• 6mementomori@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    i agree with everything you said, but i do have to say that the problem with Europe isn’t proving that public transport isn’t that good(i know that’s not what you’re saying but I can’t think of any other way of wording it rn), but rather than the city planning is… unfortunate

    • LouNeko@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yes, that’s what I’m trying to say. In r/fuckcars and also here the term “car centric” and “pedestrian centric” cities is thrown around a lot. Europe is often praised for being build before cars were invented and is therefore naturally friendlier towards pedestrians. But it’s not like busses are hovering above the buildings, they are as much car as an SUV, even bigger and bulkier. They have to squish themselves around tight corners. Whole roads get turned into one way streets because a new bus line was opened and now a bus and a car wouldn’t be able to pass each other in this medival inner city alley. Public transport requires infrastructure, which means property has to be acquired. One douche not wanting to sell his shed to the city, can grind a whole project into halt. Even if the government took extensive action to invest into public transport, there’s only so much they can do. And theres a long line of burrocracy between cause and effect.

      In my city at least, I’ve never experienced the government trying to cull the public transport, there’s been a steady improvement over the past 15 years. New lines, Better busses (also electric ones) have been added. Busses have their own traffic lights to give them time to de- and accelerate. But the city is literary at its capacity. It has reached the point of diminishing returns for public transport.