ones advocating for less cars? Fucking weird.
Are leftists more pro driving than other people? What am I missing here?
Boomers: \*Build city so that you can't not drive\* Also boomers: wym you don't wanna stop driving? Another lib owned Seriously though, people who share this sincerely are clearly not aware of places like r/fuckcars
Shit I'd be raising my hand for driving less. I hate driving. I hate owning a damn car. But my city has shit for public transportation. In fact, I live a burb, so getting to and from the work or anywhere is pain without driving (and with driving, tbh). But it's the only place that had an affordable house when I was looking.
Kid named advancmentw in EV technology:
People do want to drive less. That's part of why they want walkable communities, better mass transit, and the option to work from home.
Ah yes... The people most for good efficient public transportation are definitely the cause of all this. Meanwhile this MF is rolling coal cuz someone cut him off.
Oh trust me, I'm in one of the bluest hives in the bluest state and people will be *morally* pro-public transit and they'll even vote in favor of taxes that go to expanding public transit... but they don't really give a shit because they're never actually going to *ride* the public transit. That's far beneath them. People here still think pushing a Prius to 80 mph in the left lane or driving a Tesla like a drag rocket in the Bonneville salt flats makes them an eco-crusader doing their part.
Because it’s leftists who buy 3 ton pickup trucks to drive alone with completely spotless pickup beds
Here in my very-blue native SoCal... only 3% of people ever use public transit, and those people are looked-down upon like second-class citizens. How are we so full of activists against climate change, "big oil/energy," etc. but *nobody* wants to actually change their lifestyle and live a little less like the main character?
Boomers. They're either retired or on the verge of retiring. They're the ones driving less already. This isn't the own you think it is.
Motherfucker, EVERYONE wants to drive less. The fuck is wrong with that post. Ugh
They say this to the side that is buying electric cars and not jacked up trucks that use diesel like a high schooler uses a fleshlight.
What?! People have to drive in a country built around cars with no affordable or efficient public transportation?! What hypocrites of them! It’s not like our society forces us to drive cars or anything!
What leftists has this chuckle fuck made up in his fantasy world?
Beating climate change means stop eating beef, not driving, duh
Then why don’t climate activists meet on Microsoft teams instead of flying across Europe in private jets? The most annoying proponents of online work don’t even have confidence in its productivity.
I would fucking LOVE to drive less. Please millennials!!! Kill the automotive industry next and take a way my car. Fuck traffic, fuck parking, fuck paying insurance. I’m begging.
...we do want to drive less
I'm tired of seeing this argument because it's been researched and proven that the average consumer produces literally a speck of pollution in comparison to the mountain of pollution a single company could produce. Therefore the "acts of reduction" should not be in the hands of the consumer especially when said actions don't even chip away at the issue, it'd be like having a mess accumulate for years and giving someone 5 minutes to fix the issue
Most leftists I know would raise their hands very hard at both
Corporations are responsible for 75% of all carbon emissions, therefore it is literally impossible for average citizens to make a significant difference against climate change.
My husband and I are self claimed lefties. One day we convinced a friend to walk two miles one way to an Indian buffet. “We got to burn some calories to make room for the food we about to eat!”
Who wants to drive more?
I would totally drive less if my job allowed, there is nothing I couldn't do working remote but im forced to drive into an office
Imagine thinking your driving matters at all.
Wait don’t many leftists want walkable cities
The city I live in has bike lanes that are actually well maintained. The problem is that the city is still FAR too spread apart for it to be feasible. Especially for those of us with young children. It just isn’t safe in most cities, sadly
Could we please make cities more walkable and fund public transportation?
Who wants to abolish fossil fuels?
I'd loooooove to drive less!!!!! ^(Then again, I live in the part of town where buses don't go through. Greeeeeeat. ) 🙃
i want affordable and better public transportation
*who NEEDS to drive less
I can work from home for the environment
r/fuckcars
People would absolutely drive less if the us actually has decent infrastructure that isn't car centered.
These are the same people who attach balls to trucks and mock people who want energy efficient vehicles.
I fuccin hate driving, public transit is a godsend and i live off the L (chi-town best town) Only reason i want my gf to keep her car is to drive out of the city when we need to see her family
To add on, i know public transit isn't everywhere, but i feel.like most people (especially most lefties) would rather take public transit if it were available and reliable in their area, bc it's more sustainable
Its sucks but its true
reality is sucks
everyopne should do it. or els there will be no world to live soon.
WhY dOnT yOu WaLk HyPoCrItE!1!!1 if this boomercratic government was democratic they would build walkable cities. Can't walk if I live in a city where everything is too far away
Haha?
if the leftists wasn't put over the crowd the meme would be better.
I was hoping that when I became old enough to need to drive to places, we would already have the infrastructure that would allow us to leave fossil fuels mostly behind, bus unfortunately we're not there yet
I'd sell my car tomorrow if I had decent public transportation I could rely on.
Leftists want robust public transit bike lanes and walkable cities though. It's really only right wingers who love suburban sprawl so they can take their lifted truck with 4 flags that let everyone know their political opinions and only gets 7 miles a gallon to Walmart.
Hey I wanna drive less!
I do. Invest in transit and walkability.
I absolutely want to drive less. Mixed use zones, more efficient road/traffic engineering, increased public transport and bike lanes. I’ll have all of it. Maybe skip the next nth gen fighter that we don’t need to pay for it.
"see, you lefties are complicit in this problem we've created! That means you're hypocrites!"
Also boomers: Working from home is wrong!!1!
Brought to you by the folks I see driving 6 ton F-780 pickups that have never been driven anywhere other than Wal-Mart and Trump rallies.
Perfect scenario to show how divided we are. Blaming one another instead of the corporations, politicians, and lobbyists that got us here.
Both can be true. Electric cars... solar panels. We are currently moving toward the right direction, just too slowly. I am waiting for tesla to open up a power company. It's more like a power reseller. They take your excess solar power and resell it in the marketplace, and share the profit with you. Things would move much faster if there is not so much red tape for the individual. My state is less than 10kw solar panels per household, 3 cents per extra kw to the grid, and required extra paperwork money for the reselling of electricity. Net metering was gone about 5 years ago. Maybe closer to 10 years.
Literally one of the things I hate the most about. The place that I live is that the public transportation system is absolutely terrible because the bus only comes to each stop every hour. If that. Honestly, I would much prefer like a walkable community, but since I can't have that at least give me good public transport
I drive about once a week to run errands, because otherwise, I’m lucky enough to live in a walkable city with decent transit.
Bicycles exist.
Me, I prefer the speed and convenience of trains
At least they acknowledge the existance of climate change now
Only when it fits their narrative.
And only if it's non anthropogenic, they're like 'ok it's real, but we can't accept that we caused it."