Getting this off my chest

I think you (all of you!) know I have strong feelings about cars. Cook and I, over 12 years of cohabitation in cities (and 10 car-free years) and several years of work and education in transportation planning, have come to a shared position of disbelief and horror that we live in a world that is designed around cars. This feeling is always there, but when I stand at a bus stop watching a river of cars whiz by me at high speeds, or walk across an ocean of free parking,* or read yet another article about person killed by a car, it wells up in a bubble of anger. I hate it that cars get so much of our space and time and money. I hate it that they kill so many people, and yet we all just accept the huge risk of injury or death by car as part of everyday life. (While decrying transit and bicycling as dangerous.)

I want cars to be reassigned to a subordinate position as one of many transportation options, and demoted from their current place as the ONLY real transportation option. Think how lovely a world in which cars aren't the center of everything would be. No, really, think about it. It would be quieter, and there would be a lot more open space. People would walk more and bike more and not have to be afraid of being mashed. Stores and offices and whatnot would be located closer together. Car crashes wouldn't kill 35000 people a year* in the United States, and air pollution wouldn't take thousands of lives and billions of dollars. Healthcare costs would be lower. People would be less stressed and have more money.

Here's crankypants Todd Litman on the subject:

I am not suggesting that everybody must give up driving altogether. My research and my personal experience indicate that the best transport system is multi-modal: good walking and cycling conditions; good public transit, carsharing and taxi services; and mixed land use to minimize the distances people must travel to reach common services and activities. This is no more "anti-automobile" than a healthy diet is "anti-food," it lets users choose the best mode for each trip. I do not believe that people should be forced to live in such communities, but housing in such neighborhoods should be available to anybody who wants, including those with low incomes, and people who drive less than average should not be forced to subidize people who drive more than average.

There are two possible responses to the high costs of driving. We can continue to increase road, parking and fuel subsidies in an attempt to keep automobile travel affordable. However, this entails huge costs, is unfair to people who drive less than average, and exacerbates problems such as traffic congestion, accidents and pollution. Alternatively, we can create a more diverse and efficient transport system. This requires shifting some road space to alternative modes and increasing vehicle fees. By reducing the amount that people must drive to satisfy their needs this approach reduces total transport costs, reduces traffic problems, and provides other benefits to users and society.

It would be so great, wouldn't it?

*Parking! Ugh! Don't get me started!

**That's a lot of people, isn't it? Given that we started two wars over far fewer deaths, maybe we should have a War on Cars! I could definitely get behind that.