The Car Paradox: How Car Centric Infrastructure is Ruining America
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- Опубликовано: 13 янв 2022
- America has poor urban design, we know this - but just how bad is our car centric infrastructure for us? The answer: pretty bad. Social inequity, climate change, traffic congestion, lack of walkability, safety issues, and more are caused by how much we drive cars, but for some reason - we keep on building more roads, widening highways, and blocking alternative forms of transportation. But why? In this video I talk about how car culture has shoved itself into our minds and how we've been conditioned to solve the problems caused by cars... with more car infrastructure.
#UrbanPlanning #TransportationEngineering #PublicTransportation #WalkableCities
All footage was taken by me (AJ Tabura) or downloaded from creative commons sources.
Special thanks to:
My girlfriend, Andreea
Burnsville Center
me
Intro/Outro Music by: • die again - prodby668 ...
SFX by: zapslat.com
Many Americans hold their college years with fond memories. Whether they know it or not, a large part of the reason is because it’s the one time in their life that they are able to live in a walkable community.
Future video idea? 👀
Absolutely
It's very cruel, we introduce people to adult independence in a well planned urban environment and then when they graduate the vast bulk of them can't ever afford to live in that kind of place ever again.
@@AJTabura Please make a video about this not enough discussion about this, its mentioned but never gone in to depth
I wonder why obesity rates shoot up in people’s mid 20’s…
It is sad just how difficult it is to have these discussions with people. Everyone is so accustomed to the paradigm of cars that they tend to get quite hostile when that system is criticized.
Especially Americans, most of them can't imagine living without a car!
Completely ignoring that if they had less cars on the road, they could drive faster.
No, according to Americans, their country is “too big” so because of that they apparently can’t or won’t fundamentally change their country’s public infrastructure to make it less car dependent. China is also a large country, they don’t have this problem, they managed to build a high speed rail network of over 1,000 miles in less than 10 years. Meanwhile, it took almost 20 years for us to build a freakin tunnel under Boston. Hell, even Russia, a country poorer and larger than us, has a vastly superior train network connecting both small towns and cities, as well as a bullet train service running across Siberia and between Moscow and St. Petersburg. What a joke this country has become….
@@greenlime1997 Selling out to corporate interests tends to have that effect.
I guess. But my takeaway from this video is we're in a negative feedback loop of kids with dumb opinions on social apps. Infact the wealth and prosperity generated from the US interstate has a fairly direct path to building our tech industry, Google, RUclips, and this guys platform. If he steps outside of a metro area, he'd realize very quickly cars are never going away, they just might fly. We're not going to rebuild every city in the US. I'm not against a nice walkable downtown. They exist. Move to Fort Worth, Indianapolis. Cars are an unequivocal benefit to connect us to opportunities in life. I think he fails that argument. Showing downtown DC or NY City in rush hour isn't winning me over.
When they got a bunch of European city planners to semi-pedestrianise Times Square the architects noted that 90% of users of that space (the pedestrians) were crammed onto only 10% of the space, whilst the remaining elite 10% of users (the drivers) had the luxury of 90% of space. The galling thing was that no one was complaining -it was just an accepted norm.
So they reversed the situation :-)
Wow that is interesting
I moved to NYC in 2002 and now in 2022 its almost a world apart in terms of pedestrianization. I vividly remember walking on the crammed sidewalk in Times Square and now after work I can go down and even sit down on some benches and people watch. That said, NYC still has a LONG way to go.
@@yuriydee yeah I've been working in TS it's pretty lit there is always something going on. Great people watching as you said. Only thing that bothers me is a few homeless ppl that terrorize the tourists.
NYC and especially Lower Manhatten is very special for a US city - while most of them lack density, it clearly has far to much and as a result public transit is much more common than even in many European cities.
great video, a pretty comprehensive overview on majority of auto centric problems. I never experienced the joy or freedom of getting my drivers license because I grew up in a very walkable railroad suburb, so I never saw driving as a critical need, more as an extension of what I could do, I wish we could get the country at minimum to view cars once again like that.
Thanks! I think your videos are super neat so it means a lot :)
I grew up in a City that was car dependant but did have good transit, I just wanted my drivers license because I loved cars. More and more I hate the "Now that you have your license, you can go anywhere" Like that just makes me feel dirty inside, we need better transit everywhere, we need better rail connections between cities. Now live in a small town and then work in the larger next town over, but there is no public transit and the distance is unbikeable. If my car breaks down... I can't get to work...
I got my license recently being that I live in the massively car-centric Apple Valley Minnesota but at least their are nice bike paths in my area, particularly in Rosemount.
