From: ermel@ermel.org   
      
   Hi!   
      
   On 22.05.2018 23:40, The Real Bev wrote:   
   > On 05/21/2018 03:48 AM, Erik Meltzer wrote:   
   >> Eventually, I think you'll have to go back to public transport.   
   >   
   > Apparently, but I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles and public   
   > transportation is woefully inadequate for general usage.  I can drive to   
   > my daughter's house ~30 miles away in half an hour.  It would take 5   
   > hours by public transportation.  There are just too many places to go   
   > to/from here to make this practical.   
   >   
   > Uber is suggested, but I don't see how that makes a difference.  A car   
   > on the road is a car on the road.  Period.  It solves the parking   
   > problem, of course.   
      
   One might conceive something like buses that do not travel on   
   predefined routes but according to demand.  Passengers use their   
   smartphone to register their location and destination and their   
   desired time of departure, and a computer system routes the   
   buses accordingly.  Something similar is being built in Hamburg,   
   Germany; we'll see how it goes, but given enough buses (or vans,   
   which is what they'll use there), I can imagine it should work   
   well.  And be cheaper than taxis or Ubers, too.  (Ubers are not   
   really a viable alternative anyway -- they're affordable only by   
   exploiting the owners/drivers.)   
      
   >> I have since come up with another theory: speeding is less fun   
   >> in SUVs, which are regrettably on the rise over here too, albeit   
   >> not nearly as much as in the US from what I read.   
   >   
   > Worse gas mileage = more expensive, but I don't think that matters as   
   > much as time.  You can see further in an SUV than in a Corolla, which   
   > would seem to indicate that you could drive faster...   
      
   The same speed feels the faster the higher you're sitting.  Hence,   
   maybe 100 mph in an SUV feels like 140 mph in a sedan (of similar   
   size, engine, and ride quality).   
      
   > Pretty much the same here, although  you're not allowed to drive   
   > small-displacement motorcycles and other slow-by-design vehicles on the   
   > freeways.   
      
   There is such a limit in Germany as well, but it's ridiculously   
   slow: you must be able to drive 60 km/h (36 mph) to legally use   
   an Autobahn.  The only vehicles that actually go that slow are   
   driveable cranes and such, and sometimes city buses with standing   
   passengers and motorbikes with trailers (both of which can't   
   legally go faster).   
      
   > Theory has it that slow drivers use the rightmost lane and   
   > fast drivers use the leftmost, but slow drivers don't seem to understand   
   > that concept.  These are the same people who apparently can't read the   
   > SLOW VEHICLES USE TURNOUTS signs on narrow mountain roads.   
   Slow traffic keep right works reasonably well over here.  Letting   
   faster traffic pass on single-lane roads does not.   
      
   > 'Interstates' are generally not all that interesting for pleasure trips,   
   > although they're fine for speed once you get out of the cities.  Older   
   > Federal and State highways are much better and more interesting and   
   > those are what we used for most of our cross-country driving.   
      
   So that's similar.  But I use the Bundesstraßen and Landstraßen   
   not just for pleasure trips (and getting to the Autobahn), but   
   sometimes also because I don't feel like participating in a   
   traffic jam.  Even with the big rig I drive for work, I've been   
   known to avoid Autobahns (and occasionally it turned out I was   
   actually faster that way).   
      
   > BTW, your English is perfect.  If you're not a native English speaker   
   > I'm impressed as all hell!   
      
   Thank you.  I was in England twice for a couple of weeks as a   
   teenager, and I've mostly been reading English books and watching   
   English movies ever since (and of course, websites & newsgroups).   
      
   Yours,   
       Ermel.   
   --   
   Nach 10 Jahren oder so zurück im Usenet.   
   Schmeckt wie früher.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)