02-11-2015, 10:12 AM
I have to cringe when I hear the phrase "war on cars," but I understand that you're right: there are some people who feel that. But they're wrong in this feeling: car users have been waging a war against other forms of transportation for a long time now. It's so distorted that asking them to pay their fair share seems like an act of war to a motorist.
I'm not sure why you brought up parking in the other post, but making driving less convenient really is part of the equation if we want to increase transit ridership, and make our cities work more efficiently. You talk about raising parking fees- well, if someone is driving to his job and not paying for parking, he can be sure that someone else is. Why not remove that subsidy to car usage, so at least transit and personal motor use can be compared on a more even footing?
Respectfully, no one "has" to drive to work. We all take decisions as to where to live, and how to get around. If people choose to live ten or twenty or thirty kilometres from their employment, of course it should cost that person more since there's impacts on infrastructure and the environment as a result of that. I know that that particular choice is a complex one, and transportation is only one part of that, but while we continue to subsidize car travel (and we do, massively), the choices that people make will be based on incomplete information, and won't be efficient ones.
I'm not sure why you brought up parking in the other post, but making driving less convenient really is part of the equation if we want to increase transit ridership, and make our cities work more efficiently. You talk about raising parking fees- well, if someone is driving to his job and not paying for parking, he can be sure that someone else is. Why not remove that subsidy to car usage, so at least transit and personal motor use can be compared on a more even footing?
Respectfully, no one "has" to drive to work. We all take decisions as to where to live, and how to get around. If people choose to live ten or twenty or thirty kilometres from their employment, of course it should cost that person more since there's impacts on infrastructure and the environment as a result of that. I know that that particular choice is a complex one, and transportation is only one part of that, but while we continue to subsidize car travel (and we do, massively), the choices that people make will be based on incomplete information, and won't be efficient ones.