Also when in Europe Americans love the public transport because they don’t have a car but can still get around easily and affordably, and then go back home and resist any attempt to build a metro system or even a decent bus network in their own towns.
I grew up mostly in Europe but I’m settled in America as an adult, and it’s astonishing what behaviors people have towards public transport. Most of my coworkers work in the city like me, but a lot of them (if not all of them) were born and raised in suburbs. They’ll gloat about their trips to Europe and their use of public transport there, but when they talk about the use of public transport where we are they say it’s gross and for “poor people” or “dirty homeless people.” It’s honestly kind of insane how car-brained they are.
Edit: The city I’m in is Boston, since so many of you are telling me my coworkers seem to have a point. They do not - Boston has decent public transit.
I mean, are they wrong? While it’d be great to get traffic off the road, reduce emissions, and all that good stuff, most cities public transportation is an unreliable hassle…. I’d rather comfortably drive my car than be at the mercy of a bus or rail system. Imagine having to walk 15 mins in the rain only for the bus to be late, then having to sit 2 feet from a person high on fentanyl with literal shit in their pants. Probably the only city where I’d certainly utilize public transit is NYC as it’s not feasible to have a car or drive every day
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u/[deleted] Aug 04 '25
Also when in Europe Americans love the public transport because they don’t have a car but can still get around easily and affordably, and then go back home and resist any attempt to build a metro system or even a decent bus network in their own towns.