Demobilizing the "War on Cars"

Herb Caudill explains why the need to plan for a range of transportation modes and uses of space in urban environs is common sense - not part of a concerted assault on cars.

1 minute read

September 4, 2012, 8:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"The central fact about cars, from a planner's perspective, is that they
take up space. Lots of space. And this matters because space in cities
(a.k.a real estate) is scarce and therefore expensive." So says Caudill, who argues why the need for cities to rethink their relationship to the automobile derives from this simple fact, and not from a philosophical or moral argument against cars. 

According to Caudill, our efforts over the past century to accommodate the growing space requirements of the automobile - with more freeways, more roads, and more parking - has failed for two primary reasons. "First," he says, "you can never build enough...Second, when you do make more space for cars you quickly start to
crowd out any other potential mode of transportation, especially
walking. All those parking lots and freeways and roads spread everything
else out so that the distances become too great for walking."

Because owning and driving an automobile isn't an option for everyone (in D.C., 1/3 of residents live in a car-less household), planning for the car effectively discriminates against a significant part of the population. 

"So we have to take steps to increase the market share of
non-driving modes of transportation," concludes Caudill. "That's not a pro-car policy or an
anti-car policy, it's just a sensible response to the way the world is."

 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 in Greater Greater Washington

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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