Originally Posted by
Roody
So I think we all need to get on the bandwagon to push our governments to build better infrastructure, especially mass transit, as well as bike-friendly and ped-friendly streets. I can't think of any better way to both discourage cars and encourage alternatives to them.
Right. They can levy higher taxes and license fees all they want, but unless people can actually
get to transit of some kind, they're just getting screwed.
As it is now in DC, there's a LOT of public transit in use -- it's even been noted that we have among the highest percentage of commuters who travel by foot, bike, rail, or bus. I see people walking through my neighborhood to get to work on the Hill every morning, too.
The thing is, housing that's transit- and workplace-accessible is hardly ever affordable. I was telling this to a friend the other day: if you can put "Metro accessible" in your apartment rental ad, you can probably justify rent that's 25% higher than the same kind of apartment that's not close to a Metro rail stop. The difference is almost enough to eat up the savings of not owning a vehicle, believe it or not.
If public transit becomes even more desirable because of higher vehicle costs, yet it isn't expanded correspondingly, the few properties that are near public transit will become even more expensive. You'll still have people who can't afford to live closer to transit stops, and they'll still be paying more to drive their cars. Nobody wins like that.
It's like
Field Of Dreams -- "Build it, and they will come." They're not gonna ride the bus or train if they can't get to it.