Cars: Do We Need Them? (was: Inconvenient Annoyances)

I was going to start a new subject but I think I can include it here.
We see frequently auto plants being closed so as to adjust inventory but I have a better idea, lets quit making cars altogether. Well not entirely. I look at all the cars that are on the dealers lots and I think we are building cars just to build cars.
I drive by an area in North Las Vegas were in the desert there are miles of asphalt with thousands cars sitting there. I think they are mostly from car rental fleets. I think this is inefficient.

As has been reported in here we don't need car ownership but we need the use of a car sometimes. If we shared cars then this would reduce congestion.
Do we build cars just so people will have jobs? Do you know of industries that need workers? How about nursing? Lets see, if the auto plant worker could be retrained as a nurse, instead of putting this part here he could connect this part here.
Another industry that needs workers is the wind energy industry. Oh and another and final plug is for the Velomobile industry. There is a waiting list for Velomobiles and by mass production hopefully the price will come down. (look that name up on Google)

Thinking about my trip and the stop and go traffic on the LA "slow-ways" and also the M5 (?) outside of Bristol my IA is there are too many cars in this world.

I
Thinking about my trip and the stop and go traffic on the LA "slow-ways" and also the M5 (?) outside of Bristol my IA is there are too many cars in this world.

So, basically there are too many cars on the road that aren't YOUR car making YOUR journey slow.  And since you don't work in the auto industry OR need a new car then the answer is to stop all manufacturing of cars.  Makes sense.

Why not put your money where your mouth is and get rid of your car and rely soley on public transportation and walking instead of deciding what other people should do?

So, basically there are too many cars on the road that aren't YOUR car making YOUR journey slow.  And since you don't work in the auto industry OR need a new car then the answer is to stop all manufacturing of cars.  Makes sense.

Why not put your money where your mouth is and get rid of your car and rely soley on public transportation and walking instead of deciding what other people should do?

Ouch!

As has been reported in here we don't need car ownership but we need the use of a car sometimes. If we shared cars then this would reduce congestion.

There's no bus out here.  We moved here because we could no longer afford rents in the city.

Share cars out here?

LOL.

Most of the folks out here are retired, I'm sure sharing cars would so work with someone like my husband, who works shifts all hours.  

I have to drive my kids to nursery, too.  There's no nursery out here.  The closest one is 9 miles away.  The council pays mileage.

The doctor and healthcare professionals use cars to make home visits to people out here.

There's no pavement for a lot of the way in, either.

Jim,

Auto manufacturing is not some practical application of Keynesian theory: there's demand for cars, that's why they're made. Sometimes there's less. Sometimes there's more, but it exists.

I sometimes wonder if you think through what you write: cars become absolete after a period of time, and assuming you're relying on the current surplus to cover us in perpetuity, that's bound to run out too. When that happens, are we gonna retrain all the nurses wholesale and move them back to making cars?

Mindy offered a great solution, btw. Stop driving. It might not relieve congestion on the M4, but that'll no longer be a problem for you.

Darn, some of you people can't see my writing was partly in jest but I would like to point out since you choose to take me seriously that there was a time in the UK that very few people had cars and those without cars were able to make it. I know it was different then. The public transportation has been pretty much destroyed.

I sometimes would like to go without a car except on those cold dark rainy nights.
Again, lighten up people.

Another thought, a few posters on here use PT and they are delayed because of all the congestion from one person cars that delay the travel time of the buses. Come to think of it I may see a weakness (of many) in my argument when I think of some trains I have been on that are so crowded. Meaning that some PT can't handle anymore people.

Personally,  I think people should cut down on car use.  I think there should be more money put into public transportation and I think that people should make an effort to live nearer schools and work. And I also think that people should take some personal responsibility when it comes down to relying on the car too much.   But I don't see cutting out all car manufacturing is the answer. And I really don't think you should tell other people what they need to do if you're not willing to do those things yourself.

Personally,  I think people should cut down on car use.  I think there should be more money put into public transportation and I think that people should make an effort to live nearer schools and work. And I also think that people should take some personal responsibility when it comes down to relying on the car too much. 

Thank you Mindy!  Agreed. Agreed.


But I don't see cutting out all car manufacturing is the answer.

It is obviously not practical but I think that people realise, slump or not, that there is over production of cars in the best of times.

