Should we fight the war against the car?
The Toronto Globe and Mail recently ran an interesting and slightly inflamatory op-ed entitled "The war against the car will never succeed." The jist is that transit advocates are barking up the wrong tree by trying to convince people not to drive because most people want to drive. She says, "But transit advocates ignore the overwhelming evidence from around the world: People still prefer their cars." and "The idea that public transit can replace the car in people's busy lives is a fantasy."
Now, I think that a fair bit of her argument is flawed – poor people will just buy used cars! [and when they break down, they will ride the bus...] – but there is an interesting point in there somewhere. And that is that you aren't going to get the majority to ride transit because it is more virtuous. People just don't make personal choices that way – there has to be something in it for them: (noticeably) cheaper, (significantly) faster, (much) more convenient. My train ride in the morning takes longer than driving, but it is much cheaper than keeping another car (where would we find a parking space?!). Those who already live in the 'burbs and already drive – you are going to have offer them a compelling (personal) reason why they should change, and I'm afraid that smog and global warming aren't it. Those of us who write/read transit blogs fall into an exceptional category - we are the self-selected believers. How are we going to motivate the others? How can we make transit an offer that they can't resist? And, here's the real question, is it worth it?
Post Author:
ebs | 12:32 PM |
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I certainly don't think I'd take the bus if it took three times as long as by car. The principal reason, though, that most transit alternatives can't compete with cars is simply that our cities are designed around automobiles, not mass transit. The op-ed is wrong when it suggests that planners ought not be designing communities around transit; in fact, people who live near useful transportation lines take advantage of the opportunity not to drive. Transit ridership is high in areas where communities have been built around the lines, because that's where transit works. In the end, we can't expect people to live in cookie-cutter suburbs to take the bus to work - people who live in town centers, downtowns, and TODs, however, might.
That's just Margaret Wente; her job is to write infuriating opinion pieces. This is far from her first time writing about how she lives in a transit-friendly central city nabe with streetcar service every 5 mins, but loves her SUV anyway! You should have seen her piece on "why she's better than other people because she doesn't think she's better than other people like other people do". Just try to ignore her... at least that's what we usually try to do here in Toronto.
