this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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[–] jaupsinluggies@feddit.uk 9 points 5 days ago (7 children)

That's great if public transport goes from near where you are to near where you want to be, in a reasonable time.

For me that's not the case. Anywhere I want to go takes 27 changes over at least 5 hours for a net distance of three miles; it'd be quicker to hop backwards blindfold on a bent pogo stick.

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[–] SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip 16 points 5 days ago (10 children)

Something even easier to implement than public transit is treating e-scooters and e-bikes like first class citizens. Governments love to restrict their speed to make them uncompetitive with cars without an easy legal alternative.

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[–] RustlingLeaves@slrpnk.net 26 points 6 days ago (7 children)

Yes, though not always as accessible.

The problem with electric cars is two fold as far as I understand it:

  • The electricity it uses is not sustainable.
  • It has lots of tracking etc and in some cases remote control.
[–] schnokobaer@feddit.org 26 points 6 days ago (13 children)

The problem with EVs is that in almost all ways other than local pollution they are just as bad as ICE vehicles. They

  • need massive amounts of asphalted space for roadways and parking
  • use this space very inefficiently and cause traffic congestion at any given spike in traffic
  • drive urban sprawl and thus make housing less sustainable (more sewage,water supply, electric supply, heating, roads/person required)
  • urban sprawl stretches everything far apart and makes public transit much less feasible so people who can't drive cars struggle to get places, for example kids can't walk to school or take public transit, instead must be driven
  • are loud (because tyres rolling is the driving source of noise)
  • are dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists
  • their dangers and tendency to cause traffic congestion inhibit other, more efficient and sustainable modes of transport so that when not regulated properly, they take over all of the streetscape as is evident in most western places
[–] nucleative@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago (1 children)

This is a general complaint about vehicles, not necessarily EVs, and extends to trucks, motorcycles, and basically anything that gives humans more range than their feet.

This position would probably be best directed at the city planning office.

[–] schnokobaer@feddit.org 11 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

This is a general complaint about vehicles, not necessarily EVs

Yes, that's like the whole point of my post, being E doesn't fix 90% of the issues caused by individual motorised transport vehicles. And city planning can't do anything about these inherent issues either, they can merely decide to make good, sustainable cities or car friendly cities. Good city planning policies stand in direct contrast to the amount of cars expected to be driven.

And I'm saying this not to shit on EVs, they must clearly replace ICE vehicles as soon as possible, but to warn that they will not fix the unsustainable state of affairs in transportation. Loads of people appear to actually believe they do and that's sort of dangerous. We're not gonna fix jack shit if we just transition these vehicles to being electric while further increasing car dependency and sprawl. We're gonna make it even worse.

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[–] 18107@aussie.zone 21 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Tracking is not unique to electric cars, just new cars.

Large power stations are more efficient than small engines.
Many electric car owners also have solar panels.

Refining enough fuel to transport an average car 100km uses enough energy to transport an average electric car 50km. That's just refining, not including searching for or collecting the oil, or transporting the fuel to fuel stations.
It's so much electricity that most oil refineries have dedicated coal or gas power stations.

As long as you are only considering cars, electric cars are superior in almost every way, and are constantly getting better.

A diesel bus is still better than an electric car (although an electric bus would be better still). Trains and trams would be ideal, but require more upfront cost, so are easier for lazy or corrupt politicians to oppose.

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[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 6 points 4 days ago

Horses are even more sustainable and renewable. And tasty if done right.

[–] mechoman444@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yes but much less profitable.

[–] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago

Devilish that capitalism has made profitability synonymous with efficiency

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 10 points 5 days ago (2 children)

You also need to fix the karen problem that plagues society. I don't like getting called a slur or "go back to where you came from", and its very bad when you're stuck inside the small space as them. (By "karen" I don't mean just white women, but the attitude of some people, anyone can become a karen)

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[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 10 points 5 days ago

A lot of cities were designed around cars. In Cities Skyline you can just bulldoze entire neighbourhoods and completely change the roads and transit. Unfortunately in real life you can't easily bulldoze people's homes, and transit networks can take a decade to build.

