3 ms·
I obviously don't know where you live, but it sounds crazy to people in the US because in most of the US public transportation an bicycle infrastructure is not
by ebbv 9y ago
I obviously don't know where you live, but it sounds crazy to people in the US because in most of the US public transportation an bicycle infrastructure is not where it needs to be to make them viable for daily life. In places where public transportation is better (like say NYC), car ownership is the exception rather than the rule.
The reality is cars have a massive public cost that we all subsidize via various taxes and paying higher prices for goods already. Keeping up roads, traffic signals, parking structures, etc. is very expensive. Higher taxes on vehicles (and/or gas) helps put the cost directly where it belongs.
Obviously instantly going to 100% tax on vehicles in most of the US would be a complete disaster right now because of the above lack of public transportation, etc. but it's not a crazy idea if you give people alternate means to get around and structure your cities so that 1 hour (or longer) commutes via car are not the norm.
- Drdrdrq 9y ago> so that 1 hour (or longer) commutes via car are not the norm. Is this really the norm in the states? Is this just home -> work route or does it include dropping off kids, shopping,...? Genuinly curious...
- SheepSlapper 9y agoIt takes me 40 minutes one way to get to/from work, more if the traffic sucks. The US is spread out, not having a car is not an option for a majority of our society (outside of high population density cities).
- khedoros1 9y agoI have a 15 minute commute, but I'm atypical. One of the patterns that grew in (as I understand it) the 1940s and 1950s was the tendency to work in the city, but have a home farther out in the suburbs. Apparently, the average commute time is 25.4 minutes, according to the US Census Bureau (although it gets much higher in some places): https://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html#5.00/42.000/-89.500 https://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html#5.00/42...
- ebbv 9y agoIt is pretty normal in some parts. Not everywhere. But in the Midwest it’s very common for people to live out in the suburbs and have a long freeway drive in to work. I went 45 minutes each way for years.