this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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What if instead we had Less Cars and more Public Transit?
Sure! But that's not a silver bullet.
Decarbonization is a multi-prong solution and switching everything over to public transportation would take decades. It takes time to create the infrastructure and generations to change minds. Investing in public transportation, bike infrastructure and electrifying our cars are all necessary for our goal to lower green house gasses.
Perfect is the enemy of good
It took the Netherlands what, 20 years? There's also countless examples of cities just deciding to have better public infrastructure and then acting on it.
More than 20 years, peak car ridership occurred in the 1970s which was close to 80% of urban transportation done by car. That number is now down to 19% of all urban transportation done by car.
Amsterdam also had backing from the public to transition to bike and public transportation.
Absolutely we should invest in public transportation! And you are right that cities have decided to create public transportation, and then did! But it took a decade plus to plan, build and implant the new system. That's also ignoring the millions and billions of dollars needed.
Id like to have more public transit than I currently have which is none.
"But there's no profit in that. Why would we do that?"
But there is profit in it. Public transit can be a revenue generator that at least pays for itself as opposed to roads that are nothing but a huge cost over its lifetime.
And then there are the second-order effects of better economic activity in the areas around metro stations, a healthier populace that is less of a burden on the healthcare system, and overall higher happiness, which makes for better workers. It's just that it can take a decade or two to see these effects come to fruition.
But politicians rarely see that far out.
That's not how the calculations for streets work. National economy is pretty darn complex and streets are paying for itself in a lot of countries.
Source: Trust me bro.
Public transit literally pays for itself, no "darn complex" calculation required.
Do you go to work for free?
As a cyclist, COVID lockdown was bliss. No vehicles on the roads, just other cyclists out for their hour of exercise. It was literally mind blowing how different the roads felt.
And get rid of all those union jobs?
Why are you promoting a fallacious idea?
Why are you disregarding my idea without providing any effort or ideas of your own?
Because they can't, and running purely on ignorance.