Reply To: Wealth of Nations, and Economics of Abundance

[jamesr]

Living in London I have had no need of a car at all. The underground and bus network is fine for most purposes, and when I need to travel somewhere not close to a station or late at night taxis are fine. Then on the weekends I can travel out of town to visit people by train or occasionally hire a car.

Mass transit can work but it needs to take priority over private cars. The growth in dedicated bus lanes and smart card ticketing systems has sped up bus travel in London so it is now faster than cars.

The trouble I see with most cities (especially in the US) is that due to cheap gas prices and available land they have grown so the suburban sprawl means the average commuter distance is tens of miles, rather than the few miles people used to walk or cycle to work in the past. This structure of city planning & suburban living cannot be got rid of quickly. It needs a complete change in city design and peoples expectations of wanting there own plot of land.

I am all for improving mass transit systems and encouraging people to live close to work/school etc. Having said all that though I am about to be moving out of London, so am finding that I can’t go without having a car as the rest of the UK doesn’t have adequate public transport in place.

James