Author Topic: Four block commute and they drive!  (Read 5398 times)

Saving mom

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Four block commute and they drive!
« on: May 06, 2013, 08:55:36 PM »
I interviewed today with someone who lives close enough that he could point out his apartment from the view in his office. I asked if he walked to work. Of course not! He drives!

This is Dallas- home of drive through everything.

foobar

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2013, 07:30:48 AM »
Depending on the job, I wouldn't walk either. I don't know what the humidity is like in Dallas but if it remotely close to Houston, walking 4 blocks would mean I would need to take a shower before starting work since otherwise I would be scaring off the customers.

With a 4 block commute, he can drive a h2 to work and really not notice how much gas he spends. The plus of living close to work outweighs pretty much everything else.

I interviewed today with someone who lives close enough that he could point out his apartment from the view in his office. I asked if he walked to work. Of course not! He drives!

This is Dallas- home of drive through everything.

BrownStache

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2013, 08:35:32 AM »
I travel every week for work, and I see this kind of crap all the time... A couple months ago, I ran into a coworker at a restaurant behind our hotel, and he asked me if I wanted a ride back to the hotel. It's literally a 3 minute walk, and this guy drove.

I told some other coworkers this insane story, and they thought I was the crazy one for walking there every night.

the fixer

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2013, 11:21:37 AM »
What really gets me angry about these people is the environmental waste. The catalytic converter doesn't get a chance to warm up for a drive that short, so you're producing all kinds of nasty emissions per mile for no good reason.

kt

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2013, 11:52:20 AM »
what gets me with these types of stories is that walking may well be quicker! what with getting in to the car, getting started, traffic, parking and then walking to the building. on that kind of distance the length of time to walk vs car is really not significant enough to go 'o i don't have time'.
one of my favourite things about being car-free is it forces me to be slower to a certain extent. if i had a car i might try and rush from place to place, manic busy all the time trying to fit more and more in because i could just drive a little faster or blame the traffic. but i can only walk so fast and so much. plus, being totally car-free means i can't intend to walk then run out of time and go in the car anyway.

Reepekg

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2013, 01:55:05 PM »
With a 4 block commute, he can drive a h2 to work and really not notice how much gas he spends. The plus of living close to work outweighs pretty much everything else.

I think the larger point is why bother owning a car at all if you live that close to work (and it sounds like downtown and near enough to stores). The tantalizing part is that the offender is so close, and yet so far from Mustachianism...

foobar

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #6 on: May 08, 2013, 09:48:48 AM »
Is this still true? I thought most modern cars preheated the catalytic convertor to reduce emissions as you needed it to get LEV and above  certification. Granted if the guy is driving a 15 year old car he might still be a pollution box.

What really gets me angry about these people is the environmental waste. The catalytic converter doesn't get a chance to warm up for a drive that short, so you're producing all kinds of nasty emissions per mile for no good reason.

CALL 911

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #7 on: May 08, 2013, 02:54:40 PM »
I can do you one better. In college, it was fashionable for the (mostly ladies, some gentlemen) students to drive BMW's 2 blocks from their apartment to the campus. Why? Not for class. To use the JOGGING track around the campus. That's right. They drove 2 blocks, to go running! Well before I found Mustashianism I said "What the hell!".

oldtoyota

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #8 on: May 08, 2013, 03:14:49 PM »
I used to drive up a small hill to the subway stop. I could sense the stink of judgment from my very green neighbors. I felt like a loser, because I had such trouble getting up the hill and thought I was being lazy instead of realizing I had a problem.

Turns out I had a health problem that made it hard to get oxygen through my blood. I'm better now and so I walk. However, it sucked to be judged when I had something wrong with me.

« Last Edit: May 13, 2013, 08:31:45 AM by oldtoyota »

sonofczar

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #9 on: May 09, 2013, 09:58:34 AM »
I used to live 2 blocks from work and walked every day.  I then sold my house to a co-worker, and for the next three years that we both worked there, he never walked once.  He didn't have any excuse either.  I'm willing to bet that it took him longer to go start his car, drive it, find a parking space, and get into work than it took me to walk there.

Starstuff

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2013, 11:40:52 AM »
I drove one block to pick up Chinese food last night. It was 9pm and rainy off and on... But I felt like an idiot so I have to confess.

Reepekg

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Re: Four block commute and they drive!
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2013, 04:23:59 PM »
Is this still true? I thought most modern cars preheated the catalytic convertor to reduce emissions as you needed it to get LEV and above  certification. Granted if the guy is driving a 15 year old car he might still be a pollution box.

So we're talking about the first 90 seconds of engine operation before the catalyst is warm, which wouldn't matter if he drove a couple of blocks or 20 minutes. On cars more than 5 years old or so, this period accounts for 70% of the pollution of 20 minutes of driving. It's very binary about whether you drive or not as opposed to distance.

I'd also throw this out: Preheated how? Thermal management of the engine which requires more fuel and generates more CO2? Electric preheating which, you guessed it, just pulls more from the alternator and requires more fuel and generates more CO2. No matter how you slice it, using an ICE car inefficiently (cold, starting up) has an environmental price which is worse than it operating at steady state which is worse than just walking your lazy behind a couple of blocks.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2013, 04:25:44 PM by Reepekg »

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!