It costs me 4$ a week in fuel to drive to work. A monthly transit pass is more than 100$. Even with an honored citizen pass which is just under 30$, it’s still cheaper for me to drive to work.
You are committing a mortal sin of personal finance - equating vehicle cost with gas cost. It is this precise mistake that results in countless American families literally driving themselves into poverty. The cost of gas is only a small fraction of the per-mile cost to operate a vehicle. This is one of the single biggest mistakes people mistake when assessing their personal finances, deciding on how far to live from work, deciding whether to drive or fly for a trip, etc.
All of the costs of vehicle ownership scale with mileage. Cars depreciate faster the more you drive them. The more you drive, the greater the chance of an accident and a resultingly higher insurance premium. Every mile you drive means more maintenance and burns through ever-more of your car's finite lifespan. Gas is the only one of these you feel so directly, but ALL of the costs of operating a vehicle scale with mileage.
It is difficult to calculate the true total cost of vehicle ownership, but a good approximation is the IRS mileage rate, which is 67 cents per mile. This is the IRS's best figuring of the average cost to operate a vehicle, averaged across the US vehicle fleet. Obviously it will be higher or lower depending on the precise vehicle you drive, how reckless a driver you are, etc.
But let's be generous and assume an average mpg efficiency of 35 mpg. If gas costs $3.50/gallon, then gas costs you about 10 cents per mile. Averaged across the US vehicle fleet, gas costs less 20% of the actual cost of operating a vehicle. A car is a big expensive asset that you burn through just like you burn through gas. Every mile you drive a vehicle gets it one mile closer to the junkyard.
This is what creates the illusion of driving being cheaper than it actually is. I mean, just think about it from first principles. A bigger vehicle like a train or bus is obviously going to be a hell of a lot cheaper to move a person the same distance. It's simple economies of scale. When you buy a transit pass, you are paying for your share of the full cost of operating a bus or train, not just the fuel cost.
If you want to calculate the true cost of operating a vehicle, a rough method is to take what you spend on gas and multiply by 5. That's a lot closer to your true cost per mile of owning and operating a vehicle.
Thankfully, the true morons are a very small portion of the electorate. I don't mean that anyone that is politically disengaged is a moron. If you just don't care about who leads you, figure each side is as good as the other, and just want to focus on your own life and troubles, fine. The struggle is real, and I don't blame someone who is working three jobs trying to keep a roof over their heads from simply deciding to avoid politics entirely. They don't have the mental cycles to spare, and they just can't. If you want to avoid all political news, put zero thought into the candidates, and just avoid avoid the electoral process entirely, fine. The right to vote is a right, not an obligation. I don't ascribe to that worldview, but I get it.
In contrast, the true electoral moron is someone who is completely politically disengaged, puts zero effort or critical thought into the state of contemporary politics, but still stubbornly insists on showing up to vote anyway. They don't have a damn idea who they should vote for, but damnit, they sure are as hell are going to vote anyway. It's the Dunning-Kruger voter.
But again, thankfully this is a very small portion of the people that show up on election day. There's maybe 30-40% of the whole population that's just decided to write off politics entirely. I don't personally understand that worldview. I can't imagine not caring about what leaders we elect and how it affects our lives. But, oh well, if someone chooses to opt out of the political system and accept whatever the rest of us decide, so be it. But while I don't understand it, I am at least thankful that most of these people have enough self-awareness to realize that if they don't give a damn about the outcome of elections, that they really shouldn't bother voting in the first place. The vast majority of people who are completely disengaged with candidates and the issues are simply not going to vote at all. It takes a rather rare breed of moron to completely divorce yourself from political thought and reality, while also deciding to still bother to register, drive to the polls, and fill out a ballot.
And also, I take solace in the fact that if their vote really is a random number generator, then they will have little actual effect on the election. Both candidates should get about an equal share of the true moron vote, so their overall effect is a wash.
I'm overall not that concerned about the true undecided morons. I'm far more concerned about those who have taken a look at both candidates and actually fully embrace and love the policies proposed by Trump and Vance. The type who are not just unaware, but fully onboard with their most abominable policies. I'm far more concerned that there's a sizable portion of the population that is entirely in favor of the idea of creating a Christofascist white ethnostate. Trump and Vance have the support they do because there is a sizable portion of the electorate that is fully aware of everything they have done and want to do, and to them? It sounds like a fantastic idea. THAT is what really keeps me up at night. The true morons are mostly harmless idiots. The truly evil ones are those I'm really concerned about.