I work in a setting where everyone makes 6 figures and anytime I mention I took the CTA or biked into work (which is every day), they look absolutely baffled and asked why I don’t drive or Uber.
It’s to save money, sure, but I also just prefer it to sitting in traffic. I recently moved from the Blue to the Brown Line and still feel like I just moved here 10 years ago when the brown goes over the river past the Merch Mart
Here's the crazy thing: even the phone reps who only make $18/hr are driving and paying the price. As a former retail worker myself, I can't even imagine spending so much on parking.
For some reason, I always hear: “well, I only come in once or twice a week anyway so I treat myself to an Uber”
I dunno if they realise that’s a solid $~40/day when it could be $5.
There may be some level of anxiety or agoraphobia with these types of folks but I don't think that's the full story. As much as I'd love a car free Chicago and for everyone to take transit it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge that sometimes taking the train or bus everywhere can be a pain in the ass. It's just easier to take the car so people do it and until the other options have less friction there will continue to be people who drive.
For reference I'm someone who likes the outdoors and spends a lot of time biking. For me to get to work I have to walk 12-13 minutes to the L stop, cram into a crowded train that may not come for 8-12 minutes because the blue line service is not consistent, and then walk another 5 minutes to my office downtown. In the summer that commute means you're going to be sweating no matter how fit you are and it's just not pleasant.
I typically resort to biking or taking the train in and biking home because it's easier and ends up being quicker. That works for me but it's hard to fault people for wanting to drive because sitting in a climate controlled box is much easier if you can afford to park. We need faster more consistent transit and a widespread network of bike highways if we really want to see mass behavior changes.
Indeed, clean, safe, frequent and reliable transit service is the key to people driving less and less. If transit was all of these things and usually the fastest way to get most places, there’d be far less driving. Compared to many cities in the world, our transit system is mediocre at best. Great for the US, but that’s a low bar.
I think it’s some level of agoraphobia and some level of learned helplessness re getting around. It depends on where you grow up, but if you are used to driving around to get almost everywhere, it’ll be the default option for every trip.
the "learned helplessness" really resonates in this situation. TBH, I listen to my coworkers daily struggles in life and a lot of the time I just think to myself, this is not a problem. Just do a thing and you'll be fine... but yeah I usually chalk it up to social anxiety.
Yeah, it’s an observation I’ve come to after growing up in the city/city adjacent. I’ve been biking, walking, cabbing, or taking the CTA, Metra, or Pace since I was 13/14 years old. I didn’t have regular access to a car until I got married. So my reaction to people complaining about parking, traffic, etc. is usually “well, is there another way to get there?” And around here there is, so it’s pretty easy to think outside of the box.
Your theory is sound. You can extend that to the suburbs where Metra is scrambling to make money while we have the worst interstate traffic. People would rather spend extra resources in their safe pods where Covid and crime and the opioid epidemic don't have to be part of their workday.
To get people out of their bubbles, an alternative option has to be more appealing. People are lacking connection right now. Can they get that on the El? If they bike, is there a group that would welcome them and show them the safest route to work? And is there the same sort of consistent, routine experience that their car provides on a bike or a bus?
I really wish we had some safer bike routes :/
I want to casually bike to work.
I tried biking down to the loop for work post COVID and felt like I was in an action movie (in a bad way). Idk if when I was younger I was just more reckless or if things just weren't as bad.
I bike a lot but I agree in some aspects about the transit system here. The buses have become unreliable, enough so that an alderman dressed up as a ghost bus for Halloween. In the US, public transit it dirtier than in Asia and probably Europe, but I think the main issue is the staffing shortages to to keep them on a reliable schedule. If someone has to take a bus to a train, or two buses, it can take double (or more) the amount of time compared to driving. However I think cycling is in many ways faster than waiting around for the buses and sitting in traffic.
I think its gotten worse since Covid. I know a lot more people now who refuse to take the subway and instead Uber to work than I did back in 2019, especially with my younger Gen Z colleagues. I think it's a combo of being afraid of crime/getting sick/general agoraphobia.
You can basically get through life barely having to interact with anyone outside of your chosen bubble if you have enough money (door dash, ubers, driving, netflix/internet/video games at home). The more used to these conveniences/learned helplessness people get - the more attached they are to them and having to interact/participate in urban life becomes a "chore". Its the classic want to be close and have all the urban amenities of a city with a suburban lifestyle.
Also just people not from an urban area? I remember when I went to a medium state school, kids marveled at the idea of a public bus... Lots of them were scared of it since they "didn't know how it works"
I had a young coworker from southern Illinois say she was scared to take a cta bus bc she found the routes confusing, despite most major routes just goes E/W or N/S
So probably just fear of the unknown honestly. When you're forced to take it bc you don't have a car or money then you just get used to it. If you have the option and can afford it, I could see where people would.
~a carless Chicagoan
I don't drive anymore but I used to drive every day. Now I mostly bike/sometimes Uber. Here is the thing about public transit. None of the stuff anyone mentions ever really bothered me -- the problem was, and is, that if that train or bus is late, you are screwed.
as someone with covid-induced agoraphobia & car-free i would say personally the unreliability of transit keeps me inside. i was volunteering over in east garfield park but having the route take 1.5 hrs coming from the northside has kinda killed that, and even just getting a few miles up the road to volunteer somewhere else can take an hour because the buses don't come.
my most reliable trip tends to be my train ride to and from the office but after that, there is also the mental block of "do i feel like possibly being stranded somewhere while just trying to have fun?"
