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John Oliver talks about Sub-Prime Auto Loans
- Thread starter TheAbsolution
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hodayathink
Member
The actual answer here is improving public transportation, but I guess that's not the sexy answer.
SporeCrawler
Member
I like how John Oliver tackles other issues than just the election
or car sharing
Unknown Soldier
Banned
Sometimes I actually wonder how many times the average used car has changed hands before it reaches yours. What are the statistics on that, anyways?
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
I was planning on pointing out even if automobile subprime lending is a similar problem to housing subprime lending, it's much smaller overall, but they pointed that out too.
For a comedy show they do a very good job on the journalism side of it.
For a comedy show they do a very good job on the journalism side of it.
Poor people just can't get a break. Warren Buffett loans out sub prime loans for people buying trailers does the same bullshit that John Oliver was talking about.
Our infrastructure isn't made for public transportation and no one wants to invest in public services. Also poor people are being pushed out of cities where public transportation would benefit the most.
Our infrastructure isn't made for public transportation and no one wants to invest in public services. Also poor people are being pushed out of cities where public transportation would benefit the most.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Another answer here is how about don't be a piece of shit and intentionally offer deals to poor people that are guaranteed to bankrupt them in order to then profit from trading away their debt?
I mean the fact that Wall Street is still doing this means that on a personal level they've learned nothing a continue to not give a shit about people's lives.
Not having as large an impact on the economy as the mortgage crisis doesn't change the fact that this is still a bubble based on daylight robbery.
I mean the fact that Wall Street is still doing this means that on a personal level they've learned nothing a continue to not give a shit about people's lives.
Not having as large an impact on the economy as the mortgage crisis doesn't change the fact that this is still a bubble based on daylight robbery.
hodayathink
Member
I'm including trains when I say public transportation. It is, arguably, the easiest way for us to be come less reliant on having a car to be gainfully employed (which IMO is one of the, if not the biggest issue). Make it easier for people to get to where they need to be without a car, and then you have less people that feel the need to get a car at any cost, which cuts down on poor people having to go to these places because they have no other way to get a car.
Edit: I say this as someone who lives in the suburbs and doesn't even have a driver's license, which would be impossible if not for the help of my family.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
When your plan hinges on Wall Street not being the scum of the Earth it's a bad plan. They need to be kept on the shortest leash available.
ultratruman
Banned
Nah, pretty sexy tbh.
That thing is a hideous scam.
outunderthestars
Banned
Nah, pretty sexy tbh.
That thing is a terribly thought out idea that will never exist.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
Nah, pretty sexy tbh.
Nice vehicle for ants.
Scam?
Great segment, one thing did strike me: in the example of the woman who sits on public transport for two hours for a drive that would take ten minutes, couldn't she just ride a bike or a moped or something?
Nah, there's several go-to's that he's been using less recently (also the one where he repeats a woman's name several times).
Nah, there's several go-to's that he's been using less recently (also the one where he repeats a woman's name several times).
ClosingADoor
Member
Seems like the problem in the US is also trying to force everyone to buy a car. Short commute? Get a cheap bike. 10 minutes with a car? Get one of these for a few hundred:
Lending practices like this need to be illegal. But the culture around everyone needing a car needs to change also with better infrastructure for alternatives. There is no reason a 10 minute car ride needs to be 2 hours on a bus and train. At that point, you can walk faster.
Lending practices like this need to be illegal. But the culture around everyone needing a car needs to change also with better infrastructure for alternatives. There is no reason a 10 minute car ride needs to be 2 hours on a bus and train. At that point, you can walk faster.
wesleyshark
Banned
Lmfao this will never existNah, pretty sexy tbh.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Here's the thing. Public transit is usually cheap.
Uber usually isn't. At least not to the extent that you'd have to literally use it every day to get to work and back.
TarpitCarnivore
Member
Yep, public transport is subsidized. Relying on private fleets ala Uber or Lyft or Tesla will not be. This means the cost to use it will not benefit the people who need it most.