I grew up in a city which safe to travel by walking or to bike. It was so safe that I could walk or bike to school/shop/friends house alone from age 7, the distance to school was around 2 km. When I got older the distance to school was about 8 km, so I mostly took the bus. Getting to places by my own was a huge freedom, I felt it the most by going by bike or by walking. Bus was fun too, because I mostly walked intentionally to a further away stop.
Getting a drivers license never felt like freedom to me, but my parents insisted for me to get it. Only joy about driving a car was the overall learning experience of learning a new skill. But oh my god the whole hassle of driving it in traffic, parking it, gas prices, worrying about it (not to get a ticket etc.) having a car or driving feels like a huge stress always. Car has always been an opposite of freedom to me. Car should always be a luxury rather than necessity
That's a gratitude you need to thank for...car centric city was horrible to some human
Owning a car should be like owning a boat, not necessary but fun. Only the people who enjoy driving and are good at it should be on the road, not poor soccer moms who have to drive 20 miles just to go to work and buy diapers.
A need for cars or other similar vehicles should really be limited to jobs that need to take large equipment or spare parts with them, like plumbers or electricians or similar repair jobs.
Soccer moms would still drive. I live in Europe and you rarely see a mom pick her kids up with PT or walk from the grocery store with bags full of shopping for a big family lmao
So how will soccer mom buy diapers and go to work? Not everyone can live in the city.
Some people say the same about having electricity and running water. They are not necessary, just nice to have.
@@johnathin0061892 everyone loves using water and electricity, most people don't enjoy having to do a daily commute.
Americans seem to really hate traffic congestion, but vehemently oppose anything that would reduce traffic congestion.
I'd love to just bike to the local grocer down the block to pick up some eggs but it doesn't exist. I have to get in my car, drive five miles to the nearest supermarket, walk a combined 200+ yards through a parking lot, then drive 5 miles back. Not to mention all the nutjobs driving again after spending a year or more locked up in their suburban deserts. It's stressful, frustrating, and depressing. I can't take it anymore.
There's suburbs all around some of these commercial areas, but there are absolutely no pedestrian paths directly to the stores. People can literally live within a stone's throw of the grocery store, but have to drive 2 miles through sprawl to actually shop there. Utter insanity.
I'm desperately hoping something changes, but it's impossible to be optimistic. Maybe if gas prices ever go up...
There was a comment on another video like this along the lines of "American cities are working as intended, just get a car." Well, everyone has a car and now we're paying for it with time stuck in traffic. Productive (taxable) city blocks being bulldozed for parking lots and highways are just a nice side-effect of that. Good job! ⭐
So basically car culture is so bad in the U.S. that you think the better alternative is "biking" just to grab some eggs?
(I mean, here in Europe, I'd be really upset if I can't just walk to a store)
@@blackandcold also other European and Asian countries too but only in U.S. where cars are needed for simple things.
@@valerievankerckhove9325 yet lot of people drive to short destinations. Car addiction exists everywhere. I know people that drive to the store taht is like 500 m away.
Really funny you say that! American gas prices have hit all time highs, that's what happens with car dependent infrastructure and terrible fuel economy SUV+Pickups dominating everything! Time to get on the bike, perhaps make it Electric
@@52_Pickup I thought high gas prices would make Americans ditch their monster wagons and pickups. No such luck.
Something that makes driving in the US more dangerous aswell is that people who are driving dont actually want to drive and do it because they have to. In europe on the other hand, you can drive if you want to, but if you don't, you can pretty much get anywere with public transit+walking. This makes the streets safer because drivers are actually passionate about driving.
I grew up in an American city that has tons of bike lanes and very available public transportation. When I visited a few years later, they are adding more transportation, like monorails along highways!
However, after I moved at 16, everything was just so spaced out. Public transportation was only in the main city, yet it isn’t even used. I got my drivers license at 18, just so I could drive 15 minutes to go to school. Where I lived, I could either take the bus or actually WALK.
I do really miss that, and I’m trying to think about when I finish college, moving to maybe Europe because I view them as more efficient than America.
@@EvelynEleven_ yeah i completly agree. As an american who use to live in houston, i can say that this city has to be the worst with transit that ive ever seen. You can't even walk to the closest mall because there is no sidewalks. Im so glad i dont live there anymore and im glad i didn't have to grow up there to much. Having to be driven around everywere when your under 16 and having to drive everywere when your over 16 isn't really freedom. Having the choice between transit and driving is, especially for moms who won't have to drive thier kids to football practice twice a week😂
That is a vast oversimplification and also you should be careful not to over idealize Europe. There are many problems there, a big one being the railroads with them still insisting on this stupid liberalization idea which just makes everything worse.
