Comment 96288

By seancb (registered) - website | Posted December 22, 2013 at 14:08:19 in reply to Comment 96262

I don't believe there have been any cries in the complete streets articles to "get rid of cars".

The fact that Hamilton's streets are currently overbuilt and cater almost exclusively to cars means that, by definition, some of the car-carrying capacity will be lost in the creation of complete streets. But building complete streets doesn't mean removing anything remotely close to all of the car capacity.

Converting a fraction of the space currently devoted to cars into space for bikes, pedestrians and transit also means that fewer people will need to drive for every single trip. Many of us will still drive when necessary, but having safe, efficient alternatives means we won't have to drive for every single transportation movement.

This discussion is not (and has never been) about eliminating cars. It is about using the unnecessary extra vehicular lane capacity in Hamilton to accommodate more efficient modes of transport in order to be able to move more people in less space, so that our city can house more people in less space, so that our per-capita expenditures are more efficient.

We will all still be able to drive a truck to buy a bathtub at home depot. But perhaps we'll feel more comfortable about riding a bike two blocks to pick up milk and eggs instead of using that truck every time we leave the house.

I vote down for offensiveness and up for humour. I cast no votes based on my level of agreement.

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds