5 ms·

Cities Can Reclaim Their Streets from SUVs

10 points by jseliger 6y ago

vcolano 6y ago
IMO a gas tax rate that is on par with the rest of the developed world would be the most sane way to combat this. Gas taxes in the US and Canada are dismal compared to many other countries (https://afdc.energy.gov/data/widgets/10327 https://afdc.energy.gov/data/widgets/10327). And of course more investment in pedestrian/biking infrastructure and more walkable city planning.
- jeffrallen 6y ago
  Car registration cost is proportional to (internal combustion) horsepower in Switzerland, which is helpful in punishing buyers if heavy vehicles. Electric cars in Canton Vaud can be registered for a flat rate of $25, whereas cars are $700 a year and bigger vehicles (SUV, 7 place minivan) are $1200. Eventually the transition to electric will require that we apply proportionality to electric too.
- Gibbon1 6y ago
  I'm all for putting an excise tax on new on gasoline cars. Make the owner of a new gasoline powered car pay their carbon tax up front. In this case you don't care about the money you want people to stop buying gasoline power cars. You can then that money to buy back older cars and take them off the road.
- dzhiurgis 6y ago
  Problem is they are convienient in cities. Make your cities unusable for the size and it's problem solved. Just make your streets more narrow. Removing parking is a dick move. Taxing is pointless. For people with special needs - subsidise specialised Uber. For the very few tradies who actually need to lug cargo narrower street is minor inconvenience.
- timbo1642 6y ago
  That's absurd and stupid. Just add a one time tax rather than screw everyone, especially the poor with a higher gas tax. The gas tax has a purpose and of course isn't be used very well for the purpose of repairing roads, especially in places like California. People like you want to make it impossibly for old, busy, old people, and disabled to get around with your dumb idea of getting cars off the road. A whole bike lane that in some cases takes an entire lane is used for a 50 bikes (that are almost all used for pleasure and not transportation) where 100,000 cars could have driven through that lane and there would be less traffic and pollution. At least use common sense
dzhiurgis 6y ago
IMO problem is not enough public space for bikes, peds and public transport to begin with. It's obviously impossible solve for US, AU, NZ and the like. But in old cities we can definitely reclaim the space from private cars for the greater good. Watch https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLifeSizedCity/playlists https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLifeSizedCity/playlists to see how selfish car infrastructure is with no consideration for anyone else. In many cases something like 90% of public space is dedicated to cars.... If you wan't people to stop using something - make it inconvenient. SUV's are bloody good for car focused cities, especially for families. They are useless in large European cities by design and we're not even talking silly sizes like in US. A crossover (which is also smaller in EU than in US) is too big and too impractical. That said amazing how one class of vehicles is vilified and others are OK. Seems buses and utility trucks and headphones don't kill pedestrians. Only personal SUV's kill pedestrians. Guess who'd want to push such narrative...

10 points by jseliger 6y ago

IMO a gas tax rate that is on par with the rest of the developed world would be the most sane way to combat this. Gas taxes in the US and Canada are dismal compared to many other countries (https://afdc.energy.gov/data/widgets/10327 https://afdc.energy.gov/data/widgets/10327). And of course more investment in pedestrian/biking infrastructure and more walkable city planning.

jeffrallen 6y ago
Car registration cost is proportional to (internal combustion) horsepower in Switzerland, which is helpful in punishing buyers if heavy vehicles. Electric cars in Canton Vaud can be registered for a flat rate of $25, whereas cars are $700 a year and bigger vehicles (SUV, 7 place minivan) are $1200. Eventually the transition to electric will require that we apply proportionality to electric too.
Gibbon1 6y ago
I'm all for putting an excise tax on new on gasoline cars. Make the owner of a new gasoline powered car pay their carbon tax up front. In this case you don't care about the money you want people to stop buying gasoline power cars. You can then that money to buy back older cars and take them off the road.
dzhiurgis 6y ago
Problem is they are convienient in cities. Make your cities unusable for the size and it's problem solved. Just make your streets more narrow. Removing parking is a dick move. Taxing is pointless. For people with special needs - subsidise specialised Uber. For the very few tradies who actually need to lug cargo narrower street is minor inconvenience.
timbo1642 6y ago
That's absurd and stupid. Just add a one time tax rather than screw everyone, especially the poor with a higher gas tax. The gas tax has a purpose and of course isn't be used very well for the purpose of repairing roads, especially in places like California. People like you want to make it impossibly for old, busy, old people, and disabled to get around with your dumb idea of getting cars off the road. A whole bike lane that in some cases takes an entire lane is used for a 50 bikes (that are almost all used for pleasure and not transportation) where 100,000 cars could have driven through that lane and there would be less traffic and pollution. At least use common sense

dzhiurgis 6y ago

IMO problem is not enough public space for bikes, peds and public transport to begin with. It's obviously impossible solve for US, AU, NZ and the like. But in old cities we can definitely reclaim the space from private cars for the greater good. Watch https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLifeSizedCity/playlists https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLifeSizedCity/playlists to see how selfish car infrastructure is with no consideration for anyone else. In many cases something like 90% of public space is dedicated to cars.... If you wan't people to stop using something - make it inconvenient. SUV's are bloody good for car focused cities, especially for families. They are useless in large European cities by design and we're not even talking silly sizes like in US. A crossover (which is also smaller in EU than in US) is too big and too impractical. That said amazing how one class of vehicles is vilified and others are OK. Seems buses and utility trucks and headphones don't kill pedestrians. Only personal SUV's kill pedestrians. Guess who'd want to push such narrative...