22 Things We Lose When We Choose Cars - Part 1

Part 1

Photo by Ralph (Ravi) Kayden on Unsplash

Cars are amazing tools. They’re these wild machines that distort time and space, transporting us according to our every whim.  Cars are so useful, that we’ve literally built our lives around them.

But of course, even the most fervent car lover must admit there are tradeoffs to this car-centric lifestyle that we live.  And those tradeoffs… just happen to be staggeringly enormous.  

First of all, let me just say - we are not going to get rid of all cars, especially in a sprawling area such as the mid-Hudson Valley. But, while we will probably always have cars around, the role of the automobile in the 21st century must be transformed, from the hegemonic behemoth that it became in the 20th century, to merely one choice out of many options. 

I’m going to explain why I think that the dominant roar of car culture must become a meow.  And, I will share some of the gifts that we can hope to regain once we bring some balance back into our streets - in Ulster County, and throughout the world.  

Even if you love your car and plan to never ride a bus or bike, you still stand to benefit from the sustainable transport choices of many others.  So please read with an open mind, and be sure tell me if I missed anything!

I’ll be sharing more in upcoming posts, about how we can reimagine our transportation system so that it works for everyone, enhances our quality of life and lessens our impact on our Earth. I also want for this blog to be a hub for the community; if you would like to write a guest article please contact me.

[Each item on this list applies to all cars, including electric, hybrid, and conventional combustion engine.]

Safety.

There are 42,000 people killed by cars each year in the United States. Imagine 9/11 happening again and again, each and every month… for your entire life. That’s car deaths in America. And, it had started to go down, but in recent years the number of care deaths has been increasing.

Annually, 17 Ulster county residents are killed by cars.  Those numbers are pretty staggering; yet we’ve become numb to car deaths over time, simply because they happen so often.

Electric cars, pick ups, SUVs and vans are heavier, and therefore more deadly than comparably sized conventional cars.

Dangerous roads keep people from cycling, which creates a negative feedback loop of car dependency (except for those most marginalized by the system- who bear the brunt of our unsafe streets).

Halting climate change.

This year of 2022 has been one for the books - wild fire, heat waves, and droughts are showing up faster than anticipated.  It is extremely urgent for us to act now.

First things first: The US is nearly the largest emitter per capita in the world.  That means that anything that Americans (you and me!) do to cut emissions, has an oversized effect compared to almost any other country.

Transportation is the largest sector for CO2 emissions in the US, and in New York State transportation makes up 47% of emissions.  And to top it off, total emissions have actually been increasing - which is the exact opposite of what needs to happen.

Electric Cars Are Not the Answer

For most people, simply buying an electric car without any lifestyle change is not going to sufficiently reduce emissions.  By looking solely to electric cars to solve transportation emissions, we give up hope of rapidly meeting 1.5 degree targets, in time to avoid catastrophe.  

Electric vehicles (EVs) only make up about 1% of cars now, and the prognosis is poor for making a very quick transition.  Also, EVs already contribute plenty of emissions themselves, straight out of the gate.  And, they rely on non-renewable metals which are causing great environmental and social harm in the places where they are mined (I have an article coming up soon on this topic).

I’m not bashing EVs- they have their place in reaching net zero (especially if they are replacing heavy emitting vehicles). But alternate modes (bikes, transit, walking) will have a far greater impact on reducing emissions at the rapid pace we need. 

We’re running out of time to make drastic cuts in emissions.  We need to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030, and we’ve made very little progress towards that goal.  Even with the new Inflation Reduction Act, we’re falling short of where we need to be.

Equity.

The history of our transportation system is steeped in the oppression and exclusion of people of color, disabled people, second language speakers, people with low incomes, women, transgender and non-binary folks, children, teens and seniors… and that exclusion continues in full force, to this very day.  Oh, and these “minorities,” when taken together, are actually the vast majority of the population.  There is so much to discuss on this topic, and many voices to hear. 

But for now, I urge you to look around and notice the people who are marginalized in your community - people walking on the side of the highway, waiting long periods for the bus, riding bikes in threatening traffic, navigating curbs with strollers and wheelchairs, driving unreliable and unsafe cars… and also think about who you don’t see out, anywhere. 

If you have experienced transportation injustice in Ulster County and want to share your story, please contact me!

Health

Humans weren’t designed to be sedentary, and it’s been terrible for our health. Enough said. 

Money, Baby

Americans spend 13% of their income, or $9700 per year on transportation, but that’s not the whole story.  The 20% with lowest income spend 29% - almost a third of their income on transport, while the top 20% spends only 9% of their income.  Compare those inversely proportional costs in the US to Europe, which generally has good public transport, where the lowest income spend 7% of income and highest, 15%.  Yeah, you heard it here first - income inequality in the US is out of control, and transportation is a significant factor.

