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Having lived in some places around Europe, my quality of life is always increased by owning a motor vehicle. I do not use it daily, I do not commute with it, bu

Having lived in some places around Europe, my quality of life is always increased by owning a motor vehicle. I do not use it daily, I do not commute with it, but there are trips which are far more practical with a personal motor vehicle than otherwise, like fetching people from an airport, taking a pet to a vet, driving further out for a hike, hauling groceries.

supriyo-biswas 3y ago
Maybe some sort of distance-dependent taxation on cars may be a more viable option, so that people can enjoy private commutes when they absolutely need it, while still pushing people towards public transport.
- orangepurple 3y ago
  France is like this. Massive amount of toll roads.
- eptcyka 3y ago
  This is what toll roads do, kind of.
  - thisgoesnowhere 3y ago
    Tolls are very underrated imo but the issue is that of you do tolls without the other infrastructure it's basically just a tax on the poor. You need to offer other methods to get around first then add them.
- jansan 3y ago
  How about no? Why do you you think you need to patronize people like that?
- carlosjobim 3y ago
  Are you not aware of taxes on gas? What do you think is the consequence of those taxes?
- adrianN 3y ago
  If you add a ban on parking on public spaces and remove parking minimums for new construction that starts to make sense. Otherwise you'll still spend 10-20% of your city real estate on cars.
- yencabulator 3y ago
  Nordic countries are generally pretty happy to tax fuel, and that acts as a distance-dependent tax on cars.
athenot 3y ago
Having lived in both Europe and the US, yes you are correct that owning a vehicle does make many things more practical. On the flip side, being required to drive everywhere because there is no transit option is a negative impact on quality of life, especially in cities. Ultimately it comes down to how good the transit infrastructure is. Some cities make transit feel effortless and get you anywhere you need to be; others make you battle your way through it and lose a lot of time.
oakesm9 3y ago
The solution to this is a car sharing programme. You pay your membership and get access to a fleet of cars and vans that you can pickup whenever you like. Tax, insurance, and petrol is all covered in the price (usually) and you can pick the right vehicle size for the trip you're making (no need to own a truck for the rare occasions you need to move large items). Obviously not a solution for every situation, but if you only need a car occasionally then it would likely work out well. The "Not Just Bikes" video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OObwqreAJ48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OObwqreAJ48 Personally I only drive once a week at most, but there isn't a car share scheme locally. If one started up that was cost effective and convinient enough then I'd consider it.
- eptcyka 3y ago
  I agree, car sharing is the way to go.
- TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
  Carsharing can be recommended only by somebody who never have to share a car. - Car won't available when you need it. - You will come to a car, which will have steering wheel and driver's seat in a setup incompatible with your physique, so you need to waste your time to set it back. Every. Damn. Time. - Car will be dirty. All the time. Dog hair, food crumbs, trash (i.e. coffee cups, cans). You will take it out and next time it will be back - If you are sharing with a smoker, I hope that you like smoky smell of your car. - Car will be always empty (gas, battery) because previous user has no incentive to fill it up. - Minor accidents will go unreported, and then you will be wondering, where this scratch came from, why is this mirror busted or why I need to hold my steering wheel 10 degrees to the left to drive straight. - Everybody will try to evade maintenance fees - You want money for winter tires? I don't drive in winter man... 2 weeks later your co-owner will want to drive, because it is his car too! Carsharing is a dead end and whoever will try it, will quickly revert back to his own car. Less headache.
  - rumori 3y ago
    I had nothing but good experiences with car sharing, great value for the money and I wish it was available in more places.
RandomLensman 3y ago
I had opposite experience: not owning a car and only on occasion renting a car, using a taxi etc. made my life in big cities much easier.
stefs 3y ago
owning a car is almost always the convenient option, especially if you disregard all the downsides like the (monetary) cost to one personally and to society at large. i agree that living car-free is not practical for many, mostly those living in rural or suburban areas, but even here the car is part of the problem, having made this possible in the first place for people who shouldn't even live there. we've got to break the self-reinforcing loop on car dependency, starting with the cities. we'll lose a lot of convenience and some things will be unreasonably hard compared to before but i think it's the future and it'll pay off in increased quality of life.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

supriyo-biswas 3y ago

Maybe some sort of distance-dependent taxation on cars may be a more viable option, so that people can enjoy private commutes when they absolutely need it, while still pushing people towards public transport.

