donheff

Sure, this makes sense but not the idea that costly petroleum means the end of car culture. We can innovate our way out of dependence on oil. We should have introduced substantial gas taxes during the 70s shortages - if we had we would have fantastic mileage today.

PaulH

You live in Washington, DC. I can't imagine any area where rush hour driving is slower, more difficult, or less practical then metro DC. The congestion and scarce parking is what got me riding a bike thirteen years ago, and both have increased since then. Those Europeans should study us.

Paul

donheff

As American cities go DC is great. Bike routes are increasing, bikeshare is available. But it still isn't like a Euro central city. And we don
t have policies designed to actively discourage vehicle traffic - cars still get the priority.

JohnDThompson 

Why should women shave their arm pits if men aren't expected to?

Wogster

Which is what Europe, and to a lesser degree Canada did, they used taxes as the motivator to lower fuel use. In Canada the AVERAGE tax on gasoline is, 25¢/L although in reality it's different in each province, Ontario, where I live it's 27.9¢/L that's about $1.056 per US Gallon, in the United States it's 47¢/Gallon, in Holland it's €0.68/L or $3.50 per gallon, and there is 19% VAT slapped on top of that.... Which is why bicycles are so popular in Holland.

NOS88

I really hate this kind of bigotry. It adds nothing to the conversation and demeans millions of people.

Dan Burkhart 

That depends on one's perspective.
From Wkipedia
"During the 19th century the popular image of the war in the United States was of an American victory, and in Canada, of a Canadian victory. Each young country saw her self-perceived victory as an important foundation of her growing nationhood. The British, on the other hand, who had been preoccupied by Napoleon's challenge in Europe, paid little attention to what was to them a peripheral and secondary dispute."

bigbadwullf

I don't understand the anti-American attitude.

We aren't Europe (thank God!). Our cities are HUGE, landwise. Our cities are separated from one another by vast numbers of miles. We have WIDE STREETS, meant to handle traffic. If anything Europe should want to be like us. Thank God we don't have to drive tiny cars to fit down narrow streets. Thank God we have room to spread out.
If you want to be European you can always move(but good luck getting a visa to move and stay, unlike America).
I just don't get it.
Next you'll want to pay 50% of your salary to the government...or want someone else to do it for you.
You really want the government to tax gasoline thru the roof? That is not a free market. Look at Greece and most of Europe's economy. You really want more government in your life? You REALLY want to ride a bike EVERY where you go? Think people, think. My gosh folks.................WAKE UP!

BluesDawg

There is nothing anti-American about wanting safer streets, less congestion, healthier people, a cleaner environment and a more sustainable lifestyle.

NOS88

I'm sorry, but it's a bit delusional to think it's a free market in the US. How many things does our government subsidize? Banking, farmers, oil companies...the list goes on and on. I'm not going to get into the argument of the wisdom or functional value of what is subsidized. But is sure isn't a free market. +1 to what BD says, There is nothing anti-American about wanting better.

Barrettscv 

It really depends by what "car culture" means. It was only 5 years ago when 15 mpg SUV were all the rage. Where is Hummer today? Why does it take 25 years for so many Americans to make rational choices?

+1 I would say it's un-American not to fix our problems.

jdon

Ahh, the ostrich approach. I'll just stick my head in the sand and none of this will be true..

We North Americans (I am being polite) need to wake up. The collapse of the American banking system (based on greed and debt) precipitated the domino effect the rest of the world economy is suffering with. They had problems previously but the US economic collapse amplified them.

The "bigger is better, I want my SUV, the hell with all them for'ners, burn the oil till it's gone, wooowee" attitude has been proven unsustainable.

NVanHiker

"I really hate this kind of bigotry. It adds nothing to the conversation and demeans millions of people".

Funny - I feel the same about the reverse-bigotry of the Europhiles who think everything is better over there.

NOS88

Nothing funny about it. Bigotry is bigotry no matter where it rears its ugly head.

Wogster

Should the government tax gasoline through the roof, well, maybe, see the tax on gasoline is the only fair way of making the automobile pay for the infrastructure it uses. Those wide streets you love so much, it cost a lot of money to build those, and it costs a lot of money to maintain them, a standard street is two lanes, if it's mostly used by bicycles and pedestrians and the occasional bus or truck, then that's plenty. It only needs to be wider, because there are so many cars using it, so any street that is wider then 2 12' lanes, the cost of making it wider and maintaining that wider street should be paid for out of gasoline taxes. In Canada gasoline tax is considered a sin tax, just like the taxes on butts and booze are sin taxes. The government uses these sin taxes as a way to allow the free market to come up with solutions to the high use of that particular item, by increasing the net cost, this works better then the government needing to muddle with the free market process, by coming up with goofy regulations that cost a fortune, and don't work. The reason this works is that the demand changes because the public are trying to lower their cost. Here is an example, when the gasoline price passes a certain point, people demand smaller vehicles, lighter vehicles, more fuel efficient vehicles.

