You're conflating unpopular with uneducated. In many circles this is a popular opinion. Perhaps find a better educated echo chamber.

by Torpautumn 2 days ago

It's not a 1 problem 1 solution world and you aren't going to solve everything with a single solution. Even in countries with strong, cheap, reliable public transport have traffic issues or people using cars. Public transport is great but unless traffic is that bad it can never erase the properties of having a car. I use a car but I have 2 kids and often need to pick them up, take them to classes and stuff all in a timeframe that can't be acheived on a bus/tram/train. They have static routes that aren't their for an individuals needs. So cars will still be around, cars will still exist. So while you should ALSO push into public transport, car infrastructure will also remain an issue and should be invested in.

by zbrekke 2 days ago

If you want to reduce traffic especially in developing countries you need to attract the car users to the metro instead of the bus users. For this the metro needs to be expensive enough to avoid attracting the bus users. As politicians can never do that metro systems do nothing to reduce traffic. At least EVs mean that traffic is not emitting while caught in a jam.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Metro, buses and trams are not one connected system operated by one company with the same tickets/passes in your city?

by Anonymous 2 days ago

No. Metro goes to most places and from metro stations you take an autorickshaw for last mile connectivity. Buses are run by a different corporation and are a lot more expensive than Metro but have free passes for many categories of passengers.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I like rory sutherlands suggestion - add on 50-100 to your yearly car tax (VED in the UK, not sure what it is called in the US, registration tax or smth) and then give out that same amount in free public transport vouchers. Once people use it a couple times they'll start to consider it as an option. And if they dont, then thats extra funding for the transport system.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I don't have the sources on hand, but I've seen a few graphics about emissions by km based on vehicle type. Depending on how the electricity is generated and specifics of the city, electric cars carrying just 2 or in some cases 1 person can emit less CO2e than public buses. I understand this is at least partially due to the miles where buses travel without passengers or when there are only a very small number of passengers in the big and heavy bus.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

It also changes where the emissions are generated. EVs don't produce emissions on the road but do at generation plants and production and supply chain facilities. That usually disproportionately affects lower income folks and other minorities etc.

by Anonymous 2 days ago