Dear Americans:

[OB1]

I wasn't aware there were many towns in America that you could get around without a car.

Uh, that is precisely my point, Weltall.

If you have a family, especially with children, $80 is a conservative estimate for a weekly trip.

Also, I took a bus to school for ten years. If anything, that soured my opinion for public transportation.

Here in Richmond, they set up a bus between the city and Chesterfield County, where I live. They called it the Chesterfield Link, and it was designed to bring Chesterfield residents into the city to increase business. What it ended up doing was bringing the scum from inside the murder capital of America out into the suburbs. Link was scrapped, and then brought back. Dunno what's going on with it now.

Public transportation in this country sucks. You have not experienced great, efficient, and super-easy public transportation, so the idea confuses and scares you. The rest of the world does it right, and it's not a problem. Most Americans are terrified of change and doing things the simpler, more sensible way. I doubt I'll ever live to see great public transportation in this country, but I can always hope for it.