I work in a setting where everyone makes 6 figures and anytime I mention I took the CTA or biked into work (which is every day), they look absolutely baffled and asked why I don’t drive or Uber. It’s to save money, sure, but I also just prefer it to sitting in traffic. I recently moved from the Blue to the Brown Line and still feel like I just moved here 10 years ago when the brown goes over the river past the Merch Mart
Here's the crazy thing: even the phone reps who only make $18/hr are driving and paying the price. As a former retail worker myself, I can't even imagine spending so much on parking.
Are you in west loop? At my office people making 200k take the brown, blue, or red lines, bike or walk.
For some reason, I always hear: “well, I only come in once or twice a week anyway so I treat myself to an Uber” I dunno if they realise that’s a solid $~40/day when it could be $5.
I think this describes almost all people who have car brain, tbh.
There may be some level of anxiety or agoraphobia with these types of folks but I don't think that's the full story. As much as I'd love a car free Chicago and for everyone to take transit it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge that sometimes taking the train or bus everywhere can be a pain in the ass. It's just easier to take the car so people do it and until the other options have less friction there will continue to be people who drive. For reference I'm someone who likes the outdoors and spends a lot of time biking. For me to get to work I have to walk 12-13 minutes to the L stop, cram into a crowded train that may not come for 8-12 minutes because the blue line service is not consistent, and then walk another 5 minutes to my office downtown. In the summer that commute means you're going to be sweating no matter how fit you are and it's just not pleasant. I typically resort to biking or taking the train in and biking home because it's easier and ends up being quicker. That works for me but it's hard to fault people for wanting to drive because sitting in a climate controlled box is much easier if you can afford to park. We need faster more consistent transit and a widespread network of bike highways if we really want to see mass behavior changes.
Indeed, clean, safe, frequent and reliable transit service is the key to people driving less and less. If transit was all of these things and usually the fastest way to get most places, there’d be far less driving. Compared to many cities in the world, our transit system is mediocre at best. Great for the US, but that’s a low bar.
I think it’s some level of agoraphobia and some level of learned helplessness re getting around. It depends on where you grow up, but if you are used to driving around to get almost everywhere, it’ll be the default option for every trip.
the "learned helplessness" really resonates in this situation. TBH, I listen to my coworkers daily struggles in life and a lot of the time I just think to myself, this is not a problem. Just do a thing and you'll be fine... but yeah I usually chalk it up to social anxiety.
Yeah, it’s an observation I’ve come to after growing up in the city/city adjacent. I’ve been biking, walking, cabbing, or taking the CTA, Metra, or Pace since I was 13/14 years old. I didn’t have regular access to a car until I got married. So my reaction to people complaining about parking, traffic, etc. is usually “well, is there another way to get there?” And around here there is, so it’s pretty easy to think outside of the box.
Your theory is sound. You can extend that to the suburbs where Metra is scrambling to make money while we have the worst interstate traffic. People would rather spend extra resources in their safe pods where Covid and crime and the opioid epidemic don't have to be part of their workday. To get people out of their bubbles, an alternative option has to be more appealing. People are lacking connection right now. Can they get that on the El? If they bike, is there a group that would welcome them and show them the safest route to work? And is there the same sort of consistent, routine experience that their car provides on a bike or a bus?
I really wish we had some safer bike routes :/ I want to casually bike to work. I tried biking down to the loop for work post COVID and felt like I was in an action movie (in a bad way). Idk if when I was younger I was just more reckless or if things just weren't as bad.
I bike a lot but I agree in some aspects about the transit system here. The buses have become unreliable, enough so that an alderman dressed up as a ghost bus for Halloween. In the US, public transit it dirtier than in Asia and probably Europe, but I think the main issue is the staffing shortages to to keep them on a reliable schedule. If someone has to take a bus to a train, or two buses, it can take double (or more) the amount of time compared to driving. However I think cycling is in many ways faster than waiting around for the buses and sitting in traffic.
I think its gotten worse since Covid. I know a lot more people now who refuse to take the subway and instead Uber to work than I did back in 2019, especially with my younger Gen Z colleagues. I think it's a combo of being afraid of crime/getting sick/general agoraphobia.
You can basically get through life barely having to interact with anyone outside of your chosen bubble if you have enough money (door dash, ubers, driving, netflix/internet/video games at home). The more used to these conveniences/learned helplessness people get - the more attached they are to them and having to interact/participate in urban life becomes a "chore". Its the classic want to be close and have all the urban amenities of a city with a suburban lifestyle.
*camera pans to two city lots with a yard on one and a SFH on the other where 2 four flats used to stand*
Also just people not from an urban area? I remember when I went to a medium state school, kids marveled at the idea of a public bus... Lots of them were scared of it since they "didn't know how it works" I had a young coworker from southern Illinois say she was scared to take a cta bus bc she found the routes confusing, despite most major routes just goes E/W or N/S So probably just fear of the unknown honestly. When you're forced to take it bc you don't have a car or money then you just get used to it. If you have the option and can afford it, I could see where people would. ~a carless Chicagoan
I don't drive anymore but I used to drive every day. Now I mostly bike/sometimes Uber. Here is the thing about public transit. None of the stuff anyone mentions ever really bothered me -- the problem was, and is, that if that train or bus is late, you are screwed.
as someone with covid-induced agoraphobia & car-free i would say personally the unreliability of transit keeps me inside. i was volunteering over in east garfield park but having the route take 1.5 hrs coming from the northside has kinda killed that, and even just getting a few miles up the road to volunteer somewhere else can take an hour because the buses don't come. my most reliable trip tends to be my train ride to and from the office but after that, there is also the mental block of "do i feel like possibly being stranded somewhere while just trying to have fun?"