Cars

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Ceux Chevaux: Parked on NW Broadway and Davis.

Despite their contribution to untold roadway carnage, resource wars, endless sprawl, consumer dystopia (big box stores, strip malls, parking lots, fast food "restaurants," etc.) road rage, and so many other cultural catastrophes, private motor vehicles remain the dominant transportation mode in Portland, Oregon.

Autopoetic

cars rock a lot.
now if only more ran on e85...
using cellulosic ethanol...
some run on biodiesel
there are even electric cars now!
- by Michael

News Links

Drivers Not Wanted

Mayors across the U.S. claim they want to stop climate change but keep widening freeways, protecting parking, and incentivizing sprawl. If U.S. mayors are truly adhering to the goals set forth in the Paris climate accord, then none of them can build infrastructure that encourages more emissions by more cars and trucks. And, furthermore, they can’t support any type of urban growth that pushes cities out instead of up. If U.S. mayors are going to go “all in” for climate, their constituents need to tell them to find new ways to cut down on cars in their cities.
On Tuesday, Germany's highest administrative court ruled that, in an effort to improve urban air quality, cities can ban cars from some streets. But German cities are not the only ones getting ready to take the car-free plunge. Urban planners and policy makers around the world have started to brainstorm ways that cities can create more space for pedestrians and lower CO2 emissions from diesel.
Over the past hundred years, as automobiles have been woven into the fabric of our daily lives, our legal system has undermined public safety, and we’ve been collectively trained to think of these deaths as unavoidable “accidents” or acts of God. Today, despite the efforts of major public-health agencies and grassroots safety campaigns, few are aware that car crashes are the number one cause of death for Americans under 35.
JOE CORTRIGHT, The Atlantic: The amount that road users pay through gas taxes now accounts for less than half of what’s spent to maintain and expand the road system. The resulting shortfall is made up from other sources of tax revenue at the state and local levels, generated by drivers and non-drivers alike. This subsidizing of car ownership costs the typical household about $1,100 per year—over and above the costs of gas taxes, tolls, and other user fees.
"We want to make it better for pedestrians, cyclists. It will be better for shops and everyone."
Cornelia Dinca, Founder, Sustainable Amsterdam: "The most beautiful places in Amsterdam—the places where all the tourists like to go, and all the Amsterdammers like to go to sit on patios, enjoy markets, relax—all of those places used to be used as parking lots."

See also

References