orangepurple 3y ago
France is like this. Massive amount of toll roads.
eptcyka 3y ago
This is what toll roads do, kind of.
- thisgoesnowhere 3y ago
  Tolls are very underrated imo but the issue is that of you do tolls without the other infrastructure it's basically just a tax on the poor. You need to offer other methods to get around first then add them.
jansan 3y ago
How about no? Why do you you think you need to patronize people like that?
carlosjobim 3y ago
Are you not aware of taxes on gas? What do you think is the consequence of those taxes?
adrianN 3y ago
If you add a ban on parking on public spaces and remove parking minimums for new construction that starts to make sense. Otherwise you'll still spend 10-20% of your city real estate on cars.
yencabulator 3y ago
Nordic countries are generally pretty happy to tax fuel, and that acts as a distance-dependent tax on cars.

athenot 3y ago

Having lived in both Europe and the US, yes you are correct that owning a vehicle does make many things more practical. On the flip side, being required to drive everywhere because there is no transit option is a negative impact on quality of life, especially in cities. Ultimately it comes down to how good the transit infrastructure is. Some cities make transit feel effortless and get you anywhere you need to be; others make you battle your way through it and lose a lot of time.

oakesm9 3y ago

The solution to this is a car sharing programme. You pay your membership and get access to a fleet of cars and vans that you can pickup whenever you like. Tax, insurance, and petrol is all covered in the price (usually) and you can pick the right vehicle size for the trip you're making (no need to own a truck for the rare occasions you need to move large items). Obviously not a solution for every situation, but if you only need a car occasionally then it would likely work out well. The "Not Just Bikes" video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OObwqreAJ48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OObwqreAJ48 Personally I only drive once a week at most, but there isn't a car share scheme locally. If one started up that was cost effective and convinient enough then I'd consider it.

eptcyka 3y ago
I agree, car sharing is the way to go.
TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
Carsharing can be recommended only by somebody who never have to share a car. - Car won't available when you need it. - You will come to a car, which will have steering wheel and driver's seat in a setup incompatible with your physique, so you need to waste your time to set it back. Every. Damn. Time. - Car will be dirty. All the time. Dog hair, food crumbs, trash (i.e. coffee cups, cans). You will take it out and next time it will be back - If you are sharing with a smoker, I hope that you like smoky smell of your car. - Car will be always empty (gas, battery) because previous user has no incentive to fill it up. - Minor accidents will go unreported, and then you will be wondering, where this scratch came from, why is this mirror busted or why I need to hold my steering wheel 10 degrees to the left to drive straight. - Everybody will try to evade maintenance fees - You want money for winter tires? I don't drive in winter man... 2 weeks later your co-owner will want to drive, because it is his car too! Carsharing is a dead end and whoever will try it, will quickly revert back to his own car. Less headache.
- rumori 3y ago
  I had nothing but good experiences with car sharing, great value for the money and I wish it was available in more places.

RandomLensman 3y ago

I had opposite experience: not owning a car and only on occasion renting a car, using a taxi etc. made my life in big cities much easier.

stefs 3y ago

owning a car is almost always the convenient option, especially if you disregard all the downsides like the (monetary) cost to one personally and to society at large. i agree that living car-free is not practical for many, mostly those living in rural or suburban areas, but even here the car is part of the problem, having made this possible in the first place for people who shouldn't even live there. we've got to break the self-reinforcing loop on car dependency, starting with the cities. we'll lose a lot of convenience and some things will be unreasonably hard compared to before but i think it's the future and it'll pay off in increased quality of life.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]