One of the strangest parts of advocating for more walkable, bike-friendly, transit-oriented cities is constantly being accused of wanting to ban cars or saying that no one should ever drive. Things...
It doesn’t cost you anything to (at least)
wish a safe and functional infrastructure for other means of transportation", like public transport and cycling.
You don’t necessarily need to make others’ choices “prohibitively expensive” or “uncomfortable”. 💁
Personal cars in a city is a huge risk for everyone and it costs me and everybody else a lot. I don’t think that wanting to live in a city for people and not cars is unreasonable.
I mean, it’s really the same thing. In a reasonably designed and managed city where motorists pay their fair share via pigouvian taxes, car ownership would be quite expensive and a lot of hassle.
Obviously, a carbon tax on all gasoline. But this would also significantly increase the cost of manufacturing cars in general, since they are giant hunks of metal shipped all over the world. Then add pigouvian taxes for road noise and air quality degradation due to tire particulate matter. All emergency services which respond to motorists should be paid for by motorists. Since sidewalks and bike lanes are car infrastructure, these should be paid for by motorists - in addition to the construction and maintenance of the roads they drive on. There should be no parking mandates, and all public parking in dense areas should be paid parking. Since land is expensive in dense areas, private parking would also typically be paid parking. Since the point of highways is to efficiently transport goods and people, they would be tolled to ensure clear roadways during rush hour. So costs would go up a lot.
Meanwhile, an urban area designed for people is pleasant to be in, which precludes convenience for motorists. Being able to simply cross the street without fear requires physically forcing cars to slow down via things like narrower car lanes and raised pedestrian crossings. To allow for a pleasant and efficient experience for people, road space would need to be reclaimed for pedestrians, cyclists, and dedicated transit lanes. Especially pedestrian-heavy streets would be closed entirely to car traffic. Since a sensible city considers how its infrastructure dollars are spent vs citizens served, the city would decommission or retrofit most non-dense areas. People living in non-dense areas would need to pay a premium to cover the increased per-person infrastructure cost.
So as an auto owner, you would need to first find a place to live that has parking. This place would be expensive, because it would be a poor use of valuable urban land, since it contains a parking spot and is likely not very densely built. Owning the car, you would pay extra in your registration, gas, and tires for pigouvian taxes due to the externalities you impose on others. Pulling out of the driveway, you are immediately slowed to a crawl because pedestrians, cyclists, and transit all have priority over you as you try to move through the city. You are unable to safely drive faster than 20mph. You feel on edge the whole time you are driving because you are acutely aware of the large metal box you are operating in close proximity to many vulnerable humans. You drive somewhere else in the city and must hunt for parking, and then pay for it. It takes longer to drive and park than it does to take transit, because transit is efficient and prioritized.
It doesn’t cost you anything to (at least) wish a safe and functional infrastructure for other means of transportation", like public transport and cycling.
You don’t necessarily need to make others’ choices “prohibitively expensive” or “uncomfortable”. 💁
Personal cars in a city is a huge risk for everyone and it costs me and everybody else a lot. I don’t think that wanting to live in a city for people and not cars is unreasonable.
I mean, it’s really the same thing. In a reasonably designed and managed city where motorists pay their fair share via pigouvian taxes, car ownership would be quite expensive and a lot of hassle.
Obviously, a carbon tax on all gasoline. But this would also significantly increase the cost of manufacturing cars in general, since they are giant hunks of metal shipped all over the world. Then add pigouvian taxes for road noise and air quality degradation due to tire particulate matter. All emergency services which respond to motorists should be paid for by motorists. Since sidewalks and bike lanes are car infrastructure, these should be paid for by motorists - in addition to the construction and maintenance of the roads they drive on. There should be no parking mandates, and all public parking in dense areas should be paid parking. Since land is expensive in dense areas, private parking would also typically be paid parking. Since the point of highways is to efficiently transport goods and people, they would be tolled to ensure clear roadways during rush hour. So costs would go up a lot.
Meanwhile, an urban area designed for people is pleasant to be in, which precludes convenience for motorists. Being able to simply cross the street without fear requires physically forcing cars to slow down via things like narrower car lanes and raised pedestrian crossings. To allow for a pleasant and efficient experience for people, road space would need to be reclaimed for pedestrians, cyclists, and dedicated transit lanes. Especially pedestrian-heavy streets would be closed entirely to car traffic. Since a sensible city considers how its infrastructure dollars are spent vs citizens served, the city would decommission or retrofit most non-dense areas. People living in non-dense areas would need to pay a premium to cover the increased per-person infrastructure cost.
So as an auto owner, you would need to first find a place to live that has parking. This place would be expensive, because it would be a poor use of valuable urban land, since it contains a parking spot and is likely not very densely built. Owning the car, you would pay extra in your registration, gas, and tires for pigouvian taxes due to the externalities you impose on others. Pulling out of the driveway, you are immediately slowed to a crawl because pedestrians, cyclists, and transit all have priority over you as you try to move through the city. You are unable to safely drive faster than 20mph. You feel on edge the whole time you are driving because you are acutely aware of the large metal box you are operating in close proximity to many vulnerable humans. You drive somewhere else in the city and must hunt for parking, and then pay for it. It takes longer to drive and park than it does to take transit, because transit is efficient and prioritized.