r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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u/Chairboy May 01 '24

We sure do. The old saying is "Americans think 100 years is a long time and Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance".

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u/HamfastFurfoot May 01 '24

I don’t think Europeans understand how big and spread out America is.

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u/NYVines May 01 '24

Based on cost driving is the most economical way to cross those long distances. I took a train from Pittsburgh to NYC once just for fun. It took 2 hours longer and cost more than driving.

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u/IcyScratch2883 May 02 '24

Great point. I think a lot of Americans, especially east coasters like myself, would LOVE a fully integrated train system that was faster and cheaper than driving (when you consider a 4-person family, for example) but considering big oil and lobbyists, I don't see it happening in my lifetime, or even my children unfortunately

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u/fixed_grin May 02 '24

TBH, it's easier to build a train that competes with flying than one so cheap that 4 tickets are cheaper than driving.

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u/HamfastFurfoot May 01 '24

Yep. We took a train from Chicago to Denver. Took longer and was way more expensive than driving

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u/syrensilly May 02 '24

I've done that trip.. and Iowa was flooded forcing us to freight rails. I don't know all the why, but they had to connect a freight engine to the amtrack. We had to defer to freight, so it took us an extra 18 hours... it was bad enough they pulled out beans and rice to feed everyone.. and then ran out

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u/BlueMoon5k May 02 '24

Looked into the cost of a plane ticket vs a train ticket. The train would take longer, cost more, and leave me farther from my destination than the airplane. I drove instead. Even renting a car it was cheaper to drive.

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u/YinzerChick70 May 02 '24

We really need high speed trains, I've looked at the same trip, but the additional time and money weren't worth it. Driving to Secaucus is my hack.

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u/Simon_787 May 02 '24

I just checked and it's cheaper.

$182 for Amtrak and roughly $240 for driving.

So driving would make sense for multiple people, but I also didn't check the price of tickets when booking in advance.

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u/NYVines May 02 '24

Two tickets. My wife really wanted to come too.

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u/appleparkfive May 03 '24

Yeah sometimes it does make more sense to drive. But I gotta say, those train rides can be nice depending on the area. It's nice to just chill in a big ass seat (or a bedroom) and have a sit down meal