Global warming is a problem now, and perfect is the enemy of good enough. We know EVs aren't the ideal solution, but it's important part of a solution that involves improved transit, better quality of life in dense population centers AND EVs for neighbourhoods that were built in a car-centric past. Maybe in 100 years the suburbs won't exist and there won't be any need for cars, but if we wait 100 years to have perfectly designed transit friendly neighbourhoods we'll all be fucked.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 4 days ago (5 children)

It's not even just about sustainability. It's also largely about comfort (public transport is just 10x as comfortable as any car could be), price to the end consumer (public transport is typically much cheaper to the end consumer than cars, and that's even by a lot), space management (compare how much space cars need vs. public transport) and all these things. it's not just climate change.

[–] Aganim@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

public transport is just 10x as comfortable as any car could be

Yes, nothing beats walking to a bus stop and waiting there in the cold, rain or burning sun, hoping the bus shows up in time or at all. Then stressing, because it being 15 minutes late probably means your connecting train will be gone. Oh yes, there it goes. Half an hour wait with no place to sit. And then repeat this two more times for more connecting trains and buses.

And I haven't even talked about not being able to sit during train rides, or having to sit on back wrecking seats. Unfortunately I have back issues and after having enjoyed the 'comfort' of our public transport I often end up just not being able to stand or sit anymore at the end of the day because my back hurts so bad.

That is my average commute, and as a bonus there ultimately isn't a difference in price here between taking the car or public transport. To top it off my average travel time is 60 minutes by car, 1.5 - 2 hours by public transport, often depending whether or not the first bus shows up in time.

It would be able to overlook a lot of this if it was feasible to do some work in the train, but with all the fragmentation on my route I never really get anything done.

I really would like to use public transport, as it is more sustainable than my gas guzzler, but each time I try it the experience just sucks so bad.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I'm with you entirely except for comfort. I think the only comfort advantage is that trains can have comparable leg room and you can standup.

I have never been on any type of mass transit where the seats were as comfortable as even a crappy car.
That's ignoring system dependent stuff like cleanliness or the discomforts of being close to strangers.

You can certainly clean more, put in better seats, and suck it up when it comes to strangers, but as it is right now, I struggle to see how you could say it's more comfortable based purely on the amenities.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 4 days ago (5 children)

I struggle to see how you could say it’s more comfortable

easy, i don't have to focus on the street for 50 minutes. that's a big win for me.

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[–] DarthAstrius@slrpnk.net 8 points 5 days ago

I agree, but, this country, unfortunately, is built around cars now, and I certainly can’t walk to work as it would take hours, same with biking.

We need more public transportation, but we also need electric cars.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 19 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Like ~15 years ago I heard peter singer saying that the emissions from the lifetime use of a car were lower than those from making it, so you should only ever buy a second hand car.

That was before widespread EVs though.

I often wonder how long you have to use a 2nd hand gas car for, before the emissions outstrip those of making a brand new EV.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 22 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (20 children)

threeish years apparently, given you run it on green electricity.

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Walking/biking > public transportation > used EV > used IC with decent fuel economy > new EV > new or low fuel economy IC.

[–] bss03@infosec.pub 12 points 5 days ago (50 children)

Depends on population density. Even if there was passenger train service on the existing lines here, a lot of people would need a vehicle to get to the station, and I don't think public buses / vans could cover all the roads at a reasonable schedule.

But, also, you don't have to get very dense before public transport is better than individual vehicles for intracity trips.

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[–] bizzle@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Nothing you do as an individual will ever be as bad as the commercial fishing industry.

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[–] betanumerus@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago

It's great to see that Skeletor and all his "likes" will be switching from gas cars to public transit.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 13 points 6 days ago

Stupid sexy skeletor

[–] Soleos@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Electric cars are a type of vehicle. Public transit is a type of transportation system that include many different types of vehicles and can include electric cars.

You're comparing apples to orchards.

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[–] Fedegenerate@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I have Reduced my car/bike usage. I'm still a hobby driver/motorcyclist but I do it less nowadays.

All my vehicles are bought second hand and will be Reused until I can't fix them anymore. They're both mid 00's Hondas (car and bike) so that's likely going to be until I run out of parts on the market.

Then they will be Recycled for scrap metal. At that point I'll think about Reusing some other second hand car. If electric makes sense it'll be that.

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 8 points 5 days ago

Yes but only if you run it competently.

Source: live in Ottawa.

[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

This is true for dense cities, but not in more rural and semi-suburban areas.

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