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My mom didn't drive, so she had one of these folding grocery carts:

Yeah I know about those. It just seemed like too much of a hassle dragging one of those up and down the bus steps full of groceries and slowing everyone down, and if the bus is crowded where to park it.
 

Katheryne Helendale

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Yeah I know about those. It just seemed like too much of a hassle dragging one of those up and down the bus steps full of groceries and slowing everyone down, and if the bus is crowded where to park it.
Our buses kneel at bus stops, and also have wheelchair ramps that flip open which allow wheelchair-bound passengers and those with carts to embark/disembark, and our drivers use them. I'd be a little surprised if your buses didn't have these.
 
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Our buses kneel at bus stops, and also have wheelchair ramps that flip open which allow wheelchair-bound passengers and those with carts to embark/disembark, and our drivers use them. I'd be a little surprised if your buses didn't have these.
Sure they have wheelchair ramps but I wouldn't want to use them and slow everyone down just to take my stuff home.
 

Innula Zenovka

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I order online and have goods, including groceries, delivered, or, if I'm out and have heavy shopping, I take a taxi.

Obviously that's not an option for everyone, whether for reasons of geography or finance, but for me, semi-retired and doing consultancy work from home, in a city in the UK, it's a far cheaper and more convenient option than owning a car that I'd use primarily for going out shopping.
 

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I order online and have goods, including groceries, delivered, or, if I'm out and have heavy shopping, I take a taxi.

Obviously that's not an option for everyone, whether for reasons of geography or finance, but for me, semi-retired and doing consultancy work from home, in a city in the UK, it's a far cheaper and more convenient option than owning a car that I'd use primarily for going out shopping.
I wish the cabs around here were reliable because I’d consider doing the same thing. If this car gets unaffordable, I’ll be relying on nearby people to rescue me if the cabs stand me up at the grocery store.
 

Innula Zenovka

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I wish the cabs around here were reliable because I’d consider doing the same thing. If this car gets unaffordable, I’ll be relying on nearby people to rescue me if the cabs stand me up at the grocery store.
I'm fortunate, in that there's a taxi rank near my local supermarket. Alternatively, there are a couple of local taxi companies who are used to me phoning them up to tell them that I'm at a particular coffee shop or pub with some shopping, that it will take me about half an hour to finish my coffee, so I would like them to pick me up around then and to phone me when they're outside, please.
 
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Nowadays I'm in the burbs and drive. Back then though, Uber and Lyft didn't exist. Calling a taxi was iffy. It might show up in 15 minutes or 30 or not at all. Not worth the hassle.
 
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Some good news today:

Coal reaches another new low in US energy production (see the very last line for Aug 2019 data), and as a result:

Major Coal Producer And Trump Booster Files For Bankruptcy

The Trump administration has spent three years trying to help the coal industry by rolling back environmental regulations and pushing for subsidies for coal-fired power plants. Still, the long list of coal company bankruptcies has continued, and dozens more plants have announced their retirement since President Trump took office. Now the list of bankruptcies includes a company headed by one of Trump's most vocal supporters. Murray Energy Corp. filed for Chapter 11 on Tuesday morning.
In 2009, renewables of all kinds supplied 24% as much power as coal. Now that number is 71%. The next milestone, in a couple of years, is passing coal and giving it the middle finder as it continues downhill.
 
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Nowadays I'm in the burbs and drive. Back then though, Uber and Lyft didn't exist. Calling a taxi was iffy. It might show up in 15 minutes or 30 or not at all. Not worth the hassle.
I'm >in< the city, and getting a taxi to the airport takes 20 minutes minimum and up to 40 minutes just to show up. I'm only a 15 minute drive TO the airport. It's ridiculous.

Uber is at my door in 2-5 minutes. I don't use them often (I can walk most places I need to go), but for me they're cheaper / faster / nicer and more reliable than taxi's.
 

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If only I could get Uber or Lyft to reliably pick me up at the grocery store. One day I only got home because an employee took me home at closing time.

So I’m stuck owning a car, as long as it still runs. I’m hoping to move during the next year, though, and I’ll insist on something that is a short walk to transit. This place is further than I can walk by far, but I was placed in it by a social worker when I was very sick, so not much choice in the matter.
 

Innula Zenovka

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Here in the UK, even in small towns there's generally a plethora of mini-cab firms, with drivers licenced by by the local council, available for short runs. Certain times of day you need to book in advance, obviously, but otherwise I'd always expect to be picked up no more than fifteen or twenty minutes, at most, after I've called.
 
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Innula Zenovka

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I don't see how parking meters would work. They have no AC so you'll have to dig up the street. Then you will need a credit card reader or something. A Tesla for instance costs around $15 to charge. It also takes 10 hours to charge a Tesla. Most parking meters will time out long before then.
 

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Here in the UK, even in small towns there's generally a plethora of mini-cab firms, with drivers licenced by by the local council, available for short runs. Certain times of day you need to book in advance, obviously, but otherwise I'd always expect to be picked up no more than fifteen or twenty minutes, at most, after I've called.
My town is obviously smaller than yours. We have three taxi firms, two of the three refuse to take dogs and the other is a one-man band and obviously not always available! Uber doesn't exist here, much to the chagrin of my daughter who was used to getting Ubers at two minutes notice in the smoke.
 
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Innula Zenovka

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My town is obviously smaller than yours. We have three taxi firms, two of the three refuse to take dogs and the other is a one-man band and obviously not always available! Uber doesn't exist here, much to the chagrin of my daughter who was used to getting Ubers at two minutes notice in the smoke.
I'm used to London, admittedly, but every town of any size that I'm familiar with, whether because friends or relatives live there or because I visit for other reasons, always seems to have a number of localish taxi companies, at least one of which is usually able to pick me up at reasonably short notice.

ETA: Some tables and figures (and links to more tables and more figures) here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751202/taxi-and-phv-england-2018.pdf
 
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I saw an interview with a researcher who explained that ground height maps in the U.S. and other 1st world countries are quite accurate because they use more sophisticated laser technology to measure the terrain. But Asia and many 3rd world countries have been mapped using satellites that don't distinguish between trees, buildings and ground, so the result in an average that gives the illusion of higher ground levels. Adjusting for those inaccuracies has revealed that much larger areas that are vulnerable to rising waters.

So for this particular study, it's not that sea levels are rising faster than expected that led to these findings, but that we simply don't have as much clearance as we thought. Of course, if it turns out that we've also underestimated the height and rate of sea level rise, we're even more screwed. Stay tuned....
 
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Innula Zenovka

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The government has banned fracking with immediate effect in a watershed moment for environmentalists and community activists.

Ministers also warned shale gas companies it would not support future fracking projects, in a crushing blow to companies that had been hoping to capitalise on one of the new frontiers of growth in the fossil fuel industry.

The decision draws a line under years of bitter opposition to the controversial extraction process in a major victory for green groups and local communities.

The decision was taken after a new scientific study warned it was not possible to rule out “unacceptable” consequences for those living near fracking sites.

The report, undertaken by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), also warned it was not possible to predict the magnitude of earthquakes fracking might trigger.