Blues Frog

My family has trouble getting over a couple of old scrapes we had. The war of northern aggression and the revolutionary war. I tend to look at any sweeping improvement by Euro governments with a narrowed eye. But I see the bike-centric town layout as the way of the future.

XR2

As it is here in the US cyclists are a minority over there as well. It will remain that way for quite some time.

Ranger Dan

I'm with bigbadwullf on this one. I live in a rural state, on a farm that's over 20 miles from town, with nearly half those miles being gravel. During the winter it can be 20 below with 40 mph winds. This spring when it was so wet I had to frequently be in 4WD when I was on the gravel. I took my mountain bike out on the gravel roads then, but didn't get far because the tires picked up so much mud that the wheels couldn't turn. I've been seriously biking for over 30 years, but have no intention of giving up my SUV anytime soon.

To paraphrase Otter from Animal House: I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!

Wogster

Actually there are 3 things that will mean the end of car culture, fuel cost is actually number 3.

The first is traffic, with the rapid increase in the number of cars over the last 50 years, trips that used to take 20 minutes can now take over 2 hours during "Rush Hour", which in some cities is now 4-5 hours in length with another similar length "Rush Hour" in the evening. This is one of the reasons that Ontario's GO Transit is getting more and more popular, 30 minutes on an nice comfortable train, versus 2 hours of tiring frustration in the car. A recent study in Canada determined that the cost of Traffic, in the Greater Toronto Area, on commerce, was $6,000,000,000 a year. This would include the cost of truck and bus drivers sitting in traffic, small business vehicles stuck in traffic, people late for work because of traffic, etc. One of the reasons traffic is so bad, is that for the municipality, roads are a black hole that sucks up copious amounts of money, and they get almost nothing to build or expand one from senior levels of government and nothing for maintenance.

Second is actually parking, this is a big one, it doesn't matter if it takes you 10 minutes or 10 hours to get to work, if there isn't sufficient parking, and this is also a problem for cities. Take a strip of land 200' wide and 500' long, as a parking lot, the property tax on it is equal to or a little more then it would be for an empty lot, and that wouldn't be much. Now divide that into 28 building lots, and put some houses on it, with each one paying $2,000 a year in taxes and the city gets $56,000, versus maybe $6,000 for the empty lot. Because there isn't enough parking, and not enough land to dedicate to parking, the cost of parking goes up each year.

It doesn't matter if your fuel costs $10/Gallon or 10¢/Gallon, if there isn't room for traffic and there isn't room for parking, then it doesn't matter, it does become a factor though, as the price goes up, to put one more nail in the cars coffin.

NOS88

Where you live and in your situation an SUV makes sense. Where I live with over 350,000 people commuting in and out of Philadelphia every day. It doesn't make sense for me to be able to see thousands of SUVs on the streets. This area is as densely populated as Manhattan, and in my immediate neighborhood we've got three people with Hummers. None of them drive in a situation anything like yours. Their Hummers, by their own admissions, are status symbols in their minds.

rydabent

nos88

Your leftwing eliteism (real or imagined) is showing. You need to lighten up and get a little sense of humor.

BTW our forefathers left Europe for a reason, and I see no reason at all to imitate them now.

BluesDawg

I don't give a flip about being more or less like Europeans or anyone else. I do give a flip about having road systems that are more suitable for a variety of users.

People who can't drive need to get around, too. It is a healthier option to walk or pedal to nearby routine destinations than to always hop in a car. That can happen more often if it is also safe and convenient to do so. Fewer cars and cleaner running cars, especially in the areas where people live, work, play and shop will make for cleaner air and safer living conditions.

rydabent

I find it amazing how people from the east coast in the huge filthy cities with their crime and all the other problems think that they can and should dictate to the rest of the country how they should live. As Goldberg stated in his book Bias, the east coast liberal live in a fish bowl and only "know" what all others of their ilk know. For some reason one of their tenets is that everything european is wonderful. That of course is a big crock. What is funny is the fact after going far left, almost all countries in Europe are comming back to the right. Their one size fits all and overarching government is a failure. Lets keep America american!!!!

jdon

Are you not applying your small mid-west town biases to the east coast cities? Just sayin'.

az_cyclist

We can be embrace new ideas and ways of living and still be American. Part of being American is right we have here, to discuss new ideas. Enhanced public transportation needs to be a goal, and we need to start planning it now. As for roads and streets being more cycle-friendly, bring it on! Sooner rather than later.