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  • Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard)MarkHoltom
    Oct 24, 2026, 1:36 PM

    “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”

    A photo of Paul McCartney sitting reading a book on a commuter train.
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  • Alexa Devreux-Swiftalexadeswift@lgbtqia.space
    Oct 24, 2026, 3:50 PM

    @MarkHoltom

    If public transport is turn up and go, goes where you need it to, and is easy to use and navigate without am incomprehensible fare structure, people will use it.

    It is that simple.

    I know, I have a car and still use public transport, and the main reason I do not use it more is autism and at least one of the above not being true.

    And also public transport is generally a bit shit in Germany.

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  • Alexa Devreux-Swiftalexadeswift@lgbtqia.space
    Oct 24, 2026, 4:58 PM

    @enbypirate

    Yeah I know. Stations that a filled will rubbish, shit and piss. Trains that derail. Punctuality meassured in decades. Main express lines which are single track. Antique rolling stock.

    A bit shit is is far too complimentary, and that is just the trains.

    My local bus company regularly runs busses with lights that do not work and drivers who barely know what the StVO is 😱🤣

    It is now wonder people use taxis to get too and from the airport since I have seen a Masserrati used as a taxi, and it is one way to be guaranteed to arrive at the airport before you leave the Hauptbahnhoff .

    @MarkHoltom

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  • D4vd4v@mastodon.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 3:59 PM

    @thejiral @MarkHoltom I don't really fear being harmed in a traffic really and never did...I've feared for my life couple times in a public transport though, so it's a no for me.

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  • TheJiralthejiral@cyberplace.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 4:45 PM

    @d4v @MarkHoltom I was not writing about your fears. Way more people are harmed in traffic than in public transit. That goes so far that you can usually read pretty much about every single case of someone getting harmed in transit but even lethal accidents on the road do not even always get reported, even on local level. There are simply so many of them.

    If you don't know anyone who was harmed in car traffic, you are lucky.

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  • Noodlemaznoodlemaz@mstdn.games
    Oct 24, 2026, 9:51 PM

    @d4v @thejiral @MarkHoltom that's irrational based on what actually happens in life and the statistics. Driving is incredibly dangerous.
    Your prejudices about less-fortunate people don't change that risk.

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  • Bruce MirkenBruceMirken@mas.to
    Oct 25, 2026, 1:46 AM

    @d4v @thejiral @MarkHoltom Check the stats on deaths in vehicle accidents vs. on public transportation. Thinking the earth is flat doesn't actually make it so.

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  • RastalRastal@mastodon.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 4:08 PM

    @d4v @MarkHoltom Which country are you in?

    In #uk for example, our trains aren't taken care of by the companies that run them and are often running late, but the likelihood of finding "drug addicts" on trains is almost non existent, let alone getting stabbed by one of them.

    Buses might be a different matter though, depending on area.

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  • D4vd4v@mastodon.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 4:24 PM

    @Rastal @MarkHoltom In the UK the system is more secure, as you must pass through a gate with a valid ticket, if I recall correctly (so entry without one is unlikely, unlike in some European countries). In my EU country (sorry don't want to be specific), public transport allows entry without a ticket, meaning anyone, including homeless people or drug users, can enter, it is wild!

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  • Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKvfrmedia@social.tchncs.de
    Oct 24, 2026, 4:53 PM

    @d4v @Rastal @MarkHoltom

    I live in UK too, not every station or transport hub has ticket operated barriers.

    You may get drug users or homeless people on the trains or hanging around stations, but its extremely rare for them to target strangers in any way.

    People can take all sorts of drugs and not be obvious (and its far better if they do that and use train/bus than driving!)

    There are safety risks on UK transport but its more from angry men looking for somebody to harass (maybe for gender/skin colour/sexuality, or that they are in the public eye).

    Which might also be why Sir Paul McCartney picked an empty part of the carriage where many (especially younger people) might think he is just any other middle aged man..

