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Surviving an American suburb without a car (www.youtube.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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[–] 11 points 11 months ago (7 children)

I always find it interesting how Americans name public transport as "the" bus. As in singular.

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  • [–] 17 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    Is this uncommon?
    Expression is the same in German, even in the places with really good public transport: "Sollen wir den Bus nehmen?" - "Should we take the bus?"

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago

    Yeah, I imagine it's the same most places. You aren't taking all the busses. You're only taking the one. Multiple may exist, but they aren't the one you're on.

    It's the same for cars, trains, etc.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago (2 children)

    At least where I am from, yes. Maybe very specific, but I always notice it.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    How do you phrase it? Is it "take a bus/buses"?

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago

    Where I live we usually just say the station name. And because you have multiple fast lines to get to said station, it doesn't make sense to say, I take the bus, or I take the underground, or I take the train. Because all of them take you there. It's mostly about preference.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago

    It's because if you say you take the bus it implies that you only need one and have no transfers. If somebody needs to go two cardinal directions to get to their destination they need two buses, ie they are lost to the American public transportation system and won't be seen until archeologists find their remains.

    The hubris of those who wish to travel 7 kilometers or more using public transit in the States is punished. Those who wish to travel 5 miles swiftly learn that feat is only attainable in a a minimum of 4 hours or alternatively you can walk or bike and get run over at a crosswalk by a pickup with more blindspots than a Abrams tank.

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