General Road and Highway Discussion

[danbrotherston]

lol, why all the car hate?  Sure walking and biking is great but can't ignore that vehicle sales, gas tax, infrastructure maintenance all drive the economy and provides the standard of living that we all enjoy.

"Car hate"...where is the car hate?  This is a discussion of policies, and of economics.  It's not "hate" to point out that mass car commuting is the least efficient form of travel and has enormous social, economic, and environmental costs.  It isn't "hate" to suggest that using economics, by pricing road travel directly, you can reverse the perverse societal incentives towards this inefficient form of transportation.  These are just facts and policy ideas.

In fact, I don't hate driving one bit, I love driving.  I do however, hate traffic, and congestion, and unpleasant urban experiences.

Also, I don't think it's correct to suggest that these things are the same as single occupant vehicle commuting, or a car oriented society, nor are those things required to maintain our standard of living.  Countries with far lower rates of single occupancy vehicle commuting, including places which are a mecca of biking like the Netherlands, have both, equally high rates of household car ownership, and also higher quality of life metrics.