Posted by
Gray Cat on Saturday, June 16, 2007 3:45:00 PM
With all the global warming hype lately, there has been a renewed effort to address transportation issues. The left, of course, favors public transportation, since cars produce greenhouse gases. But there's more to it than that. Public transportation represents the essence of liberalism - dependence on government - while cars represent the essence of conservatism - individual freedom.
Before I go on, let me clarify that there's nothing wrong with some level of public transportation - it's nice to have as a backup for when your car breaks down, or if you can't afford (or simply don't want the expenses of) a car. The problem is when activists try to expand its role to be something that most people rely on for their everyday needs. That's what I'm going to focus on today - not public transportation as an alternative on the side, but the desire to have public transportation become a way of life.
First, there's the dependence issue. When you rely on public transit you are dependent on its schedule, its service, and ultimately the government, for a basic need. That's why it is so appealing to liberals. More public transit = more tax dollars = more control surrendered to government. You need look no further than New Orleans during Katrina to see the danger of that - it was the people who had cars that were able to flee the city, while those without, who rely on public transit, were the ones stuck in the disaster than ensued.
Then there is the time issue. With the exception of air travel over large distances, you're not going to have public transportation that is as fast as walking to your car in the driveway and taking it directly to wherever you're going with no stops to pick up or drop off other passengers. Unless...
...Unless traffic conditions are so horrid that it's actually slower to drive than take public transit. It's only in places like this where large-scale public transportation works well, like New York City. Most places in the United States - my home city of Madison, Wisconsin included - aren't like that. For most of us it's faster to drive.
So what do you think the liberal solution is? Make more of the country like New York City, of course. I'm serious - there is a very real movement in Madison, and possibly your city as well, to make this happen. It can be identified by taglines such as "increasing density", "sustainable development", or "new urbanism". Part of this agenda is to purposefully allow traffic congestion to become so unbearable that most people would rather get on a bus or train. Other than your tax dollars, that's how public transportation extremism affects you - the next time you're stuck in traffic, thank a liberal!
I don't know about you, but there's a reason I don't live in New York. I like having a house with a back yard. I like the relative peace and quiet of a small town. If you live in New York and like it, good for you. It's great that we live in a country with options, where I can choose to live in a small town and you can choose to live in a large city.
As usual, this level of freedom is intolerable to the far left. They can't force you to live in a large city, but they can redesign and shape the communities you do live in to have the characteristics of one. Less single-family housing, more apartments and condos. More density. Miserable traffic congestion, with public transportation as the only alternative. It's definitely happening where I live, and it may be happening where you live too. Usually, though, it goes unnoticed because those local issues don't make big headlines. That's why it's so important to be aware of what's going on in local politics, and to vote in your city and county elections - not just the statewide and national ones.
I'll end with an example of how the anti-car left works here Madison. We have a bottleneck where two highways meet - U.S. 18 and U.S. 12 (that's Verona Road and the Beltline for those of you familiar with the area). It's a mess because highway 18 is not a freeway - it has several stoplights and very busy intersections. Furthermore, it carries a lot of truck traffic, since it is the only major artery running from the southwest part of the state to anywhere in the eastern half of Wisconsin, including Milwaukee and Green Bay. A few years ago, the state offered to make dramatic improvements to that stretch of highway, specifically, turning it into a freeway with no stoplights. And they offered to pay for it. But the mayor of Madison turned it down! One member of the city council, when asked about the traffic jams at that intersection, summed up the liberal position nicely: "That's what they get for living out that far." Out that far! We are talking about a stretch of road maybe 5 miles from downtown Madison! The anti-car "new urbanism" vision, in which we must all live in a tiny apartment or condo downtown and rely on public transportation, was laid out as clearly as I'd ever seen it during that debate. Simply put, it is an assault on the American Dream.