My work office is in a big tourist town. There are tour buses there all year round but in the summer it is pure madness. They used to sit idling for hours on end and you could barely stand to walk past all of them. Probably because the driver sat in the bus and wanted air conditioning…
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I’ve been to NYC many times - and only ONCE did I drive. Not worth driving into or inside NYC. They have an EXCELLENT public transportation system. I don’t drive into Boston either. Far far easier to take public transit or walk.
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+1 to Mike’s comment.
When I was much younger, and when traffic wasn’t as problematic as it is nowadays, I drove into Manhattan most weekends. I ended that practice ~25 years ago, as a result of really bad traffic congestion and the need to pay for outrageously-priced private parking lots.
If I need to go to Manhattan, I drive to Jersey City, use reasonably-priced public parking, and take the PATH train into Manhattan. Once I’m in Manhattan, the subway takes me anywhere I want to go in the city.
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I take public transit whenever possible. Last week I took Amtrak from just south of Baltimore to Philadelphia and back. I drove to the local rail station, about 20 minutes. The train trip took about 1.5 hours, faster than if I drove to Philadelphia, and I didn’t have to pay parking at the hotel where the meeting was held. Even better, my Amtrak tickets got me a subway ride for the two stops to the hotel, literally across the street from the rail station. Total trip cost was $23.00 plus rail station parking. Yes, parking at home cost more than the trip.
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One of the reasons I don’t take public transportation since 2008 or earlier is because of news like this:
Not just Nia Wilson but many more incidents like hers have happened due to mental disorders affecting the public.
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If motor vehicle accidents were sensationalized in the media like that, then you wouldn’t want to drive either. Statistically speaking, driving your own car around is the most dangerous way to travel.
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I’m not sure if I would accept your argument with grace.
My father argues like you saying flying on planes is much safer than driving in cars. While the statistics might show this in his favor, would such statistic show how many times a pilot saved his own life compared to a car driver ?
I rather die behind the wheels while trying to escape my death the best I can versus given no chance at all.
Facts are used in arguments. But they are jut facts, not arguments.
You are, obviously, free to believe what you will and to travel however you like.
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After submitting my reply and re-reading it, I thought I should have substituted “argue “ for “ reason “.
It’s a common language structure that leads to misunderstanding most of the time.
So, my father reasons like you and not argues like you 
I lost my family in this plane crash:
I would tell my family who was on board that I didn’t like the idea of her flying so often as I don’t trust things that give me any opportunity to save myself if bad things happened. She said plane was the safest way to travel and to not worry. 
You have my sincere condolences.
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Sorry for your family’s loss there @Clueless33 . I had a gf in college who lost her entire family in a similar small plane accident. Even worse, it took months of not knowing before finally discovering where exactly the place crashed. I have a work-friend who thankfully survived with only minor injuries a small plane crash. I expect the stats would say a one-engine small plane is probably considerably less safe than a commercial multi-engine jet airliner, but it might be a little safer than driving a private car, mile for mile. Depends on the route and the weather forecast of course, presuming both are known in advance.
I used to ride on BART (SF Bay area public transit) all the time, common daily thing, had to occasionally dodge some of the other riders, but never had any serious problems. A certain amouont of risk-management helps. For example if someone points a gun and says “give me your wallet”, just give it to them. Beforehand make sure there’s nothing important or irreplaceable in you wallet. But your own feelings have to be taken into a account in the safety decision as well. If you feel safer driver b/c you have more control of the situation, that makes a lot of sense to me. Sort of like gambling or playing the lotto. You know logically that you are probably just wasting your money, but it makes you feel good thinking about how you’d use the winnings.
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Another good reason not to idle:
An idling semi truck was stolen in Texas today. The thief then drove to a Dept. of Public Service building and rammed the truck into it. He was apprehended while back in up to ram the building again.
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I wonder what public service he was so upset about? I seem to recall quite a few years ago a news report that somebody flew a small airplane into a Texas office building on the IRS’s floor level, thought to be some sort of tax dispute.
When I was growing up in upstate New York in the '50 and '60s, the school busses were never shut off during the coldest days of the winter; they were idled all night so they knew they would run in the morning… I cannot imagine what the homes downwind of the bus yards were like. I have a Ram Truck Diesel and I push the truck out of the garage, shut the garage door, and start it outside of the garage, the fumes seem to enter the house through every crevice… I never start it in the garage…
I wonder if the schools still do that in New York.
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Thanks, George. My condolences to your friend’s families as well.
Honestly, I’ve avoided numerous car accidents on the road by having control of the situation. Then I had two horrifying experiences on a commercial plane ( JETBLUE ) where my only option was to pray.
I don’t really recall what year, maybe it was in 2006 returning from Jamaica to the United States where the pilot announced she could not see to land the plane due to weather condition. I was confused because I thought planes could land by themselves.
The pilot came down very low to the ground with roughly 170 passengers onboard and then having to climb back up. She did this 3 times before deciding to land elsewhere to pick up a more skilled pilot.
Each time the plane came down, the crew turned the lights off and the whole plane went into darkness.
When we successfully landed, everyone onboard applauded the new pilot and we were so relieved.
The second incident wasn’t so bad but still scary. The plane I was on, its right wing froze upon takeoff. So the pilot had to sharply stopped the plane and turned around to defrost the wings.
Dont ask me how such occurrence happened as I have no idea other than I was pooping myself.
And as for the lottery, I believe I’m gonna be a winner someday 
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Thank you.
Really, what movies and documentaries have you watched?
To get into the left seat of a commercial airliner requires a lot of training and experience. Not uncommon for an airliner to be diverted to a different airport due to weather conditions.
The only complaint I have about commercial air travel, it was much more enjoyable before “deregulation”. Before deregulation airlines competed on the basis of service (remember Champaign breakfasts in coach?) rather than in the price of a ticket.
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Yup!
On the very competitive NY-Miami run, back in the '60s/'70s, one of the airlines advertised “Steak on every flight”, and they got a lot of customers as a result. I can recall being on a flight to Miami on a different airline in the early '70s, and they had an onboard contest that gave the winner a bottle of champagne if he/she could guess the exact moment when the plane would be “abeam St. Augustine”.
I didn’t win, but it was a lot of fun, and it diverted peoples’ attention during the flight. The airline was now-gone Northeast, and I recall that two people on that flight each won a bottle of champagne.
He was not granted a commercial driver’s license earlier in the day. There is another thread on this subject. Read more there if you haven’t already.
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You’re far more likely to be killed by a drunk driver then attacked while taking public transit.
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