To what degree can we be car-free?
Courier Journal
Monday, September 17, 2007
Jackie Green
Public discourse too often degrades into a polarization of diametrically opposed positions, when what's needed is recognition of a continuum of degrees. That's true when it comes to getting around town. The reality is that most of us typically are not at one end or the other of a discussion, but somewhere in between. Our views are further challenged by the emotional prospect of change, of the unknown -- of that which is perceived as a threat to a way of life or vested interests. I want to challenge us to identify where we are on the highly charged car-free / car-dependent continuum, and then move several degrees closer to car-free.
For some, the thought of just carpooling to church on Sunday mornings is a monumental leap. Others are ready to drive only to work and to visit distant family. Some are placing bus schedules or bike helmets in their driver's seat as a reminder of other transportation options. Some are ready to sell down to "one-car family" status. Some live with an annual 155-gallon fuel budget. Some live with an annual mileage budget. Some are ready to live without owning a car, renting or borrowing when needed. Some are exploring car-shares. Some are slowly weaning themselves from car dependency, while others are going cold turkey. But we are all somewhere on the road to car-free.
We know the usual objections to living car-free: It's too limiting. I need my car for work. I can't take my kids to _______. India and China __________. The bus is too _________. I live too far from ________. I can't carry my stuff by bike. I'm afraid to bike. Walking is too slow. Our economy depends on cars. It's too hard to change the car habit.
We also know the costs of living with cars. They foster suburban sprawl, cause air pollution, generate international competition for oil, blot the city's beauty, create noise, isolate people, encourage physical inactivity and endanger everyone. They waste energy, natural resources and space; they are a financial drain on families and on public transit; they inhibit creating a sustainable economy, and they exacerbate global warming.
Going car-free is much easier with excellent public transit. Unfortunately, TARC can never provide the service Louisville deserves until the city and state provide greater funding. Car-free is also much easier with good sidewalks and safer streets. Fortunately, Louisville is investing in both walking and cycling. We have a long way to go, but Metro's Bike Louisville, Louisville Bicycle Club, Bicycling for Louisville, Waterfront Park, Southern Indiana Wheelmen, Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation, Active Louisville, Safe Streets Louisville, Humana and all cyclists and bus riders are making it easier for others to go car-free.
Those who are intentionally farther along the car-free continuum will tell you they now enjoy better health, more independence, more personal energy, stronger ties to the local community, a simpler-measured pace of life, an awareness of nature and a greater sense of peace. They have become evangelizing visionaries. They have a world view unimaginable by others. That vision is not a mirage. Many communities accommodate car-free living. You can 'tour' some of those cities at www.carfree.com/cpix/place.html.
September 22 is World Car-Free Day. The first World Car-Free Day emerged from the oil crisis of the 70s. The local progress over the past thirty years toward greater independence from oil and cars has been unremarkable. In the 70s there was little or no understanding of global climate change. Today there is a new urgency imposed on World Car-Free Day by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. Our challenge is to make personal, family, corporate, municipal, national and global progress along the car-free continuum. Wherever you are on the continuum, hasten your journey on the road to car-free.
