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The two major subsidies for cars are gas (which should cost several times its current US price) and parking (which is often provided free by businesses using ot
by davmre 13y ago
The two major subsidies for cars are gas (which should cost several times its current US price) and parking (which is often provided free by businesses using otherwise-valuable real estate). Neither of those subsidies really apply to public transit, even buses, though transit does receive relatively minor subsidies of its own.
> Until the externalities are internalized, though, there's no need to go on an anti-suburbia anti-car crusade.
Precisely the opposite: once the externalities are internalized, how anyone spends their money is no one else's business. But until that point, cars still have huge negative externalities, i.e. they are actively hurting society, so it's perfectly reasonable to crusade against them!
- alexeisadeski3 13y ago1. Parking provided by businesses is not free. It's already internalized. Only free city parking is not internalized. 2. You show only that the governments are failing to internalize these costs. Don't punish the users: punish the governments. They're the ones in the wrong.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoGovernments are controlled by people (at least with democracies), people want cheap subsidized private transportation, so the people get what they want until its not tenable anymore.
- davmre 13y ago1. Free parking at businesses, housing developments, even single-family homes is quite often mandated by regulation. In many cities, if you build a new apartment building, shopping mall, etc., you're required by law to also construct a proportional quantity of parking, even if that goes against your judgement as to the best use of space and resources. See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/business/economy/15view.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/business/economy/15view.ht... and http://www.amazon.com/The-High-Cost-Free-Parking/dp/1884829988 http://www.amazon.com/The-High-Cost-Free-Parking/dp/18848299.... 2. No one's calling for the guillotine for all car owners (that would include me!). But democratic governments are a function of their citizens. If externalities are not being internalized, it's because there is some powerful faction -- drivers, in this case -- that benefits from the status quo. Yes, the US govt is dysfunctional, but go ahead and try surveying the US public about a carbon tax that would raise gas to $10/gallon. It's not just some abstract 'government' that favors subsidies here -- it's pretty much the entire citizenry.