Because public transport is not available (and reliable) enough for me.
For me it's available but not reliable. There's always something that forces it to shutdown. There are frequent delays and the monthly fees are really getting up there.
I think this is the main reason people don't use it in America.
Public transportation doesn't exist for most Americans.
If it does exist, it's really bad. Buses are the most prevalent in America and they just suck in most cities.
Bus routes are pretty sparse, so you end up having to walk a pretty decent distance to catch the bus and then again when you get off the bus and go to your destination. It sucks because it adds and extra 30 minutes to the trip, but the exercise is nice so for me the walk is something I can deal with.
What I can deal with is the fact that buses are hardly ever on schedule. A late bus sucks because you're waiting forever for it to get there. An early bus can be even worse; if you get to your stop 2 minutes early but the bus was 4 minutes early you've missed it and now you're waiting another ~20 minutes for the next one. If that bus happened to take you to an infrequent connecting route you're going to miss that connection too. Now instead of being 20 minutes late you're an hour late because you missed your connection.
I'd love to take public transportation instead of my car, but I don't want to waste hours of my life waiting around because the bus is never where it's supposed to be when it's supposed to be there.
I'd guess because for a lot of us in the USA, public transportation is insufficient to meet our needs. I'd love to take a train from home to work, but there's no train line that's anywhere near my house. They're building one that'll go near my work, but it's not done yet. Busses are available, I suppose...but the time it'd take to get from home to work or back would be a lot longer than driving takes, even in heavy traffic, given that I'd have to transfer several times.
For longer trips, again, the infrastructure just isn't there. To visit my sister, for instance, requires taking a bus if I want to take the public transportation option. My (step)son takes the bus to go see his dad (who lives in the same city as my sister) since he doesn't like driving, and it takes a good 2 extra hours compared to driving. We should have train service, but no...Scott Fucking Walker killed the project back in 2010 when he got elected governor of Wisconsin.
As the simplest catch all to your question:
People prefer cars when they do not have access to adequate public transit.
If the transit is unsafe, untimely, or unsanitary, then it is not adequate. I live in an area of the US with a robust transit system comparatively and even it isn't adequate. You don't need a car to get pretty much anywhere but the travel times are at a minimum 2x due to how sparsely things are scheduled off peak times. They're a bit closer during peak times though.
I honestly miss the free time I had while taking the buses and trains to read news or play games, but since work requires quite a hefty list of materials, and can randomly shift during a day, I need the mobility of a personal vehicle these days.
Freedom: I can pick up my car and go where I want to go, when I want to go without worrying about time.
I think it boils down to:
In some places, public transport is just bad, while car infrastructure is good. In some cities, on the other hand, public transport is great while going anywhere by car is slower than walking.
A car lets you comfortably get basically anywhere, anytime, in any weather, with any (reasonable) amount of luggage, usually on a more direct path than public transit. Nobody will bother you during that time.
Public transit:
I don't have a car, and usually that works fine, except when it doesn't and I realize I'm missing out on something because to be there at 9:00 am I'd have to get up at 5:00 am, walk to the station, take the first train at 6:00 am, hope I don't miss any connections and sit on two trains and one bus vs. a 1 hour drive by car. Or I need to get to some place simply doesn't have any public transit in reasonable walking distance. Or I would like to transport two crates of beer.
These trips that just don't work on public transit make people get a car. Now they own a car and have paid the biggest part of the expense up front. And once you have the car, it's very often faster and more convenient to just get the car and drive somewhere rather than deal with public transit, which probably will take longer, won't go at the exact time you want to go, etc. - and most importantly, it requires a lot more planning and figuring stuff out than with a car.
Driving a car you own also appears deceptively cheap because maintenance etc. is often seen as a fixed cost (even though driving more increases the cost), so people only consider the cost of the fuel. Even with European prices, driving 100 km at 6 liters/100 km is like 10-12 EUR. A public transit ticket is going to be just as expensive, if not more. Especially if it's two people going together. So even if for some connection public transit may make sense, it can quickly price itself out of the game once someone owns a car.
Having car sharing easily available can solve the problem, but that's still a lot more annoying than a car you own, since it requires planning, you can get unlucky and not have a car available, and dealing with booking/pickup/return is a hassle. And it quickly gets more expensive than buying a really cheap car.
Is the best resume of why my city public transportation ranges from decent to bad depending on where you have to go and what part of the city. Also is safer ro go in a car to almost anywhere.
