[discussion] Frustrated with Driving and the Lack of Public Transportation

Hey everyone,

I'm just here to vent a bit, even though I know words won't change anything.

I'm from Saudi Arabia, where public transportation is almost nonexistent in most cities, including mine. I think Riyadh has some options, but overall, it's just not popular. So, like many others, I have to drive every day and fill up the gas tank weekly, if not more often. I absolutely hate wasting time driving.

When I say there's no public transportation, I mean it, no buses, no metro, nothing. There's a railway, but it only connects a few cities, not all.

Sure, Uber or taxis are available, but let's be honest, who can afford that for an entire month? Owning a car is much cheaper in the long run, especially for running errands for the family.

Driving stresses me out, especially at night with the bright headlights and fast speeds (most roads are 100 km/h, or about 62 mph). My daily commute to university takes an hour, and the traffic is terrible. I have to stay fully alert the whole time to avoid accidents, so by the time I arrive, I'm already exhausted, and of course there's no time to rest because classes start right away. I lose two hours every day just driving, time that I could be using to read, chat with friends, or even watch a movie if I were on public transportation.

I don't really have a solution to this problem, but does anyone else? It's becoming unbearable. Just to add, I don't have any close friends to carpool with. I once thought about sharing the driving with someone, but most of us have other commitments before and after college. In my case, I also have to drop my siblings off at school and pick them up later.