17% of Kingston households, and 7.5% in Ulster County don’t own a car. (That stat blew my mind the first time I heard it, considering that our communities are designed with drivers as the clear priority.) Undoubtedly, many more people in our area are struggling to afford ever increasing fuel and used car costs.  Since our current infrastructure does not provide adequate access to transit and safe walking and biking options, people who do not drive face hardships and increased risks to their safety in buying food, accessing employment, child care, medical care, recreation, and so on.

On top of these costs to the individual, there is also the colossal cost of sprawling infrastructure.  Federal and local governments spend hundreds of billions every year on roads (yep, that’s in addition to transportation tax revenue).  

Bike infrastructure is way less expensive than roads for cars.  The City of Portland (one of the top cycling cities in the US) calculated that the city’s entire bicycle network, consisting of over 300 miles of bikeways, would cost $60 million to replace (2008 dollars), whereas the same investment would yield just one mile of a four-lane urban freeway. 

Our road infrastructure is decaying rapidly due to decades of overbuilding, and it’s unclear how we’re going to pay to fix it all - or even if we should.  Whichever way you slice it, car infrastructure is heavily subsidized; and that’s in addition to the already crazy-high individual owner costs.

Air Quality

Brake and tire dust are lesser known pollutants, but they’ve been shown to inhibit the immune system and cause respiratory infections, asthma, lung disease and heart disease. They contribute about 20% to total air pollution, which was linked to the early deaths of about 40,000 people a year in the UK. 

Clean water

Did you know that pretty much every gas station is a toxic brownfield site, which contaminates community water sources, and requires very expensive clean up?  Yeah, brownfields suck.

The subtle sounds of birds, breeze, conversations. 

Cars are the #1 cause of noise pollution in cities. Next time you’re outside, notice the sounds you hear. And notice how much of it is human-produced vs. nature sounds. Bikes are much quieter than cars and are more relaxing to be around.  Sighhhhh…

Proximity

Are cars really the most convenient mode of transport?

Since the suburban boom post-WWII, cars have made it possible to move far away from the city and commute in for work.  The distance between destinations was allowed to expand exponentially, thereby making cars a necessity for every trip.  No longer could an apartment dweller jot down the block for a gallon of milk; now that trip could not be reasonably made by foot, bicycle or transit - only by car.

Consider this thought experiment:

Imagine a neighborhood where everyone lives in an eight-story Parisian apartment building. Now, let's move them all to a neighborhood with one-story, single-family homes with twice the footprint. By an extremely conservative first approximation, everything takes 16 times more space, which means points with a similar number of people between them are four times farther apart. Your friend who lived 15 minutes away now lives 60 minutes away. 

In summary, your car is the reason that you need your car to get everywhere.

Independent children, teens, seniors, poor and disabled people

A town without great walking, biking and transit systems, is not accessible - period.  Disabled people, children and seniors are often stuck at home due to unsafe streets, or are reliant on others to get around; they are thereby excluded from participating in the community.  This is despite laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act that have mandated services such as paratransit.  

Paratransit is a supplement to fixed-route transit, which provides individualized service for people with disabilities, within 3/4 - 1.5 miles of existing transit routes.  In Ulster County, paratransit only operates during bus service hours, which run until 6pm on Saturdays, and not at all on Sundays or holidays. UCAT’s website states that they give their riders a 20 minute window for arrival of the bus, which is better than many other transit companies which can be an hour late or early on either side of the scheduled time.  I’ve heard many complaints from paratransit riders in other areas, regarding inconsistent arrivals of paratransit, which can also make getting to work or appointments on time unreliable; however I haven’t spoken to anyone in Ulster County who uses paratransit - if you use it and want to share your experience, please contact me!

Please note that I am not criticizing particular individuals at UCAT, but rather the entire nationwide system which devalues accessibility for all.  

Engaged children

The narrator of the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes points out that his children only whine “Are we there yet?” when they’re forced to ride in cars.  When he takes his children around on his cargo bike, they can can see, hear and smell their environment, and become familiar with their community.  When they do have to drive, the kids beg to take the bike instead.  Check out the video:

Playspace for Children

The Netherlands is probably the best country in the world for cyclists, but it wasn’t always that way.  In fact, there was a severe lack of safe places for urban children to play in, due to streets being overrun by cars in the 1970s.  This was a big catalyst in the campaign to transform the Netherlands into its current incarnation, as the world’s safest country to bike around with your kids.  There’s actually a documentary, showing the “before” stage and the activism that set change in motion; see above for the “after.” There are now entire blocks in Amsterdam which have banned cars, so that children have a safe place to play.

Subscribe for Part 2 of this article. I’ll send it later this week!

All of these items deserve their own blog post, so stay tuned if you want to learn more.  I appreciate any respectful feedback or questions you may have.

Thanks for reading!