Why don't people carpool and use public transportation?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

Did your employers know that you take the bus before they hired you? Sometimes, when I interview for jobs, they clearly let me know that they wouldn't want to hire me if I used public transportation.

If an employer even ASKED you that question, they need reported to the EEOC. They can ask if you have reliable transportation, but it's absolutely none of their business what that transportation is - you can ride a camel to work if you want to.

[Dionysus]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

Really? Or are you kidding?

I could imagine this question coming from the manager of a fast food restaurant hiring kids or something as a indication of reliability, maybe, but I haven't ever interviewed as an adult where my method of transportation came up.

Am I missing something in this conversation?

Originally Posted by 33girl

If an employer even ASKED you that question, they need reported to the EEOC. They can ask if you have reliable transportation, but it's absolutely none of their business what that transportation is - you can ride a camel to work if you want to.

I am not kidding, this happened all the time when I applied for retail and restaurant jobs in undergrad. It has happened once or twice when I applied for "big kid" jobs.

I've been asked so many off the wall questions during interviews, so that one just kind of slipped below the radar. I had a car, so it didn't bother me that much. I didn't think anything about it until I got older.

Way to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer...and being very blunt about it all. That question is just so wrong in other ways too...

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

I am not kidding, this happened all the time when I applied for retail and restaurant jobs in undergrad. It has happened once or twice when I applied for "big kid" jobs.

I've been asked so many off the wall questions during interviews, so that one just kind of slipped below the radar. I had a car, so it didn't bother me that much. I didn't think anything about it until I got older.

Way to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer...and being very blunt about it all. That question is just so wrong in other ways too...

I've gotten that quite a few times. A few firms in Minneapolis require that you have your own car - WTF for I don't know since they are within walking distance of the light rail and about 1000 bus routes.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by GeekyPenguin

I've gotten that quite a few times. A few firms in Minneapolis require that you have your own car - WTF for I don't know since they are within walking distance of the light rail and about 1000 bus routes.

eh, if I didn't have my own car I wouldn't be able to do my job. I wouldn't be able to get to magistrate offices in my own country, and I wouldn't be able to get to the surrounding counties where I do work. I also wouldn't be able to do site visits to investigate problems or visit clients.

I used to take the bus (Pitt and CMU students can use their Pitt ID to ride public transportation for "free"- it comes out of our fees) until my ID expired. I would still take it now, but the nature of my job is such that my schedule is so unpredictable and I often need to leave the office to go somewhere. So unfortunately I have to have a lease, which costs me friggin $250 per month. There is only one cheaper garage with a reasonable distance - that's $220 a month, but has a one year waiting list.

I wish I could take public transportation... it would be soooo much cheaper.

A lot of people just don't have the kind of jobs anymore that you have very strict hours. Public transportation and carpools don't allow for that flexibility

[Marie]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If an employer even ASKED you that question, they need reported to the EEOC. They can ask if you have reliable transportation, but it's absolutely none of their business what that transportation is - you can ride a camel to work if you want to.

Are you sure? I work for a Big 4 accounting firm, and having a car is a requirement of the job. I guess it would be alright if you got a ride to work everyday, but outside of NY relying 100% on public transportation wouldn't be acceptable/feasible.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by Marie

Are you sure? I work for a Big 4 accounting firm, and having a car is a requirement of the job. I guess it would be alright if you got a ride to work everyday, but outside of NY relying 100% on public transportation wouldn't be acceptable/feasible.

Yeah, whether or not you have a car is not a recognized form of discrimination, to my knowledge. The EEOC is there to deal with racist/sexist/age related discrimination.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by kddani

Yeah, whether or not you have a car is not a recognized form of discrimination, to my knowledge. The EEOC is there to deal with racist/sexist/age related discrimination.

I've seen it flat out say in job ads that having your own car is a requirement for the position. I'm not sure that an even remotely savvy company would put that right out in an advertisement if it were an EEOC issue.

Conversely, I've also seen job ads specifically say that the location is "convenient to bus stops." (Of course, as I recall, the positions didn't appear to be terribly high paying or prestigious...)

