5 ms·
It’s a feature. Europe of all places can tolerate a society of minimal private car ownership.
by xwdv 4y ago
It’s a feature. Europe of all places can tolerate a society of minimal private car ownership.
- TheLoafOfBread 4y agoEurope in cities? Maybe. Europe overall? Absolutely not.
- kybernetyk 4y agoDidn’t you know? For the typical HN poster living in SF or NYC Europe is a 15 minute walkable Utopia where no one pays for health care.
- expertentipp 4y agoErmm.. no. The cars will simply become luxury for few and the remaining precariat will pay per minute. Cars themselves are a valid concept.
- richrichardsson 4y agoIn towns/cities, yes. Rural Europe is a disaster if you don't have a your own transport, as either there is no public transport, or it's atrocious (eg. 2 buses a week in some places).
- arp242 4y agoHence the usage of the word "minimal", or so I would imagine. Plus the only reason that's the case is because there's little demand for it. That is: people have cars. "Europe" is a big place with lots of differences so I can't generalize to the entire continent, which includes places I've never even been to, but quite a few places could almost entirely eliminate car ownership within a matter of years if they wanted. Whether that's desirable in the first place is something I'll leave for everyone to decide for themselves, but it really is just a question of "want" rather than "can".
- jwestbury 4y agoThe problem here is that "minimal" car ownership due to high prices does not mean car ownership concentrated amongst those who needs cars, necessarily.
- trabant00 4y agoIt can with people making some sacrifices. What I don't like about this is which people will make said sacrifices, meaning the low income part of the population. Which will have to either pay more rent by moving into the city where they can easily access public transport and/or waste hours of their life each day. I'm not excited by the current number of cars either, don't get me wrong. It just saddens me the working class has to pay the price, again.
- ZeroGravitas 4y agoI can't tell if this weirdly popular opinion is concern trolling or not, but if you actually do really care about the working class, then the EV transition is a good thing for them. Less pollution, less disease, less war, less imports, cheaper transport, higher standard of living. Its a win win win win and you have to have your head deep in far right conspiracy nonsense to believe otherwise.
- dividedbyzero 4y agoLarge cities, sure. But people in rural areas absolutely need a car to function.
- xwdv 4y agoOnly because things are so spread out. With no public transport.