dianaiad
Well-Known Member
No kidding. I love the train. One of my favorite 'get away' daytrips used to be to take the commuter train (and we do have one, actually!) to Grand Central Station in LA, walk a couple of blocks to Olvera street, wander around a bit, and then take the train home.
I did have to drive to the station to catch that train, mind you, and pay for parking (the local station is five miles from my house) because there's no bus that will get me there, but it beat the heck out of dealing with the freeway, and I got a train ride. Did I mention that I love trains?
I don't do the Olvera Street meander any more, because walking for any distance is out of the question for me, but I have been known to take the commuter train to Grand Central, then turn around and ride right back because, well, there's that train ride.
Many people here in the valley take the commuter train. Most don't, because (whisper this one) the train doesn't take them where they need to go when they need to go there. Now me, if I ever go back to school, (say...Cal State Northridge or UCLA) I'll take the train, but other than that?
Oh, indeed yes. While I do have a supermarket within two miles of me...I can't walk there. I definitely can't bike there. Now consider 'normal' people walking there in 105 degree ( Fahrenheit) heat. True, THAT isn't an issue that most Americans face, but it's something I face. My usual commute to medical/shopping is 30 to 50 miles. I get to go to the City of Hope fairly frequently. 150 mile round trip. Not considered unusual, or even something to be thought of twice.
Big!
I retired in Dec 2009 and the last time I went to London was in Feb 2010 for my last Court witness attendance. London is 55 miles away! The furthest we have ever travelled since then has been to Gravesend, once a year, to visit my wife's relatives. Gravesend is 35 miles away.
Our little car is insured for up to 5000 miles per annum, which means that our average travel per week is less than 100 miles...... and we never go that far!
Oh. My. I remember that 'lack of distance' from my own time in England. But here? Fifty five miles is nothing. I'd go there for a morning's visit to a yarn or quilt shop, since there isn't one closer than that to me. I'll admit that most of my yarn/quilt shopping is done online nowadays, but there are times when one simply has to go look, y'know?
One of the problems is...California is 1.74 times the size of the UK.
California is the most populous state in the US, with 38.8 million. That's approximately the population of southern England. It really matters how dense the population is, when talking about mass transit and dealing with high gas prices.
the continent of Europe is just a wee bit bigger than the USA...but that includes a very big part of Russia. The EU has a population of 510 million people...in an area half the size of the USA, which has 327 million. The EU has a LOT of mass transit and trains. Europeans manage with $8 per gallon gas because:
a: they have far fewer miles to travel
b; more mass transit
c: fewer people own cars
d: more people own 'scooters,' bicycles, etc.
Items A and B are the most important things, I think...I wouldn't mind paying $8 per gallon if I only had to drive 2 to 5 thousand miles per year. I'm lucky if I can get away with driving three times that much per year (in years where I don't go to Utah to see my daughters).
I did note, as a surprise, that Italians own more cars than Americans do, per capita. Remind me not to go to Italy and attempt to drive there.