Future PhaZe
Member
Guaranteed federal auto loans much like student loans would help
It doesn't solve the issue for those who would default despite decent rates but it would cut down on defaults by letting people get actual new cars without mechanical issues and with monthly payments that aren't inflated to hell
It doesn't solve the issue for those who would default despite decent rates but it would cut down on defaults by letting people get actual new cars without mechanical issues and with monthly payments that aren't inflated to hell
Couldn't the gubment invest in driverless vehicles themselves as a means for public transportation? Or is that too Socialist/Communist for our Capitalist society?
thesoapster
Member
Nah, pretty sexy tbh.
It's like the stealth boat from Tomorrow Never Dies...
I feel like the corporations will do that for them. With Uber, Apple, Google and Tesla all having different stakes in driverless cars it'll be a matter of time before something like New York Transist (MTA) will be entirely driverless. Hopefully that means much more active night routes.
EDIT: To clarify by do that for them I mean speed up the process considerably. Once these self driving cars reach a level of autonomy and safety where a human is not necessary at all at a price equal to standard cars (and of course the "sexy" look of cars) these companies will push hard.
Except we really don't want to be subsidizing people getting stuff they can't afford, again (on top of all the environmental and congestion issues you would be encouraging.)
And "public transit!" is a great buzzword, and we certainly don't spend enough on it, but you're talking about remodeling the entire country. The feds can do a lot more than they are currently but this is still even under ideal circumstances decades of work; improving bus or rail service in a city isn't that much help if you get a job that's in the suburbs or the next town over.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
The company trying it out right now might indeed be a scam. I'm not sure that matters so much though.
The idea of restructuring buses like that has been around for decades though, and there are interesting ideas to how we could redesign vehicles to encourage a move to them.
Sapiens
Member
In Canada, if you live anywhere else other than Toronto, public transit is shit - especially in the winter - and at least one car per household is a necessity if you want to live like a normal human. When our whole society is built around the car, I think the only solution for mass adoption in the future is self driving cars where you don't own your car, you only own availability of a car.
Fallout-NL
Member
There really are no words for crap like this.
Agreed. I'm
unfortunately
I'm actually in the process of buying a car now. It's costs me 26 bucks one way with uber every day to go up there, and I have to usually ask for a ride back if I'm in lucky. But looking at my insurance rates, I'm looking to pay 500+ bucks a month just in insurance.
I'm fortunate enough to have options to finance, but Brampton is being built in a way that doesn't help the job situation. All the jobs are outside of the city because our city council prioritizes building subdivisions and homes over industrial/work space. It feels like everyone that lives in Brampton have to go outside of Brampton for work, which adds to the traffic snarl. I firmly believe better city planning would help the transit situation, but we are stuck on our current path now.
ultratruman
Banned
It's not just the company being corrupt though, that popular mechanics article illustrates the basic design problems that come with such a 'bus' (it's technically a train). Height of cars, turning, cars inside trying to turn, etc etc. It's a meme.
PHOENIXZERO
Member
Posted in the OT but, okay.
I just recently finished paying off my car loan, feels good but I also went through a local dealership, and credit union and not some skeezy dealers like I use to hear on the radio and see local commercials for on TV.
Not if that ten (or "to 15" as she said) minute car ride is for a job more than six miles away and if that ten to fifteen minutes includes freeway driving you're not going to take a scooter so you need an alternate route and sure as hell not going to get on the freeway in Atlanta with one (that might be just from my own not so great experiences driving through Atlanta) which is where the story originated going by the phone number on the bus.
Scooters are generally way more than just a few hundred dollars here if you want something that's actually classified as one and not a moped and even mopeds still cost a good bit, if you're looking for something that reaches at least minimum highway speeds it's probably going to be around $1,000 for a used 150cc scooter from my quick and dirty look up. Then if you're going to get one you're probably going to need to be licensed to ride motorcycles unless it fails to meet the criteria and is classified as a moped which from what little I've seen means less than either 50 or 100cc and a top speed that doesn't exceed 30MPH, people on proper motorcycles have it bad enough here, riding a scooter could be a death wish.
Our mass/public transit systems are largely shit though in good part thanks to the economic boom of the 50s as more people bought cars and the demand for public transit largely died. Then there's the distance factor I might be out of date but the average commute distance from home to work was something like 16 miles, I don't know how viable an option public transit is with that sort of distance in its current state. Where I live it's probably closer to 20-25 miles on average. At least there's carpooling...
That said, for short trips of only a few miles we'd all be better off riding a bicycle as often as we can and not driving.
