Car sharing: not good enough for me

Retro

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There are so many anti-car schemes nowadays to get people out of their cars - and all of them suck. Nothing beats having your own car (or leased) available to you 24/7. The only thing that can compete with it is Uber or a similar taxi service and it's still second best.

The only thing that would make me consider it is something like Uber with autonomous cars and greatly reduced cost per ride, similar to a bus fair, perhaps.

This car sharing scheme that seems to have taken off is still not very good. One has to book it, it's expensive at £7 / hour and one has to walk to designated pickup points, among other things. Glad it's not being made compulsory.

 

Tiffany

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There are so many anti-car schemes nowadays to get people out of their cars - and all of them suck. Nothing beats having your own car (or leased) available to you 24/7. The only thing that can compete with it is Uber or similar taxi service and it's still second best.

The only thing that would make me consider it is something like Uber with autonomous cars and greatly reduced cost per ride, similar to a bus fair, perhaps.

This car sharing scheme that seems to have taken off is still not very good. One has to book it, it's expensive at £7 / hour and one has to walk to designated pickup points, among other things. Glad it's not being made compulsory.


I much prefer driving myself too, even if the highways are scary! Had to go into Dallas last week. Here's a view I took for NZ going North on I-75 about to reach the intersection of I-635. I'm just glad I didn't have to crossover on the upper levels this day.

I met a highway engineer years ago, and he said that our bridges had a lot of safety issues, ya think? Well, ever since that delightful conversation, I have felt my personal level of safety is threatened every time I'm driving on these crossover nightmares. :eek:
 

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Retro

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I do like American infrastructure from what I’ve seen of it in movies and pictures. From the complexity of it, it does look expensive to maintain, but I’m still surprised that they don’t invest as much as they should.
 

Mars

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There are so many anti-car schemes nowadays to get people out of their cars - and all of them suck.
Car sharing? Not for me. Not now not ever.
Some people might like the idea and find it suits them, let them take it up and enjoy the ride.
To me it just sounds like a whole lot of Pain. It eliminates any spontaneity of you being able to hop into your car and go, on the spur of a moment, whenever you want. Instead, you have to plan and liaise with a group of people first: what a drag!
Surely it cannot be foisted on everyone! I can't see it ever being made compulsory.
I like my own car, my own company, my own space.
 

Retro

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Car sharing? Not for me. Not now not ever.
Some people might like the idea and find it suits them, let them take it up and enjoy the ride.
But it cannot be foisted on everyone! I can't see it ever being made compulsory.
I like my own car, my own company, my own space.
Yes, to all of that!

You wait, they go on about it being about pollution and congestion, which is a plausible pretext and unfortunately has some truth to it. However, just you wait, when electric cars become the norm and there is no more pollution, they'll still want us to get out of our cars. That's because it's really about curtailing our personal freedoms. Only the rich few will have personal transport and the rest can go cattle class.

Also, fully autonomous cars may have been developed by then, which will be a sea change in car ownership in itself and be both good and bad. Imagine being able to order up a car 24/7 Uber taxi style with minimal delays and very cheaply? Even I would consider that as the cost would be so dramatically lower than owning or leasing my own car. It still remains however, that one's own personal transport gives the most freedom, including with autonomous cars. It would just be my autonomous car for my own use and not sullied by the general public using it like any form of taxi is, including Uber. Oh and I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting something in it and losing it forever when I get out.
 

Mars

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It would just be my autonomous car for my own use and not sullied by the general public using it like any form of taxi is, including Uber. Oh and I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting something in it and losing it forever when I get out.
ditto!
 

