[sustran] a bias against drivers? -- equity considerations?

Robert Cervero robertc at uclink.berkeley.edu
Fri Jul 6 08:14:38 JST 2001


>Actually, public transport excludes a much larger percentage of the people.

Isn't this argument circular?  That is, isn't a big reason US cities 
average such poor
transit accessibility levels due to the fact that auto-centric development 
patterns (fueled
in part by hidden subsidies to auto-motoring) lead to abysmal-quality 
transit services -- e.g.,
fixed-route buses that come by every 30 minutes for 10 hours a day, hardly 
a respectable mobility
option for most car-owning folks.  Thus the post-war history of transit in 
the US -- declining ridership
begets more service cuts which begets declining ridership and so on.


>Let us take the average American urbanized area of 1 million for example.
>Generally, the 95 percent or so of people with access to cars can get to 100
>percent of the jobs

Shouldn't this be a bit more inclusive, weighing accessibility not just for 
workers but for everyone?  The 2000 census revealed that around 25% of 
Americans were below 17 years of age (thus too young to drive) and another 
6% were 75 years of age or more (a goodly share pressing their abilities to 
drive).  Among American in the 5-64 year age group that presumably 
represents prime driving ages, 17.3% had severe disabilities 
(sight/hearing/walking impaired).  Auto-accessibility is great for the 
shrinking majority of Americans who are able to drive, but for the teenager 
stuck in the burbs without a car, the blind, and the many others we tend to 
overlook, it's pretty non-existent.  Yes, a parent or friend can chauffeur 
such folks around, but surely there are costs (quality-of-life? "time 
pollution"?) associated with this form of auto-mobility.  I buy into 
certain principles of "sustainable auto-mobility" (cleaner fuels, hybrid 
engines, etc.), however there's nothing we can do to tinker with vehicle 
designs and re-engineer the car to redress the inherent injustices and 
social inequities associated with car-dependent cityscapes.




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