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Thread: 2,500 Euros for a driver's license but great public transit, what do you think?

  1. #11
    Senior Member Gardenarian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zoe Girl View Post
    One of the things that I wonder about, as a hiring manager and part of a large district, is that when I got my job or when we hire people we only consider where someone lives for the lowest level jobs and not always then. So I could not go to my department and ask to move my work position based on where I live. My son and his girlfriend both work very close to our apartment, however my job is not like that. I am also about a mile outside of the car share programs at home but in the area for work. I know businesses often change locations, send employees to other sites, etc. Do you think if we moved this direction it would take a change of our mentality around work (be available any hours, any location, to have opportunity).
    Zoe Girl, I'm not sure I'm reading you correctly, but it seems to me that it is easier for individuals to move closer to their work than it is for employers to create jobs in certain areas that exactly match the skill set of a particular employee.

    As for Europe, most of the northern cities have excellent public transportation systems - clean, fast, and reliable. They put anywhere in the U.S. to shame, and a great many more people use public transportation there than in the U.S. Transportation between cities is easy by train or bus than in the U.S. But then, the U.S is HUGE!

    Another factor is that in many countries the weather is not as extreme as the U.S. We consider near-zero temps in winter and near 100 (or over) in summer to be normal, but those extremes make for uncomfortable walking and biking.

    Here's an article: "9 Reasons the U.S. Ended Up So Much More Car-Dependent Than Europe"

    And let's not forget the "General Motors streetcar conspiracy"
    Last edited by Gardenarian; 1-9-16 at 6:52pm.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    . . .

    A General Electric plant in my area that builds train engines , mostly for China and India, is in the process of moving 3000 jobs to a Texas plant near Mexico where they do business. The Northeast may become more friendly for climate change worriers but it will be easier to swallow because there will be no need for combustion engine cars.......there will be no jobs to go to anyway.
    just an aside, but I've always marveled at the fact that GE's CEO Jeff Immelt was on Obama's jobs program team for the Fed gov't, and yet I don't think GE has added any net new jobs here in the U.S. for years. I wish the government would appoint actual job creators instead of window-dressing some of these teams with CEOs who like being in with the higher powers of government.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Miss Cellane's Avatar
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    One thing I noticed when visiting various parts of Europe is just how extensive the public transportation system is. I could take a train to a major city, but the train station might be on the outskirts of town. But there was a subway to the center of the city. And then from there, I could take a bus to my final destination--be that a museum or hotel, etc.

    Most of that is just not present in the US. We have trains. We have buses that go long distances, like Greyhound. We have, in some cities, subways and local buses. What we don't have, in most of the US, is interconnected public transportation that allows you to get to where you want to go.

    Amtrak opened a station in my city (in New Hampshire) several years back. Lots of people take it to work in Boston, because once they get to South Station in Boston, they have a multitude of buses, subways and commuter trains to get them where they need to be. Fewer people take the train up here, because the train station is serviced by one bus line, that stops there once an hour, and mostly will take them to other towns.

    Because we have public transportation here in this small city of 30,000 people. But the bus routes are designed to take you to other towns, not to get you around the city itself. There is one route that has several stops in the city, but it does not go near the major shopping centers, the library, the Post Office, or the churches. It does have a separate stop at one of the larger employers in town, but not at the other large office buildings on that same road--meaning if you work near the big insurance company, you can get off on their campus, walk the mile back to the road, then the mile or more down the road to your own office. Oddly, there are few people who choose to do this in the winter cold and snow.

    When I was unemployed and working a part-time job at the local mall, a 15 minute drive away, the bus could get me there at 8:30 am, an hour and a half before the mall opened, or at 10:30 am, half an hour after my opening shift started. Being late wasn't an option, waiting around outside for an hour and a half wasn't a very good option--that was time I could spend job hunting. And the trip took 45 minutes to 75 minutes, depending on when you caught the bus. Massive waste of time, when a car could get you there in 15 minutes or less.

    So while I am a big advocate of public transportation, I don't use it in my own town. The US in general has a very long way to go before most people will use it regularly.

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