As a society, we are at the point to grow beyond reliance
upon the automobile as our single source of transportation.
To see what is ahead, there is a need to find where we
are. In the study of discovering where
we are; comes an identification to the term: Car Culture. Specific to that: the automobile is wholly
unsustainable. To build a society upon
an unsustainable foundation predicts its outcome.
http://debily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dallas-highway-interchange.jpgpicture
A road intense urban land-use design removes the social
component for human interaction. How
much time does it take to walk across intersections like this? Freeways are built for cars, not people.
LA set a bad precedent; the automobile centric land-use
design isn’t designed for people. How many homes have been destroyed to build freeways? How many neighborhoods have been shredded to
build freeways throughout the country?
The automobile requires a land-use design mechanism of maintenance
intensive roadways. Land-use required
for the automobile transportation system demands large quantities of vehicle area
use which eliminates huge sections of land for any other use. This transportation system is terribly
designed due to its unsustainable land-use consumption, heavy economic burden,
and negative social impacts.
When a person walks, the energy consumed is calories burned
from food eaten. For an automobile to
carry a 200-pound load, this transportation system requires massive structures of
roads and a 3,000-pound vehicle. From a
practical application of physics this is inefficient.
Of the argument that automobiles are used by people, the
automobile centric land-use design in urban growth is a design strictly to accommodate
the automobile. The automobile that a licensed
driver operates is not a single source transportation device. It follows a specific design provided by the
automobile centric urban land-use design.
This form of development is completely arbitrary with a Hodge-podge dysfunction
whose sole purpose is set by individual land developers who seek profit in real
estate. More than conjecture, this is a statement
of the way things are.
To the point again; we of this society have reached the point
in our development to grow into the next step of transportation.
There are many new transportation alternatives, predominantly
transportation systems in the category of PRT (personal rapid transit) show the most promise to meet society’s demands.
All urban transportation plans require planning. It is imperative for the government planning
agencies to turn from their focus on the closed sighted demands of politicians
and welcome alternative transportation sources beyond the automobile transportation
system.
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