One could drive a car for less than the cost of taking the train, especially if the non-commuting costs of car ownership were considered "sunk" costs (that is you had to have a car anyway.)

My dad did a back-of-the-envelope calculation once. I don't remember precisely what his input assumptions were, but the result was that good shoes cost about a Danish crown pr. km walked, public transport (in Scandinavia at least) cost about a crown pr. km if you commute every day and avail yourself of the bulk discounts, while a car costs about 2 crowns pr. km.

Of course, that's assuming that you ride all by yourself in the car, but it's still a thought-provoking little bit of arithmetic.

Say what you will about being able to drive a car being a privilege. I say that living in a country with an infrastructure that makes it cheaper and faster to go by train than by car is a greater privilege.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.