• RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1 hour

    Why waste the money on paying people to not drive instead of using money to make the reasons they don’t use public transportation better?

  • Trump Rapes Kids@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1 hour

    “I gave up driving ages ago, I don’t even own a car. Can I get in on this money as well?”

    “No, fuck you. You don’t matter. We’re only paying real people with nice cars to change, not for poor slobs who already rely on public transportation to keep using it.”

    • nullspace@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2 hours

      The history of transportation in LA is tragic because at one point they had not one, but two massive streetcar networks.

    • Horsey@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2 hours

      I visit a few times a year, and stayed once at LAX; getting to Santa Monica Pier took like 90 minutes by metro train. The metro system is beyond useless.

      • Malyca@lemmy.zipEnglish
        2 hours

        You have to have a car as it stands today unfortunately

  • isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    5 hours

    Maybe instead of paying to take the bus, we should pay people to take the bus. You’re putting up with a lot of hassle to avoid taxing the roads with another car. Maybe you’re owed a few bucks for your community service.

    • runsmooth@kopitalk.netEnglish
      4 hours

      Is this not the basic premise for taking fees from fines and car related registration to reinforce public transit and proper city planning?

      What society isn’t invited to think about is how cars are so heavily subsidized to the point where it drains communities instead of supports them. From gas, roads, lighting, these costs are downloaded to every single person without much thought about any other option.

      • Funkt4st1c@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3 hours

        Also roads are typically paid for by new road building subsidies… Meaning more roads and no maintenance.

      • isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        3 hours

        Yes, but it’s more a matter of scale. And most cities still charge bus fare. It costs cities 10x as much money to support one car commute as one bike commute, but you would be hard pressed to find a city that put even an equal amount of dollars into bike infrastructure as car infrastructure.

  • AceBonobo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5 hours

    I think they’re researching how big of a congestion tax they need to get a certain percentage of people to stop driving. Giving someone $600 is very similar to not taking away $600.

  • AuroraZzz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9 hours

    Maybe make your metro usable so not driving would be easier. It’s kind of impossible to get where you need to go without a car in LA

    • Brkdncr@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5 hours

      These are two separate comments.

      The metro is usable.

      It’s still impossible to get around LA without a car. It’s a very large spreadout city.

      • pemptago@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2 hours

        Not impossible. Just very difficult. Source: I lived there for several years without a car, moved close to where I worked (twice), biked and walked most of the time, some public transit when the routes lined up, had very little social life. If there was a special event across town, could use some money saved from not having a car to spring for a taxi.

    • THB@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7 hours

      LA is a tough one for this because it’s so spread out. San Francisco has a famously amazing BART system but the city is also very tiny compared to what most people think of as “LA”.

      Depending where you live and where you go, LA Metro can be useful. I use the Metro quite often, and I know the bus system is pretty expansive as well. They’ve also consistently been adding new lines and stops including a way to get to LAX via Metro. So it’s not like improvements aren’t being made.

      • ayyy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        28 minutes

        Famously amazing BART system

        Haha….hahahahHahahahaHAHAHA

        HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

        …you spend too much time on Internet forums and not enough time riding transit lol

        Edit: I see the “Your lived experience is invalid. Wait shy doesn’t anyone listen to me?” people are showing up today.

        • THB@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3 hours

          … I’ve been to SF several times and used the system, it’s great. Also to add, since you enjoy being condescending, I’ve used public transport in Asia and Europe as well. So… haha?

    • velma@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      9 hours

      More people taking transit will help put pressure on improving it.

      • Pechente@feddit.orgEnglish
        8 hours

        I agree but I think it’s much easier the other way around. First improve the infrastructure, then incentivize people to use it.

        • velma@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          8 hours

          I have to admit that I’m unsure how LA does it, but up in Washington the voters have to approve more funding for transit. Which is difficult if voters feel like transit doesn’t work well to begin with and then it’s an uphill battle.

          Double-edged sword, I’ll admit.

          • Steve@communick.newsEnglish
            8 hours

            That’s a chicken-egg problem.
            A double-edged sword is something that could hurt as much as it helps if you’re not careful.

  • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9 hours

    Sounds like a great way to get a free car!

    Buy the car, park it in your driveway for the next six years and use the cash incentives to make your car payments!

    • ThePantser@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      9 hours

      Looks like its only a one time payment and only 2000 households. So its just a PR stunt. 2000 is enough for a news story but not enough to effect anything.

