[sustran] Re: "many people misunderstand car sharing and car-pooling.It is not the time."

[Chris Bradshaw]

Carsharing transfers fixed car expenses into variable ones.  If
car-ownership costs were increased, it would have the effect of becoming a
barrier to ownership for people who can't afford the "admission cost," and
also increasing the variable costs of carsharing.

The course China is on yields to the "my car" orientation, and will create a
great deal of transportation inequity in the short run, and will inundate
the built (and natural) environment in the long run.

The "helping the economy" argument that dictates producing as many cars as
possible, could simply allocate those cars to a distribution model that
serves as many people as possible.  It would also, with proper public
support, mean that carsharing will be more practical from the get-go (a
shared car located on every block; a full variety of vehicle types),
allowing the Chinese to lead, not follow, in personal transportation trends,
and ensure they don't "drown" their cities with sprawl and induced
"getting-my-money's-worth" driving.

There is a basic human yearning to share (which is mankind's oldest
"technology," after all), not just in a country emerging from agrarian
socialism, but in the West, where there is growing awareness that the car
isolates us, not just from the anonymous "fellow man," but from our
neighbours, our families, and from ourselves.

Again, I repeat: before we throw up our hands and say that we can't deny
"developing" peoples the right to emulate our lifestyle, we might consider
deomostrating a more thoughtful, sustainable one.

Chris Bradshaw
Ottawa