🚀 go-pugleaf

Steve Peringer wrote:
> jlevine@rd.hydro.on.ca (Jody Levine) wrote:
> >The only thing that's going to change accident rates here is make cycling
> >an everyday part of the culture. Easier said than done.
> 
> IMHO, the first step towards this end is making people aware of the
> archaic nature of cars.

But this is the heart of the problem, the car isn't archaic in nature,
it is just no longer the beneficial device it once was. There is a time and
a place for the car, the problems develop when many people decide
on their times and places and it occurs that these decisions are
similar - commuting, travelling on holidays, shopping out-of-town
on a weekend, etc. 

Therefore the problem is to provide realistic alternatives, highlighting
the benefits to balance out the drawbacks that the driver will perceive
when giving up the car. Public transport must be reliable, reasonably
cheap, quick and painless. Cycling must also be presented as a viable
alternative, as the original poster also said. 

This is where, in principle, I agree with Steve, the car in most of
the circumstances where it is causing problems, is archaic, but, and
this is where I must dissent, it's not as archaic as the alternatives.
It is a whole lot of other things, selfish, convenient, road-hogging, 
quick, petrol-guzzling, warm, waste-of-space, personal ... The fact
of the matter is that people need to get to work, shop, travel, etc.
and for most, the inconvenience of a few traffic jams massively
outweigh any benefits to be gained from using alternatives, even the
biggies like cleaner city air and reductions in pollution and use
of fossil fuels. 

Cycling is great for work, but not so great if you haven't got an
enlightened employer with changing/showering facilities.

You could walk to the shops, but the car culture means that
for many people the local shop is either dead or hopelessly
uncompetitive with the big superstores (with their cheap sources
of petrol).

You could talk the train when visiting, but if you have small
children, a bike or large amounts of baggage, the train is a real
hassle.

chris.

-- 
chris harrison.
ic-parc, william penney laboratory, imperial college, london, sw7 2bz.
Phone: 0171-594-8432	Internal: 58423		Room: 211
experimental: http://www-icparc.doc.ic.ac.uk/~cah1