Tiffany

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I do like American infrastructure from what I’ve seen of it in movies and pictures. From the complexity of it, it does look expensive to maintain, but I’m still surprised that they don’t invest as much as they should.
America is seriously lacking in maintaining infrastructure. Some states keep up with it better then others. Texas is always doing road building and repair, but despite all of that effort, the state still can't keep up.
Car sharing? Not for me. Not now not ever.
Some people might like the idea and find it suits them, let them take it up and enjoy the ride.
To me it just sounds like a whole lot of Pain. It eliminates any spontaneity of you being able to hop into your car and go, on the spur of a moment, whenever you want. Instead, you have to plan and liaise with a group of people first: what a drag!
Surely it cannot be foisted on everyone! I can't see it ever being made compulsory.
I like my own car, my own company, my own space.
Agreed! I just haven't figured out how to maintain driving dependency when I become an advanced senior I'm going through this with my mom right now. Seeing this switch turned on in my life through her not being able to drive anymore in an eye opener.
Yes, to all of that!

You wait, they go on about it being about pollution and congestion, which is a plausible pretext and unfortunately has some truth to it. However, just you wait, when electric cars become the norm and there is no more pollution, they'll still want us to get out of our cars. That's because it's really about curtailing our personal freedoms. Only the rich few will have personal transport and the rest can go cattle class.

Also, fully autonomous cars may have been developed by then, which will be a sea change in car ownership in itself and be both good and bad. Imagine being able to order up a car 24/7 Uber taxi style with minimal delays and very cheaply? Even I would consider that as the cost would be so dramatically lower than owning or leasing my own car. It still remains however, that one's own personal transport gives the most freedom, including with autonomous cars. It would just be my autonomous car for my own use and not sullied by the general public using it like any form of taxi is, including Uber. Oh and I wouldn't have to worry about forgetting something in it and losing it forever when I get out.
Electric cars are not the solution and "they" know it and why I'm at it, either are windmills and solar panels. Even Musk admits that too. Where do you discard the batteries? There's actually more pollution with electric cars (batteries) and not to mention the lithium mining that necessitates a batteries produced existence (which Russia has that market share). How much infrastructure would have to be developed in electric grids to produce the electricity for all of these charging stations? We are many years from this, despite "their" grandiose wish to make this happen right now. In the past two years, the Texas grid failed in February of 2021, and 2022. It was a nightmare experience to survive in zero degree temps for days without power. I can't even imagine the issues of putting power stations on line without monetizing our electric grids. Agreed with protecting the earth and the environment, however, their intent to take away our freedoms on this scale is defiantly concerning.

I don't know if you all are familiar with the show, "The Big Bang Theory"? There's an episode where Sheldon is forced to take the bus and wasn't happy to not have his bus pants so he would have a sterile barrier between him and the public seats. I get it about public places. I have my own OCB's and car sharing wouldn't work for me. No one in public transport could meet my standards of clean. :D
Ditto again to the clean thing in your own car!
 

Arantor

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So here's a piece of comedy... I don't drive. Don't even have a licence. I've lived my entire life within walking distance of the London/Brighton mainline here in the UK and the number of times I've regretted not having my own vehicle (as opposed to public transport/taxis/Uber) is pretty small.

I know this is different in other countries; I couldn't imagine doing that in the US - and I've been to a few states on a roadtrip, which was an amazing experience. But I guess I'm not bothered enough to feel the value of the independence it might theoretically bring me if I were to a) learn to drive, b) get a car, c) have somewhere to park it.
 

Tiffany

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So here's a piece of comedy... I don't drive. Don't even have a licence. I've lived my entire life within walking distance of the London/Brighton mainline here in the UK and the number of times I've regretted not having my own vehicle (as opposed to public transport/taxis/Uber) is pretty small.

I know this is different in other countries; I couldn't imagine doing that in the US - and I've been to a few states on a roadtrip, which was an amazing experience. But I guess I'm not bothered enough to feel the value of the independence it might theoretically bring me if I were to a) learn to drive, b) get a car, c) have somewhere to park it.