[tld221]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

Did your employers know that you take the bus before they hired you? Sometimes, when I interview for jobs, they clearly let me know that they wouldn't want to hire me if I used public transportation.

Originally Posted by 33girl

If an employer even ASKED you that question, they need reported to the EEOC. They can ask if you have reliable transportation, but it's absolutely none of their business what that transportation is - you can ride a camel to work if you want to.

Originally Posted by Marie

Are you sure? I work for a Big 4 accounting firm, and having a car is a requirement of the job. I guess it would be alright if you got a ride to work everyday, but outside of NY relying 100% on public transportation wouldn't be acceptable/feasible.

Originally Posted by kddani

Yeah, whether or not you have a car is not a recognized form of discrimination, to my knowledge. The EEOC is there to deal with racist/sexist/age related discrimination.

Originally Posted by susan314

I've seen it flat out say in job ads that having your own car is a requirement for the position. I'm not sure that an even remotely savvy company would put that right out in an advertisement if it were an EEOC issue.

Conversely, I've also seen job ads specifically say that the location is "convenient to bus stops." (Of course, as I recall, the positions didn't appear to be terribly high paying or prestigious...)

RE: the bolded,

i think private companies are more likely to get away with telling you they wouldnt hire you if you didn't have a car... because theyre private.

my last job was in NJ and i didn't drive at the time i started the job. they directly said to me "there really isnt public transportation out these parts so you need to get a car ASAP." mind you, at the time, i only had a permit, anf if you know anything about NYC Tri-State traffic, especially NJ, its no day in the park. plus the drive from my house to the office, according to mapquest is like 2 hours, not accounting for rush hour traffic.

so i said, "im a city girl i can tough it out." found out the bus that went there from Port Authority stopped maybe a 10 minute walk from the office and ran every hour. fine, thats doable.

but as the days got shorter and the weather got colder, it got unbearable. sometimes the "hour ride" would take 2 hours. i'd get to work at 9, sometimes as late as 10am (hours were 8-6). and i could easily get home at like 10pm if i left my desk at 6. so i literally spent just as much time AT work as i did GETTING TO work.

sure i couldve moved to NJ, but it was an entry-level job in an industry i didnt care fore... no thanks.

there were others at the bank who took the bus, but theyd been with the company for years and had flexibility with their bosses to get in late/leave early because they understood. MY boss, OTOH, had a "i don't care how you get to work, it cant be that bad, you chose it" and complained how bad it looked to give me leneincy (sp?) on being late to work when everyone else made the effort to be there on time.

like i was PURPOSELY arriving late and leaving early.

anyway, when i announced my resignation to my boss and her boss, she pretty much played dumb to my situation and said "well we wouldve thought twice about making you an offer here - its one thing if you don't have a car, but you don't even drive."

sorry that was long, but it made a really uncomfortable environment being "the girl that didnt drive" because no one would offer me a ride to the bus stop or train station and then always to make smalltalk about "oh man your commute mustve been rough this morning." GTFOOHWTBS.


with all that said, im pretty sure after i left the company put a "must drive and have a car" clause in their contracts without any legal repurcussions. this happened to be their top reason for their high turnover.

[GMUBunny]

I'd have to get up 2-2.5 hours earlier if I wanted to take the HRT to work (and I only live 10 minutes away by car). At least I don't commute so far that I have to fill up weekly, unless my son is at grandma's for the day. Now my husband has to drive nearly an hour each way every day and it takes its toll. Of course, gas prices really aren't skyrocketing if you compare to the past few decades. Taking inflation into account, prices are no higher than they were back in the 80s when they spiked. It still sucks, though.

[jess_pom]

Philly has pretty decent PT. I take a regional rail to a downtown station and then either walk or take the El to the office. Door to door, it's about 45 minutes and it takes almost that long to drive into the city. I don't encounter tolls on the way in, but the cheapest parking I can find is $6/day.

I know the El/regional rail/trolly system doesn't cover all of Philly and there is a bus system, but it kind of scares me. I've only taken it once.