I just recently finished paying off my car loan, feels good but I also went through a local dealership, and credit union and not some skeezy dealers like I use to hear on the radio and see local commercials for on TV.
Not if that ten (or "to 15" as she said) minute car ride is for a job more than six miles away and if that ten to fifteen minutes includes freeway driving you're not going to take a scooter so you need an alternate route and sure as hell not going to get on the freeway in Atlanta with one (that might be just from my own not so great experiences driving through Atlanta) which is where the story originated going by the phone number on the bus.
Scooters are generally way more than just a few hundred dollars here if you want something that's actually classified as one and not a moped and even mopeds still cost a good bit, if you're looking for something that reaches at least minimum highway speeds it's probably going to be around $1,000 for a used 150cc scooter from my quick and dirty look up. Then if you're going to get one you're probably going to need to be licensed to ride motorcycles unless it fails to meet the criteria and is classified as a moped which from what little I've seen means less than either 50 or 100cc and a top speed that doesn't exceed 30MPH, people on proper motorcycles have it bad enough here, riding a scooter could be a death wish.
Our mass/public transit systems are largely shit though in good part thanks to the economic boom of the 50s as more people bought cars and the demand for public transit largely died. Then there's the distance factor I might be out of date but the average commute distance from home to work was something like 16 miles, I don't know how viable an option public transit is with that sort of distance in its current state. Where I live it's probably closer to 20-25 miles on average. At least there's carpooling...
That said, for short trips of only a few miles we'd all be better off riding a bicycle as often as we can and not driving.
NintendosBooger
Member
I would have. A long time ago. Problem is it'd find itself stolen or vandalized. Not something to leave out in your typical urban community.
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
John Oliver is the hero we something something.
Sure, if you want to increase road congestion and pollution.
Retrofitting public transportation onto cities that were designed for cars isn't easy. A lot of the cities that have good public transport either started investing in it before car ownership was common or when rebuilding after a war.
There's also a bit of a catch-22 in funding. People who already own cars won't want to pay big tax increases for the construction of a subway or light rail system. However without such systems people have to buy cars.
You can try buses on existing roads as a less expensive measure, but the quality of service is inherently lower than using a car, since the bus is traveling at the same speeds but stopping frequently.
And there hasn't been any significant redesign to public transport vechiles because they are quite well optimized to do the job they're supposed to do today making them very efficient and cost effective.If you think about a modern bus, tram or a commuter train, they're generally just long tubes with wheels, with not much wasted space.
That Chinese redesign is something else, large and cumbersome that would move less people than the space it occupies would suggest. Add to that the special infrastructure such contraption would require, from raised platforms to new traffic signposts and over/underpasses etc. etc. Could it be used in narrow streets or is it tied only to highways? How far would an average passenger need to travel to get to the bus stop then?
It's true that ideas to reinvent some of our vechiles have been around for decades. Quite a few interesting ideas have historically been impemented too, but still the old designs prevail. Novelty wears off fast and after that happens the only thing that matter is convenience, not gimmick.
The reason a lot of people use the bus or whatever in public transit -heavy areas is because it's just convenient, often more convenient than driving.
1. The US is mainly not safe for bike riding. My bike ride to work is about 15 minutes and for 5 of those I have to go down a busy main road. I had to stop riding because they closed down the damn sidewalk (which I know I'm not supposed to ride down anyway but there's no bike lane).
2. Scooters are also pretty unsafe (because of the people in the cars being assholes), they are typically more than "a few hundred" if you want them new (Buying used is 9/10 times a deathtrap if you don't know anything about scooters and how they run), and they get stolen A LOT.
3. Neither option is viable if you have a family to cart around.
I agree that the US relies way too much on cars, but I feel like more focus should be put on providing reasonable public transportation. Oh, and walking, too. Walking is helpful if something is close by.
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
Just hope no assholes run you off the road.
demosthenes
Member
What if it's 90* out?
Bikes and scooters are impractical in any area where highways represent the major traffic outlet or where winter lasts for 6 months or more (like western NY).
What we really REALLY need is to kill off suburbia and burn down all of these slowly dying rust belt cities so we can concentrate people in cities more efficiently and build better transportation options there.
Make sure the driverless cars are an Elio or something.
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