Driving is overrated and dangerous in the states, seriously. My daughter and I went out yesterday to run an errand and dinner (which is totally rare now a-days since 2019), and we were not even out of our neighborhood yet on the main street that I was getting ready to enter, and there was some juvenile delinquents in a jeep harassing the mom car in front of them. They were swerving and being general idiots. My daughter looked at me and said, though comically, "let's go back home where it's safe"....but not so comically, there's a risk everyday to drive anywhere in the country or big city. You never know who's on drugs, allergy med's, drunk, mad or carrying a weapon. If I lived close to everything, I wouldn't miss driving at all. Lucky you!! :)
 

Arantor

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I dunno about being overrated; I think it really depends on context. I can't imagine getting around most of the US on public transport - even getting around some of just the cities individually seems hard enough.

The one big trip I did around the US started out in Kentucky (where my friend lived) and we went out in his Jeep from there up to Minnesota to stay with his parents for a couple of days, before heading out west through South Dakota (to see Mount Rushmore and the Canyonlands), onto Nevada (we did hope to hit Vegas but timing meant we did Reno instead), out to northern California to see the giant redwoods, down the coast through SF, out to the Grand Canyon, up to Moab, Utah (gotta get that offroading in with a tricked-out Jeep) and back through Kansas. 7250 miles in 18 days, including at one point just straight up driving up a mountain because we could.

The notion of a 300 mile drive in one day was just out there for me. That's like... a third of the UK. (We have 1/5th the people of the US in the space of one state)

It was an amazing trip and I'd love to go do something like it again sometime but it's pretty much the only reason I'd want to learn to drive.
 

Tiffany

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That's an experience of a lifetime...and I'm glad you got to do that in the style you did, tricked out jeep and three weeks to spare. You saw a lot of great territory and historical places. I have always wanted to take a European trip and see your homeland, Ireland, Italy, Spain....well all of those places!!

My dad, myself and my brother (when I was in HS) did a trip like that...took three weeks....started out from Texas, mid focal point was Seattle Washington...so traveled north westward, New Mexico, Colorado (Independence pass; lots of snow), Utah, Nevada/Las Vegas, (one of those women of the night offered her services to my dad...lol), Wyoming (Yellowstone Park, we got snowed in, passes closed in June), Montana, (got a speeding ticket for using "unnatural resources"), then Washington. After Washington, took the coastal Highway 1 through Ca, Alcatrez in SF, and then headed east through the Grand Canyons, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, etc., then back into Texas. That was the most traveling I've ever done in my life. It was crazy.
 

Retro

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@Arantor That sounds like a proper bucket list item has been crossed off your list. Sweet.

(got a speeding ticket for using "unnatural resources")
Wear that like a badge of honour! After about 30 years of driving, I finally got nailed by a speed trap. 👍

Thankfully, since the police are more interested in getting your money than prosecuting, I had the option of paying £100 fine and taking a "speed awareness" course. I was actually looking forward to that and as expected, it was the biggest load of "speed kills" propaganda I'd ever seen, with the truth bent out of shape and exaggerated to a large degree and I was laughing internally at it. Externally, I was just watching the proceedings and being careful not to give the "instructor" a reason to "fail" me, so I didn't say much, just clarified one or two points and didn't say anything controversial.

Shockingly however, there were some people there who really had no idea about safe driving though and it had nothing to do with speed. It was things like pulling away from the kerb without looking and general lack of awareness and control of the car. They were a menace. They should have their licenses revoked, not go on little courses like this.
 

Arantor

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And this is why I never learned to drive. It always seemed like it'd be 10% of the time avoiding my own mistakes and 90% of the time avoiding everyone else's.
 

Retro

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It's not that bad, but as someone who likes driving, I can tell you that there's much less enjoyment to be had from it nowadays, what with all the restrictions, speedtraps and penalties that are imposed on drivers.

Given how the world is moving to autonomous cars, learning to drive may not be such an imperative for the freedom of 24/7 personal transport in a few years, anyway. I can imagine a future (if climate change doesn't ruin it first) where 99.9% of vehicles are autonomous, so it won't even be possible to learn to drive and current licenses revoked by the government. In such a future, human driving would be restricted to specialist uses such as Formula 1, the military etc.
 
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