      • adarza@lemmy.caEnglish
        8 hours

        it’s not a ‘pr stunt’, it’s a research study.

      • velma@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        9 hours

        This is the second phase of the program. It’s already been successful.

        Building on a successful pilot in Santa Monica, Metro is expanding the One Car Challenge to all of LA County in Summer 2026. This time, we’re inviting approximately 2,000 households to participate — and for the first time, one-car households are welcome.

      • BlackVenom@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8 hours

        Except those people will tell other people how it went… For better or worse.

  • NarrativeBear@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8 hours

    Anything but subsidizing transportation directly hu?

    That $120 a week for every resident should just go directly into better and free transit.

    Hell I would bet most car infrastructure is subsidized at a higher amount per week per person.

  • blackbeans@lemmy.zipEnglish
    9 hours

    Parking your car for so long is not without risk though.

    Might need a new car battery as it will slowly drain.

    Parking brakes might get stuck.

    Tires might develop flat spots.

    • ayyy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3 hours

      In 6 weeks? In a place that is populated specifically for its gentle climate?

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      6 hours

      You can just charge drained batteries or jump start cars and they’ll charge on their own!

      You also don’t HAVE to use the parking brake if it’s on your own property and if it’s maintained at all, it won’t get stuck anyway. I’ve seen them freeze shut in the winter, but LA isn’t known for -30C winters, particularly this time of the year.

      Flat spots from a few weeks of car being parked will go away in a few minutes of driving.

      I’ve left cars stored for several months at a time and nothing bad has happened. Disconnected negative battery terminal so there’s no starting issues either

      • blackbeans@lemmy.zipEnglish
        5 hours

        My message was meant for people who do not take these things into account. As there are many of them.

        Also, you can definitely permanently damage your battery by letting it discharge too far. This is due to a process called hard sulfation.

        • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          4 hours

          It’s 5 weeks, it’s not a long time. You need to take these things into account when it’s multiple months.

          • blackbeans@lemmy.zipEnglish
            2 hours

            Depends on your model. Some BMW, Volvo, VW and older Teslas discharge within weeks. Mostly due to their built in telematic systems and luxury systems.

            • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              2 hours

              Yes, and then you charge it.

              A battery running flat once isn’t such a huge deal. Running flat repeatedly or running so low it can no longer be charged back up is, but it’s still fairly uncommon to happen unless the battery is already dying.

              I ran my battery flat like 10 times in a week testing my OBD2 app since I was mostly testing it at night and didn’t want to start the engine and it’s a 2007 Audi so the ignition-on power consumption is ridiculous (must be dozens of amps). Still no issues. My other car has manually switched lights which I forgot to turn off the other day and came back to an extremely dim sidemarker being the only thing still lit up in the morning, this one is a 2001 so it’s not smart enough to turn off consumers, it ran flat and kept on powering that light. Started it with my booster and after a few kilometers driven, it started without the booster again. This one isn’t even a particularly new battery, at least the other one is a 3-4 year old Exide.

      • Iconoclast@feddit.ukEnglish
        5 hours

        I’ve been on plenty of vacations but never one that lasted 5 weeks.

    • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8 hours

      The battery can be trickle charged with a $15 device if needed. Those other things are not an issue over just five weeks.

    • velma@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      9 hours

      No one’s stopping a car owner from starting the car during those 5 weeks.

      • blackbeans@lemmy.zipEnglish
        9 hours

        No one is stopping a car owner from doing that, but many will forget. And they will be unpleasantly surprised and might not join such a challenge again. Hence my heads up

        • velma@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          9 hours

          Sounds more like you’re discouraging people from participating.

          • blackbeans@lemmy.zipEnglish
            9 hours

            No, why? I live in a country where traveling by public transport is the norm.

            • velma@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              9 hours

              You can’t see how your comment pointing out only negatives about participating in this program is discouraging?

              I’m glad you’re supportive of it. There’s ways to maintain one’s car in this program.

              • blackbeans@lemmy.zipEnglish
                9 hours

                I was pointing out the negatives of leaving a car parked for 5 weeks. Sure you can read it differently, depending on your mindset.

                • velma@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  9 hours

                  All I had replied is that it is possible to maintain a car while participating in the program. So as not to discourage people from trying it if they were interested.

                  Glad you cleared it up that you’re supportive of the program!