That’s my own solution too. I’m lucky to live in a place here it’s possible—Paris’ suburb—and I almost never use a car (I don’t even own one).
When you make the maths of how much a car costs (buying it, insurance, fixing it and having it checked regularly, gas, …), the risks they come with, and the fact that driving is lost time (while in public transports you can take a book and read, or use a laptop for a long enough train trip), public transports is a clear winner to me. And exceptionally call a taxi when you can’t go somewhere, that’ll still cost less than a car.
Most people, when told their 30 minute car trip would take 1 hour by bus, would not read for 30 additional minutes once they get home, so while reading or using your laptop is worth more than doing nothing, it’s worth less than what you’d be doing if you weren’t on the trip. All you’re doing is cutting your losses. And depending on how you value things, this could very well mean the loss from the time on the bus is still greater even after considering that you can read so it’s not a complete loss.
Furthermore, I listen to podcasts in the car. By your reasoning this counts as the driving not being lost time anyway.
That’s my own solution too. I’m lucky to live in a place here it’s possible—Paris’ suburb—and I almost never use a car (I don’t even own one).
When you make the maths of how much a car costs (buying it, insurance, fixing it and having it checked regularly, gas, …), the risks they come with, and the fact that driving is lost time (while in public transports you can take a book and read, or use a laptop for a long enough train trip), public transports is a clear winner to me. And exceptionally call a taxi when you can’t go somewhere, that’ll still cost less than a car.
Most people, when told their 30 minute car trip would take 1 hour by bus, would not read for 30 additional minutes once they get home, so while reading or using your laptop is worth more than doing nothing, it’s worth less than what you’d be doing if you weren’t on the trip. All you’re doing is cutting your losses. And depending on how you value things, this could very well mean the loss from the time on the bus is still greater even after considering that you can read so it’s not a complete loss.
Furthermore, I listen to podcasts in the car. By your reasoning this counts as the driving not being lost time anyway.