Comment 30704

By arienc (registered) | Posted May 01, 2009 at 13:57:08

A Smith > Fine, but unless you can reduce demand, you will always have traffic jams.

Hence the desire to shift some of the demand to cycling. Continual growth in this region of the world will not be accomodated without a huge amount of costly new road building. Transitioning some of that demand to other modes is critical for making efficient use of our resources and keeping tax levels reasonable.

A Smith > Oh the humanity, the government is forcing me to own a car!

Think of it from the business owner's perspective. If the cost of owning cars exceeds the cost of public transit by $6,000 per person, then an employer would naturally save money by being able to employ people that don't have cars. Without such alternatives, they need to pay sufficient wages so that every employee can afford to maintain and operate a car. Business thereby becomes more profitable, thanks to having public goods such as transit and bicycle infrastructure available.

The viewpoint is not one of cars bad, bikes good...it's one of bringing the proper balance, and offering citizens the freedom to use other modes. This ability benefits society in addition to the economy. As things stand, the culture which puts cars first, above all other options is exacting massive costs on our society, not to mention the impacts on neighbourhoods and our social fabric in general. For an interesing view, check out this piece from the US...Why Conservatives Should Care About Public Transit.

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/viewar...

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