This would be like if a farmer went to New York City and said I don’t understand why everybody doesn’t just milk their own cow instead of buying it from the grocery store.
Just a mod trying to help a community stay active while talking about their culture shock :) I'm aware the US is quite different to where I'm from, just asking why.
A car is superior in almost every way where I live.
-Cars are faster. They don't have to stop to pick up and drop off other passengers.
-Cars operate on your schedule. They leave when you leave.
-Cars take you directly to your final destination. No transfers.
-Cars can take you anywhere. Want to take a road trip, you can.
-Cars take cargo. On transit, you can only take what you can carry or can fit in a cart (if a cart is accepted and will fit).
-Cars allow you to set up for your comfort. You control climate control, you control the radio. You can even adjust the seat for comfort.
The majority of housing in the USA requires a car. The nearest public transport option for me is 40 miles away.
If I did live in a city I would prefer to live near where I worked and shopped. Then I could get by without a car day-to-day, but would still want the freedom of a car for road trips.
If I want to go somewhere in a car, I get in my car and go there.
If I want to go somewhere using public transport, I have to walk to the nearest stop, wait for the transport to arrive, wait in the transport to take an inefficient route to the closest stop to the destination, then walk from the stop to the destination.
Basically, a 10 minute drive becomes an hour long ordeal.
In the US, public transit is almost universally unavailable. If it is available, it's a massive luxury (or strictly necessary, like NYC).
I live in a city with excellent public transport and use it a lot, but a car is total freedom. You can go exactly where you want, and stop anywhere on the way. Even with great public transport you can't beat it.
We can't sensibly talk about people's preferences without talking about the environment in which those preferences arise.
Here are some things that are true for most car drivers:
Public transport is usually the fastest option where I live, and it takes a lot less responsibility to use it.
This is... not true in a lot of places.
I'm 23 and I really don't want to drive but I have to eventually. Public transit where I'm at is absolutely terrible and its holding me back from basically any typenof decent career.
If you live in a city with great transit, thats great for you. The sad reality is that in most places, public transit sucks donkey balls.
Speaking from a US standpoint, the public transit sucks. The main issue where I'm at is lack of bus stops, and the bus is never on time. I'd have to walk down a highway (not interstate) to get to the bus stop, then it might not even arrive on time.
Cars are faster, most of the time. However, they still suck. Traffic in dense areas is heavy at almost all times of day where anyone is active. It's really a failure on the US government why people dont take public transit as much.
In the US and my city unfortunately public transit takes some time. My local transit system has had a hard time keeping up with maintenance of their E-hybrid busses and has busses out of service more often than not. This causes many trips to be overwhelmed with double the amount of people they would usually take.
In addition to lack luster infrastructure, you can experience safety concerns with some members of the public. I was personally followed all the way to my old job once and had to tell my manager "A crazy man followed me here, if he comes in the store call the police because I will remove him"
Despite these downfalls public transit becomes much more useful when combined with a bicycle. I can take the bus to the shops and ride back because most of the return trip is downhill.
When I owned a car I would often choose the bus with bike over my own car because then I wouldn't have to worry about parking.
In my city, it's not out of the ordinary to look upwards of 40 minutes for a spot. I used to have to park 20 minutes away in the hills then skate back. Otherwise I'd be doing laps around my neighborhood trying to find ANY legal parking.
I can definitely understand why some members of the public prefer cars over public transit just for safety.
I'm not a little guy by any means, I'm 190 pounds of muscle and have some facial scarring. I've been described as "scary" and "You look like the devil" but I have had a number of run ins that made me fear for my safety.
If I was a 4"5 mom I would almost exclusively drive.
In the times I've taken public transit, I was hit on creepy people, harassed, seen inane fights, etc.
Once I went car I never wanted to go back.
My 45min drive would take 3 hours though five towns and would still need to drive the first quarter of the trip. Not mentioning getting dropped in to the homeless bedrooms, also known as the transportation center.
I always feel like these posts come from people who've only ever lived in a city. I'd love to catch a bus sometimes but I'd have to bike an hour to the nearest stop and even then it likely won't stop where I need to go. In some parts of the US at least, it's literally impossible to only use public transportation. So you buy a car and if you move somewhere with good public transportation...you've already got a car and are used to the freedom anyway
Also the US is very large geographically so if you have to travel often it makes far more financial sense (not to mention saves a lot of time) to get a car
I live in San Francisco, so decent public transportation. But even then, it doesn't run 24 hours. If you want late night fast food, unless you live in NYC, you either need a car or get to pay absurd prices for door dash to deliver cold food.
I dislike other people and would prefer to not interact with them if I don't have to.
My car smells slightly less terrible than the bus
Transportation comes in 3 simplified steps. It needs to start near where you currently are, it needs to connect to where you need to go, and it needs to stop near where you need to go. For drivers, as long as there is parking at both places and roads to take you between, you can go at any time. From a USA perspective, poorly funded transit may have 15-30 minute waits and you may not even have the option depending on where you live and are going. The political and social will isn't necessarily there in most cases to drive transit frequency down to say 5 minutes and building out robust rail networks. I would love to take transit to work for example, but it would be a 4 mile bike ride crossing a main highway/stroad so its not very feasible for me to get there except via car or if I am brave enough on an ebike. And if am driving anyway, it becomes a choice between faster car travel or less stressful train travel (and cost of more driving vs the train).
From my perspective, cars are the jack of all trades, master of none of the transportation world. They can do everything you need them to, which is likely why they became so popular. But they don't inherently do anything you need better than other options, they just might be your best option depending on the infrastructure around you.
Also started a Transit community @transit
Public transit being the faster option is extremely rare in the US. On top of the speed, there's the flexibility of knowing that you can leave at any moment and go directly to your destination without any transfers or unnecessary detours, whereas public transit often has limited hours and infrequent service.
A) I have ADHD, so timing is an issue.
B) If I have to go far enough to drive instead of walk, I am probably going out to get a significant amount of stuff. I can't shove a Costco shopping trip onto a bus, nor carry it to/from the bus.
C) The other reason for traveling far means that I am probably traveling a far bit away. There is no way the bus is faster when it's an hour drive without traffic.
D) I hate dealing with random people all the time. I get in my car, I put on my music or podcast, and/or talk with my wife, and just go.
I live out in a (relatively speaking) smaller city in Texas. We don’t have public transportation here.
Also, I like to be able to do things on my own schedule. A long time ago I lived in a city with a bus presence and had to take the bus when my car broke down and it took several hours longer round trip than I would have been able to do what I needed to do in my car.
If you live anywhere outside of the inner city, public transport gets slow really quick.
I thought the same as you too when I was 23. I live in Singapore that has very accessible cheap public transport. But I still got a driving license and I'm so glad I did. Two words: ROAD TRIPS.
Some places and things are impossible with public transport. Driving from Calgary to Victoria Island in Canada, driving from Melbourne to Sydney. Stopping by to get some food. Check out nice mountains, coasts. It's not so much about the car itself, but the life skill to get in a car and your AOE (to borrow a gaming term) extends to several kilometres with unparalleled flexibility, except for big crowded, car-less cities.
It is being able to get in a car with a group of friends and you're golden to have a fun time out. It's about an emergency and you have the skill with you. It's about another option if where you live has car sharing services and you need to pick up something from IKEA. Cars are one of the most perfected piece of technology humans have came up with, almost to the point that it is an extension of us now.
From a guy who takes the bus all the time.
Yes I prefer cars over buses, why? More freedom For getting around
Well, as someone who has lived in Europe half my life and the good old US of A the other half, I'd argue that people don't prefer cars over public transit in general. America has a super strong car culture, and we could blame American's for this problem, and we could also be tempted to say that America isn't dense enough to have good cheap national public transit, but we had the best public transit in many ways leading up to world War 2 (good video on the topic: https://youtu.be/-cjfTG8DbwA ). In reality, with urbanization, lobbying, and the status/convenience cars just made a lot of sense. Plus, flexible passenger- and cargo-carrying capacities are a huge plus for cars all on your own schedule. Even, in great public transit cities people who can afford a car and the associated fee to drive it, largely will do so, since it just gives you the greatest amount of options to get around.
I've long been calling cars the Swiss army knifes of transportation. Those knives objectively suck for most usecases. Sure, there is a little saw on there, but you're not going to cut a tree with it. Similarly most dedicated tools will be better than their eqivalent on the multitool. But that's not the point of a Swiss army knife. The little red tool is everything at once, removing the need to decide what to bring.
Cars work in similar ways. They are inefficient, loud and bad for everybody's health, including the planets. But they are also your all in one. Want to haul stuff? Cars. It's raining and you don't want to get wet? Cars. And so on and so forth. Each of this usecases has better alternatives (public transport, cargo bike etc) but none of these serve all usecases at once.
The car therefore promotes intellectual laziness. Driving a car means not having to think about the best way, because the car always provides a way. And city design often helps with that. The extreme is North America, but other places are not free from this.
Public transport rarely being door to door adds to this. You have to actually think about where the stations are in relation to your destination. Searching for parking is similar but people frequently don't think of it as being part of the driving experience.
And then there are additional reasons, that are less stupid. I've been told, that some people for example that some people don't feel save taking transit, especially those of minorities. The car provides a level of isolation.
Also social stigma (I would classify that reason as stupid though)
@clueless_stoner I think if you live in the US. You don't have a choice. US kinda shot itself on the foot when they invested in car infrastructure instead of improving/sustaining their public transport back in 1900s. Now it impossible to get around the US without a car. And we keep consistently screwing over any attempts of a decent public transport infrastructure
US resident, I did public transport almost solely for years and was luckly to live in an area that had ok coverage from both a Bus and Rail system.
The bus I needed though only ran once every 45 minutes , so if I missed it Im way behind schedule.
That took me to a train system that ran every ~10 minutes during morning/evening commute - but every 20 outside that. Less than that in the evening or weekend hours.
Groceries - you're limited to what you are can carry , getting on or off.
All manner of people on the trains - most were good people just doing their thing, but then there are the homeless, the drunks, professional panhanlders, or downright mentally ill people who at best would ask you to spare some change, at worse you'd deal with a big ole cup of crazy while you're out and about. And someone jerk always playing music on blast instead of through headphones.
If you're lucky - the bus stop is close to your home, if not you hike a few blocks. Thats fine on the good days, but it sucks in the summer when its like taking a stroll through the 7th level of hell. Winter is great as you try not to fall and bust your ass on the ice, as you slowly lose feeling in your toes because you dressed for office attire that day, not skiing. Rain was always the best since some drivers would love to hit water puddles and splash you if you could, others did it on accident. Coming home from work - fine, you get to shower and change into dry clothes in a few minutes. The worst was when it happened on the way too work though - so now you have to choose if you keep a spare set of clothes in a bag, or if its an option at work.
Social life - not exactly a great look to say, what bus route are you on?
Limited distance - oh, you're interested in some cool event, what happens if its not in transit range? you either catch an uber or a lift from a friend.
The timing discipline needed - if the bus only runs every x, and the train only runs every y , and I have to be at X place at X time, that now means I have to leave 30min to an hour earlier than I'd need to by car to make sure I get there on time. And if you have a chance to leave work early? guess what you're not waiting for the bus , on a non-rush hour timetable so enjoy the wait.
A car - meant I could go when and where for as long as I please. More of my time was mine since I didn't have to account for interval times of routes, I could plan groceries better , transport sports or music gear easier when needed. Distance was no longer a limiting factor. Climate controlled car in the summer and winter and I get to stay dry during the commute? Not dealing with crazy people every day. It all takes a mental and physical toll on you.
Transit was doable I guess, but it wasn't enjoyable - the car was easier in all aspects of life.
I think the answer depends a lot on where you live and how comfortable people are with using public transit as an option. Where I live, the service is just okay-ish. A lot of people I know would probably use it more, but they prefer the independence of being able to jump into their car any time they want and drive directly to their destination, as opposed to having to schedule a time to be ready so you can catch a bus, make a transfer, and catch your return bus back. Taxis are also very expensive now. The days of cheap Ubers and Lyfts are long behind us.
Brainwashing and the fact that i have literally no other choice besides a car where i live.
Public transit is almost never the fastest option. Even when I lived in New York City, it wasn't the fastest option. If you were running late, you'd spend the extra money on a taxi to get to the airport or to get across town and except for the very peak of rush hour, it was faster. That's broadly been true in my travels in Europe, as well: taxis are almost always faster, from London to Rome.
Add to that, in the US, the actual experience of using public transit is often quite bad. Public transit is, well, public. You share a limited space, sometimes a very limited space, with literally anyone. Women are groped. The smell of urine is common. The seats are sticky. It's just gross, even in wealthy areas.
In contrast, with a car, you have a private, controlled environment. The temperature is what you want it to be. There's music. You can have a private conversation with your spouse. The chair is comfortable. Maybe you even have heated seats with a massage function. But whatever car you have, it's probably more luxurious than even a great public transit option.
So:
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