that was a good read. But when the discussions start, all we’re left is pointing fingers in the other direction.
Automobil points to Aviation, Aviation points to cruise ships. Government points manufacturers, manufacturers point to consumer demands. ㄟ(ツ)ㄏ
As always people are left with the consequence and very small percentage care enough to make changes to their lifestyle to help the environment.
I think that’s not true. I think most people agree (or at least don’t strongly disagree) with all this stuff. In the UK (where Mr Monbiot is writing) a large majority want the railways renationalised and improved and extended. They support improving public transport at the expense of private transport.
The minority who oppose it include powerful vested interests. So the majority of public discourse opposes it. So there’s an illusion that it’s unpopular.
You need both - urban routes and suburban routes - express and local buses - city terminuses and moterway interchanges.
There’s not one simple answer, like Mr Monbiot thinks. The only effective solution is a mixture of different modes of transport. Even cars play a role.
Totally disagree that cars play a role, at least as they are now.
As they are now they:
- Take up a lots of space, even when not in use.
- Cause health problems for people who live nearby.
- Cause congestion, increasing travel times for everyone else.
- Are a more expensive (monetarily and environmentally) form of travel (at least in places where there is competetive public transport).
- Kill and injur people that aren’t even drivers.
Hydrogen/Electric self driving cars can fix 2. and maybe 5. But they still have lots of problems. So even then I would prefer they are taxed and restricted to areas’s with low population density.
They definitely need to play a smaller role.
In places with good public transport they already play a much smaller role - people just don’t need them. IMO you don’t push people out of car by taxing and restricting them - you pull people onto public transport by providing it in good quality.
Another thing. There is a use-case where you need to carry two adults and 2-3 children and a lot of luggage/shopping, all together. And because the city is not perfectly designed, they need to do that several times a week. It’s a very common use-case, and cars are designed to be perfect for it. That’s presumably the reason cars are the way they are. Pushing those people onto buses or bicycles would cause them huge difficulty, for not much environmental gain. The problem is that cars are used for a lot of other use-cases where they are not suitable, due to lack of public transport or disposable income or other things.