And I really don't think you should tell other people what they need to do if you're not willing to do those things yourself.

See the above. I am willing, really I am. Except as I said on those cold dark rainy nights

You're willing, except for when it's kind of a nuisance.

 

You're willing, except for when it's kind of a nuisance.

 

Not to beat this to death but I was just pointing out that there would be times when I would regret the decision to be without a car but then there would definitely be benefits too.

In my present situation I couldn't handle walking to the bus stop which is 1.5 miles away and runs once every 40 minutes or walking a mile to the supermarket in 110 degree weather for 4 months a year.

As Mindy said and applying it to my case I should consider moving to a place were there is good public transportation in place. (Think England) It only rains in Edinburgh and the Isle of Man right?

Well, PT pretty much sucks in the states anyway.  But here in the UK I have decided that I don't need a car.  I have a bus stop right at the corner by my house and I take advantage of it a few times a week. 
I agree with Jim in that there some areas in the states where they have literally thousands of cars just sitting in lot after lot.  Every where you go you see new car dealerships.  I really think it is overkill. 

It is a little bit of a coincidence that you live in Maidstone because I regularly watch the live webcam at the town hall in Maidstone, Kent and I see the frequent buses that go there. Big blue double deckers and also single deckers. I check the webcam to see if its raining.
The key to using the bus I would think is how frequent the service is.
I would like to see the bus service funded from the road tax.

I check the webcam to see if its raining.

why do you care if it's raining in Maidstone?

why do you care if it's raining in Maidstone?

It is one of about 8 places up and down the UK that I check for the weather.
I miss the rain.
So far I find that Edinburgh and Douglas seem to have the most rain.

Jim,

From a 'wishful' thinking viewpoint - I see what you are 'trying' to say. Cutting back where possible the use of cars should be promoted. Alas, practically and in most everyday situations it simply doesn't work like that. With the complexity of modern life in the Western countries, time is squeezed, distances can be longer (shorter!) and overall, convenience is a major factor. I wish there was some form of public transportation that was

1. Efficient
2. Safe
3. Readily available/frequent/convenient
4. Clean
5. Cheap

For the 'most' part, most of those elements are severely lacking - hence I choose to have a car - it significantly boosts all those elements to a level far greater than current public transport for me and for a very large percentage of the population here and in the US.

You simply cannot stop an 'industry' - who's going to pay for those workers to retrain from an auto industry worker to a healthcare worker for instance? what will you do with the buildings that are left over? what's your plan for the hundreds if not thousands of small business's that rely on the automobile industry as suppliers and sometimes customers? what's your plan on how to dispose of current owners automobiles? how are you going to compensate those (lucky) owners of classic and high value cars?

One of the best and biggest advancements for the automotive industry will be alternative fuels which pollute much less. Velomobiles are simply never going to work, single seated human powered vehicles? sorry - no market for them except for novelty. I don't want to pedal my way for a 30 mile commute in the morning and evening!

Wind, Solar, Wave motion energy generation are all viable 'supplemental' forms of energy production, however currently, they cannot provide the demand created by cities and at the state/region level - they simply cannot provide that capacity as yet.

so that basically leaves us as we are now, albeit with the major car manufacturers developing cleaner, greener forms of fuel. Hydrogen is becoming more widely available and provides enough energy release to keep cars at current and forthcoming expected performance levels, and it's only 'waste' product is water! collect that, and use it in your iron at home or watering your plants for instance!

Another reason for the US to have so many cars - is that the USA is an extremely vast sized land mass, with the (historic) greater amounts of disposable income per capita in the US, many families/individuals have the necessity for a car, jobs are now no longer for life, suddenly you may find a better paying job 25 miles away whereas previously you had a 4 mile commute, it's not so 'easy' to move house each time, then consider an inter state move which happens very commonly nowadays.

Cars will always be necessary. It's also very easy for us in the West to say lets do away with them, after all we've been enjoying them on a mass level since the 1930's. The booming BRIC nations are now finding it's THEIR turn to enjoy convenience we've taken for granted. And that's really only occured for them within the last decade or so - so let them enjoy another 80 odd years of cheap, convenient, personal transportation !

As for 'jest' - it's difficult over a web forum to decipher if you are 'joking' or taking a 'light hearted approach' - if you are, please indicate you are!

If I tell you how many cars I have access to, you'll blame me for the congestion in my town! haha!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!