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  • M Schommermusevg@23.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 9:42 PM

    @d4v
    I've been googling now for a while in German, French and English and didn't find a single report of somebody getting "stabbed by a drug addict on public transport". It really is too bad you don't want to be specific about your country & can't share links to articles about such incients. We just have to trust you, right?

    @Rastal @MarkHoltom

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  • Derek the DIY GuyDerek_DIY@mastodon.ie
    Oct 24, 2026, 3:53 PM

    @MarkHoltom

    Paris is working hard to become more cyclist friendly and get cars out of town.

    Meanwhile in Ireland

    "Put on warning wests and stop bothering cardrivers!" 👏

    Hanging behind every reasonable development. As usual.

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  • GOD666GOD666@hear-me.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 4:02 PM

    @MarkHoltom

    I agree.

    Unfortunately, if we applied this thinking in the United States, public transportation would have gold-plated seats with on-call, door-to-door service, and the transportation fee would be outrageous.

    We really do have a class problem here, and half the population cheers it on. One where the wealthy must be special and entitled.

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  • Flash Mob Of OneFlashMobOfOne@mstdn.social
    Oct 25, 2026, 12:20 AM

    @GOD666 @MarkHoltom For the most part, yes, but understand that you may have great power to change that locally.

    My city has a free streetcar line that runs for six miles through the heart of the city and regional bus system connecting it.

    We've also expanded bike lanes in recent years.

    None of that can happen nationally, but it could happen locally.

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  • GOD666GOD666@hear-me.social
    Oct 25, 2026, 1:33 AM

    @FlashMobOfOne

    I am unsure where you are, but here nearly all of that would be funded and regulated on the state level. Public transportation is usually a state or federal matter in America. That often includes bike lanes, too, since most major access ways with the most accessibility are state routes and not just streets.

    That said, I think my overall point was the social mentality and, by extension, the applied logistics our nation has towards the wealthy.

    Many Americans here practically worship the wealthy, and while they may complain about the inequality, complaining is all they do. The big problem is that many of them do not want to stop the exploitation, but rather dream of being the exploiters themselves.

    @MarkHoltom

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  • Tinalazy@fedi.at
    Oct 24, 2026, 9:05 PM

    @AnnieC @MarkHoltom I think there are very good reasons to believe that this is real. What is most convincing, I believe, is the low quality of the photograph. AI tends to generate images that have high sharpness, have strong lighting and tend to be weirdly wrong in some ways. Here — the lighting is very realistic, which is to say, not very good. The image it totally out of focus (focus point seems to be around the back of the seat on the right side. McCartney looks old, tired and very human, by no means fancy as AI would probably depict him. The picture is shot using wide angle, which gives a distortion that often AI does not do quite naturally. The reflections in the window look reasonable.

    But more importantly: The photo is 9 years old and thus predates the era of AI fake images: dailymail.com/tvshowbiz/articl

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  • TottsGeri@veganism.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 5:52 PM

    @MarkHoltom

    FYI
    That quote is most famous as spoken by Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia.

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  • schamspeareschamspeare@mstdn.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 6:22 PM

    @MarkHoltom I love it. But an even more developed country would give famous people their privacy and not take pictures of them in their off time.

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  • Núcleo Irradiadorehproque@neopaquita.es
    Oct 24, 2026, 9:31 PM

    @MarkHoltom that's just London, though; elsewhere in England is cheaper to get a taxi than a bus, and there's a better chance that it'll stop when you hail it

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  • MenschenkindRealkind@mastodon.social
    Oct 24, 2026, 10:54 PM

    @MarkHoltom
    Äh, versteh ich nicht, ich kann mir kein Auto leisten aber ab und zu ein öffentliches Verkehrsmittel. 🤷🏻‍♀️
    Aber die Reichen hier fahren in der Regel nicht mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln sondern mit Luxuslimousinen und Chauffeur.

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  • mirabilos🐈‍⬛mirabilos@toot.mirbsd.org
    Oct 25, 2026, 12:22 AM

    @MarkHoltom I’ve been on the train with three of the King’s Singers!

    (Granted, that was right after we had a workshop and concert with them, so the timing, only one train into one direction anyway, was not too hard.)

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