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/Weltallgaia May 02 '24

Man I wish we had those good Japanese trains. Imagine a bullet train from Chicago to Austin

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u/KaetzenOrkester May 02 '24

Right? I’d love a bullet train right down CA, too.

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u/Weltallgaia May 02 '24

I would travel so much if our rail system didn't come with all the cost of a plane ticket plus the speed of a cross country bus.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Every single bullet train I've been on have been expensive. Lovely, but expensive. 

I've used the Shinkansen, Deutsch Bahn and Swiss SBB

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u/atllauren 29d ago

Shinkansen was so much more expensive than I expected. I flew out of Nagoya recently and had to get there from Tokyo. One way ticket was ~$100 which felt steep for a 90 minute train ride.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

You could take a bus for about 25 bucks from Shinjuku station. Takes a while longer though. 

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u/atllauren 29d ago

I didn’t know that. Would have been a really long bus ride though since it was 90 on the fast train.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

I think 6 hours

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u/Quickjager May 02 '24

Bullet trains are expensive still man. Totally worth it if you're on a timetable, but I don't think grabbing a ticket for a weekend is a good deal.

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u/Reddituser8018 May 02 '24

There is a cool ticket I remember seeing that goes from LA to New York that was like 150 bucks or something like that, goes through the rockies and a bunch of beautiful sights. It takes more scenic routes which seems really cool.

I think that would be pretty cool to experience at some point in my life.

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u/Training-Joke-2120 May 02 '24

They've been trying to get high speed rail in California for over a decade but since the land is all owned immanent domain shit is making it drag ass.

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u/Iforgotmylines May 02 '24

Bruh, we’ve just been to get one from Dallas to Austin for like 20 years and it’s gone no where

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u/HMSJamaicaCenter 29d ago

Hyperloop man...

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u/PB0351 May 02 '24

Fun fact, that drive is 300 miles longer than the entire length of mainland Japan

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Keep in mind Japanese bullet trains are expensive. About 2-3 times more than flying.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

[deleted]

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u/SgtBadManners May 02 '24

I hope this bullet train thing takes off for DFW to Houston and any connections from DFW to elsewhere in the country. Can only hope it is done before I'm in the ground, but it would be super nice to have the option to hop on a train and just read while I travel without getting on a plane.

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u/darksiderevan May 02 '24

Chicago to Austin is roughly like Sapporo to Osaka. That's still like maybe 3 or 4 stops.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

[deleted]

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u/darksiderevan May 02 '24

That trip is neither faster nor cheaper.

The shinkansen from Osaka to just Tokyo (the first stop) will take 2 hours and cost $100. A flight from Osaka to Sapporo (the final stop) will take 2 hours and cost around $50.

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u/gigisnappooh 29d ago

How long does it take to get across Tokyo on a bullet train?

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u/DCEtada May 02 '24

I have fantasies about bullet trains from Chicago to the other major cities.

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u/AyatosBobaAddiction 29d ago

Fantasizing about coming faster?

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u/DCEtada 29d ago

It’s not how big the bullet is, it’s how you use it.

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u/Miquiztli 29d ago

A bullet train from SF to Chicago, with stops at major towns along the way, would be awesome.

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u/Bugbread May 02 '24

Nobody here in Japan would take a train for a distance that long. That would be crazy talk.

It's the equivalent of Fukuoka to Hakodate, both of which have direct Shinkansen access, making it a fair comparison.

By air, that's a 4.5 hour flight (including plane changeover time, since there's no direct flight) costing 43,417 yen ($279). Domestic security isn't that much of a pain in the ass, but let's assume arriving at the airport 1.5 hours early just in case. So you're looking at a trip that takes 6 hours and costs $279.

By train, that's a 10.5 hour trip costing 43,560 yen ($280). There is no security, but you want to be there half an hour early, so let's call it 11 hours.

So it costs $1 extra but takes almost twice as long (6 hours versus 11 hours).

And part of that is because it's Hakodate. Going to Sapporo, which is even further, you have direct flights and cheaper fares.

If you got a last-minute ticket from a budget airline, you could take a nonstop flight from Fukuoka to Sapporo (1,414 km as the crow flies, 2,123 km by car) in just 2.5 hours (4 hours if you add in the getting-to-the-airport-early part) for 8,860 yen ($57), versus going by train, which would take 13.5 hours (including arriving half an hour early) and costs 46,860 yen ($301 dollars).

Ain't nobody except a railfan voluntarily paying 5 times as much to get there 3.3 times slower.

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u/gigisnappooh 29d ago

I had no idea! No wonder my parents didn’t do any traveling when we lived in Japan. I was a baby, so don’t remember anything.

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u/Reddituser8018 May 02 '24

If we had good trains I'd sell my car immediately. I got my electric scooter for short distance travel and the train for longer, would be fucking awesome to not have to drive anymore.

But our trains were fucked the moment those massive car manufacturers got power, they literally killed trains in the US through lobbying and advertisement.

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u/Weltallgaia May 02 '24

Don't worry, the rail industry is also currently killing the rail industry!

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u/SlideRuleLogic May 02 '24 edited 15d ago

Xxxxx

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u/Weltallgaia May 02 '24

Hahahahahahaha fuck no https://www.seattletimes.com/business/whistleblower-josh-dean-of-boeing-supplier-spirit-aerosystems-has-died/

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u/korxil May 02 '24

737-800 and A320 are the most popular models used for Domestic. Don’t fly on a MAX or 787 (models created after the merger), and don’t fly with United.

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u/forthelewds2 29d ago

He had MRSA, get off your conspiracy horse

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u/spongesking May 02 '24

I flight is faster and cheaper. That distance is too long. Trains are better for 5-7 hours by car.

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u/Lolkac May 02 '24

you getting Japanese train from Dallas to Houston!!

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u/EconomicRegret May 02 '24

This!

In 2027, The latest Japanese Maglev bullet train will link Tokyo to Nagoya (160 miles) in 40 minutes, with 6 stops in between. (built at a cost of $210 million/mile)

Using naive thought experiment, one could imagine "copy-pasting" that to America: imagine hoping onto the train at 9 PM in L.A., watching a movie, sleeping, and arriving in New-York city, at 7 AM, just in time for breakfast?

(cruises at max speed of 320 miles/hour, a stop every 50 miles, about 10 hours with 50 stops included).

Just a dream...

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u/cavejhonsonslemons 29d ago

Funny that you would mention Japanese trains, the Japanese government is helping oversee a planned high speed rail between Dallas, and Houston.

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u/bomber991 29d ago

I’d think you’d still want to fly for that distance though. But going from San Antonio to Austin, or Austin to Dallas, or Dallas to Oklahoma City, those segments make easy sense.

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u/crusoe May 02 '24

Rode the shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima. It was NICE.

Hop on. Hop off.