How was your commute last night? If you live in New England or at least on northern East Coast, it was probably miserable. We were getting first snow of this season, which meant "full panic mode on" for most drivers. And since most people in America drive to work, we are stuck with the inefficient system that fails us in such "panic mode" situations.
Or, as Doug Gordon put it - the system is working as designed:
Or, as Doug Gordon put it - the system is working as designed:
The system is working as designed. pic.twitter.com/9ZI81lDZzS— Doug Gordon (@BrooklynSpoke) November 15, 2018
Exactly. The system is designed for drivers and drivers only. Public transport in suburbs is nearly nonexistent and even in city centers it lacks severely in reliability.
The situation around New York City last night was particularly bad, but even here in Boston it looked much worse than usual. It seemed that nearly everyone decided to leave work at the exactly same time and as such, on my way back home, pretty much every intersection was gridlocked and cars barely moved.
It didn't bother me at all. I was on my bike and I actually liked that heavy traffic. You see, there are only 2 situations where roads with no protected bike lanes are very safe for cyclists:
In both these cases speed of cars equals zero. In all other situations cyclists and pedestrians are in danger. Therefore, we should build separated infrastructure for those road users: sidewalks for pedestrians and protected bike lanes for cyclists.
We should, but we rarely do. America loves to drive... and getting stuck in traffic, just like the last night in New York. In the recent commuting study done by esurance.com New York ended up as one of the worst states (#47) rated by the overall commuting experience. Massachusetts was about in the middle of the pack (#36), while among the best states we find Alaska (#1), Montana (#3) and Wyoming (#5). That's probably not surprising. All of these 3 states have more bears than people and as far as I know, bears don't drive to work.
So you see, my fellow Americans, if you don't want to be stuck in traffic anymore, something must be done. And that something means - we need to give up our cars. Now, before your blood boils and head explodes - let me clarify that. I don't mean we have to give up our cars completely (that's a bit too Utopian for now), but we really need to reduce our dependence on them. Fortunately, more and more people seem to understand that. Unfortunately, these people are not our politicians (at least not many of them).
We had election last week and according to media we witnessed a "blue wave" - many Democrats retaking positions in the government. You would think, these progressive politicians, who understand risks of climate change and necessity of efficient public transportation would propose solutions such as congestion pricing or market-driven parking fees. But no. I didn't hear any Democrats proposing this. While it's entirely possible that I simply missed that, I think that these ideas are still too radical (and thus unacceptable) even for the most progressive Americans.
The change may come however, from another direction. It turns out that younger generations are less excited about owning a car and driving it. Millenials seem to have different life goals than their parents and buying an suburban house with large driveway is just not one of them.
The situation around New York City last night was particularly bad, but even here in Boston it looked much worse than usual. It seemed that nearly everyone decided to leave work at the exactly same time and as such, on my way back home, pretty much every intersection was gridlocked and cars barely moved.
It didn't bother me at all. I was on my bike and I actually liked that heavy traffic. You see, there are only 2 situations where roads with no protected bike lanes are very safe for cyclists:
- When roads are completely empty and there is no traffic at all.
- When roads are completely gridlocked and cars can't move.
In both these cases speed of cars equals zero. In all other situations cyclists and pedestrians are in danger. Therefore, we should build separated infrastructure for those road users: sidewalks for pedestrians and protected bike lanes for cyclists.
We should, but we rarely do. America loves to drive... and getting stuck in traffic, just like the last night in New York. In the recent commuting study done by esurance.com New York ended up as one of the worst states (#47) rated by the overall commuting experience. Massachusetts was about in the middle of the pack (#36), while among the best states we find Alaska (#1), Montana (#3) and Wyoming (#5). That's probably not surprising. All of these 3 states have more bears than people and as far as I know, bears don't drive to work.
What's more surprising is how bad those few drivers in Wyoming and Montana are. They scored #41 and #43 respectively. Maybe there are bears driving cars over there after all?
Florida scored last, which is not surprising given that the average driver's age in Florida must be around 75 ;)
Here in Massachusetts on the other hand, we can be proud to lead the country (#2, next to Hawaii being #1) in "alternative transportation" options. Yes, this means riding bikes to work. You see, it's 2018 but the idea of riding a bicycle to office is still so bizarre in America that we call it "alternative". Still, it's great seeing Massachusetts being #2. If they can do it in sunny Hawaii, we can do it here, where we "enjoy" likely the lousiest weather in the United States (freezing and snowy winters and hot and humid summers anyone?).
We had election last week and according to media we witnessed a "blue wave" - many Democrats retaking positions in the government. You would think, these progressive politicians, who understand risks of climate change and necessity of efficient public transportation would propose solutions such as congestion pricing or market-driven parking fees. But no. I didn't hear any Democrats proposing this. While it's entirely possible that I simply missed that, I think that these ideas are still too radical (and thus unacceptable) even for the most progressive Americans.
The change may come however, from another direction. It turns out that younger generations are less excited about owning a car and driving it. Millenials seem to have different life goals than their parents and buying an suburban house with large driveway is just not one of them.
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