Originally posted by *WildHare*
To expect everyone to live close enough to work to commute everyday on a bike is expecting way too much. And isn't that what it's all about these days? WORK? The Rat Race? Money money money?
If time is money, then the MASSIVE amount of hours people spend auto commuting to/from work in their automobile is a terrible investment. Suppose a person makes $30 an hour for an 8 hour day, but they have a grueling 3 hour car commute. Since the commute is so much work, let's consider it part of one's work day, so that one's work day is 11 hours rather than 8. One's effective hourly rate shrinks to $21.82 -- a pay cut of almost one third. But the cost of owning/maintaining a car is also expensive. _Asphalt Nation_ conservatively estimates that this costs the individual about $6000 a year. Let's say that it takes $8000 gross to earn $6000 after taxes. This puts one's effective hourly rate down to $19.02 -- an hourly pay cut that has now exceeded one third.
If I were dictator of the world, I wouldn't ban cars outright. However, I would ban car loans. People would whine and complain that they couldn't afford to get a car this way. But don't these people realize: If you think it's too expensive to buy a car outright, the car becomes even more expensive when you finance it.