When an agenda underlies a major effort, sometimes its very deep and one must clean away a lot of clutter to find it. When the goal is to basically do away with privately owned vehicles and replace them with everything from feet to bicycles to autonomous vehicles to buses to rapid transit, one might begin to panic.
It may be true that the personal vehicle isn’t as cost effective as any of those methods of transportation noted above, but there is one factor, at least in the US: People love their cars.
I have a friend who just told me if he could get to work on public transport he would sell his car instantly and use alternate means of transport. Fair enough, but I don’t think that’s reality, in his case, or in most cases.
Over they past two weeks his car has been in the body shop. It was a minor fender bender. During that time he was driving a rental pickup (he hated it) and a medium level Toyota. He got his bright red BMW 3 series back Monday and I caught him in the parking lot dusting it off and muttering about dust and dirt. He loves that car.
And why not — its a beautiful machine. And its his.
But there are cars in my neighborhood that are 5 years old, not expensive, that are treated like children. Washed and waxed weekly, driven with care, and owned with pride. It may be difficult to own a house, but most everyone can own and love, a car.
A privately owned vehicle means freedom. It means coming and going when you want. It means that there is something substantial that is yours. And no one can take it away from you. Or can they?
JVH
