[sustran] Re: Pucher's review of The Auto and its Enemies

Obwon ob110ob at idt.net
Sat May 22 07:59:12 JST 1999



Eric Bruun wrote:

> Here is the review that I mentioned before. If you pass it along, please cite that
>
> it is forthcoming in Transportation Quarterly. Thanks, Eric Bruun
>
> REVIEW OF “DRIVING FORCES” FOR TRANSPORTATION QUARTERLY

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     Excellent peice of writing, balanced and well thought out.  It provokes much
ancilliary thought for which there is no proper place in such a report but should
surely be noted.

   Often it arises that the only alternatives to car use that are offered are either
too costly to implement quickly and/or are motorized alternatives themselves.  Here,
take a look at a problem in point:

   Here in NYC, we have Kennedy Intern't'l Airport, which has for yeas been accessible
only by either bus or pvt/comm. auto.  The alternative offered, discussed and studied
is a rail link.  Even though the NYC subway syetem passes within a mile of the main
terminal, years of study and debate over funding have produce no viable solution.
Other than a rail link which as usual is so expensive that it's forever doubtful that
it will ever get funded.

   The simple alternatives I can see are  1)  A moving sidewalk inside a covered
passage way.  Or 2) Why not provide  bike lanes and h.p.v. trikes that could carry
both passengers and luggage and even be used inside those spacious terminal
buildings?  Are people so terribly frail that they can't cover that last mile under
their own power?  The hpv's could hook together to form trains so that attendants
could easily redestribute them as needed using motorized/electric carts.  The same
motorzed electric carts could be callable for the infirm/disabled etc. And this
solution costs less than a million dollars!  Viola, problem solved!

  If such hpv's were two, three or four seaters, then an able compainion or two could
easily assist the less able member of the group without waiting for motorized
assistance.  But NO!  Such 'outside the box' thinking is non-viable in our
auto-cultured world.  Millions must be spent to provide some kind of motorized
solution that cost too much to reasonably implement ever!  Thusly, while insuring that
nothing gets done, it preserves and supports the illusion that we are totally
dependant upon cars!

  Perhaps others here on this list can or hopefully will identify places where
specially designed hpv's together with covered bike trails and/or with motorized
assists can be formed into 'trains' for redistribution or to assist with troublesome
topographical features of the areas under study, might provide simple low cost
alternatives to massive costly projects that won't get implemented and thereby leave
people inexplicably dependant on autos.

   Obwon



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