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Good post.
I think it's easy to forget your starting bias when you like cycling and live in London, where on balance cycling / walking is often the best transport on offer. What's the solution if you wanted to transport 3 children to 2 difference schools and had to cross the North Circular?
Now I'm in the 'burbs I use the car more than I should. Why? It's quick, comfortable and practical (and I've not sorted out a runnaround bike). Oddly I routinely walk further to meetings than I would to the shops. What practical restriction could be placed on me?
- make it illegal for me to own a car? - well it would work.
- fuel price? - I wouldn't correlate it to a small distance.
- a congestion zone? -would it be economically viable? What about people who really do have drive further a-field to work?
I would also query whether using a car to run errands and long journeys is "the thing" that decreases my fitness? Or is it a total lifestyle combination of; commute > sit at PC > eat at PC > commute > TV / drinks / food?
I think "the" solution is a more holistic change in how people view their lives. I've been quite heavily motivated by this article in the newyorker took me to mr money mustache's blog
- make it illegal for me to own a car? - well it would work.
hugo7-
Agreed, outside of London the options are often severely limited.
I was back up North at my parents over Christmas. Everything is either up or down a big hill, buses are pretty infrequent, trains are at best once an hour (and unreliable) and public transport really cuts down past 6pm, most journeys are more than a couple of miles. There aren't many options other than driving without a significant investment in the alternatives.
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I think "the" solution is a more holistic change in how people view their lives. I've been quite heavily motivated by this article in the newyorker took me to mr money mustache's blog
Good link, thanks
aggi
moocher
This is exemplary of a problem we come up against time and time again. People latch on to a panacea. The trouble is it's easily debated against and then gets used as a brickbat against anyone trying to tackle the issue.
Any issue of this scale necessitates a range of responses that can be tailored by individuals to suit their own personal needs. Presenting a problem and saying that we should all do X in response will only lead to very swift rejection by the target audience. First you should work on getting that audience to accept there is a problem and commit to personal change to address it, then work on sustainable individual solutions.