A big one though is cultural. In Europe walkable areas and bike infrastructure is often entangled with nationalism, the Netherlands being the most extreme example of this with many of the bicycle parking being full of classic Dutch paintings. In America anti-car sentiment is often also anti-American sentiment.
One day I realized how insane it was that I've lived in the same place my whole life yet have never seen parts of my "neighbourhood" while not in an observation cube I mean car
I notice way more about my place of living when biking. You notice a lot more of the finer details cuz it's easier to just stop and look at something, the road surface is not too far away from you, and you're going slower so you can take better notice of things. I am way better at remembering street names than the people in my house who don't bike for transportation
@@ambiarock590 on the road I take into/out of town, there is a long hill. Half of it is obviously a hill; it's really steep. But the other half, the hill is so gradual, I grew up, riding in a car, thinking it was just a flat road. Then I decided to try and walk it one day, and realized it's actually like at least a 30% grade the whole way
You have my vote, I can't stand my car and needing to pay upkeep on a machine I want nothing to do with. 90% of the US is nothing but suburbs, shopping malls and endless parking lots, its awful.
You will love backward russia. What is holding you from going and enjoying life over there?
@@francoislechanceux5818 “better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to speak and remove all doubt” you should really take that advice.
@@Maya_Ruinz Why don't you first take it and stuff it deep where the sun never shines ? It may go all the way up to your brain and enlighten you finally.
@@francoislechanceux5818 Russia's suburbanizing as we speak. Back when Medevev was their president he unveiled a plan to build an immense suburb on the outskirts of Moscow that's 2-1/2 times as big as the whole city.
@@francoislechanceux5818 sounds like her comments really hurt you. So because someone doesn't like the car infrastructure based city she should move to another country? If she wants to live somewhere she can walk, why you gotta be so offended by it?
Also to mention that the more spread out places and communities combined with everyone being stuffed in cars has contributed a lot to social isolation. In car centric suburbia, there is no "hangout place" where everyone could go to meet and hang out like a coffee shop or park because of zoning laws. Everyone just stays in their homes and minds their own buissness. A lot of parents won't even let their kids out of the house on there own because of the fear over traffic safety. Adults also wonder why kids are always on their phones/computers all the time when they don't realize that car centric suburbia has made outside boring and impossible to get anywhere without a car. You are basically under house arrest until you turn 16.
By eleven years old I memorized 2,200,000 square feet of retail space at my local mall.
I agree with you wholeheartedly
yo
Not to mention that it makes incest much more likely, since if you have a sibling and they’re the only person you have a meaningful relationship with since you literally have no one else, what’d you think is gonna happen?
It also crushes any communistic behavior. Isolated people cannot pool their resources to efficiently use resources or to oppose big monied organizations. Organized communities were disrupted by highway construction, people without culture are easier to exploit.
@@emptyshirt precisely, it kills any budding political movements in their cradles and denies any sense of community. It also makes it far more likely that fascism will take root as it does not challenge power, but entrenches it. In other words, we're screwed.
The irony of driving to the gym. 🤦♂
I know this is kind of late but this same sentiment hit me one day as I couldnt find my keys. I was literally getting ready to drive to the park JUST TO WALK. Like drive 3+ miles to a nearby park so I can actually enjoy nature because none of that exists in my town/neigborhood. Like how backwards does that sound??? I couldnt stop thinking about that once i did, and finally up until now I'm realizing with these types of video content how behind we are here in the US. I wonder if there will ever be change
@@Tayy_B Personally? I don't think there will ever be any change until people in general won't be able to own a car, and then we'll be stuck with all this oversized, useless infrastructure. 🙍🤦
I live in Poznań, Poland. My family never has a car. We can travel all around the city thanks to the public transportation and simply... sidewalks. Poznań is not Amsterdam, but I like to cycle too :-)
i was there a few years ago. lovely city :)
I have cousins who live there. I haven't been there for awhile but I don't remember ever using a car to get around the city.
Gosh, this all looks so depressing to me. This really makes me appreciate our Dutch infrastructure and cities even more. I just bike to the center of the city and do my grocery shopping on a bike or by public transport. I don't even want to own a car.
Damn bro that's the dream here in America, at least for me probably not the dream for most people unfortunately.
@@davidcoen5547 That's your opinion. I strongly disagree. I've lived in several countries where biking is really part of life, and countries where the car dominates. I really started to dislike living in car-focused cities. It takes up a lot of space, decreases safety and livability, causes more polution, etc... I'm not saying Americans are depressed.
Same here. I got my drivers license over a year ago and have more than enough money saved up to buy a car whenever I want. Yet, I willingly choose not to buy a car because I straight up don't need it. I just practice driving every week when I visit my dad and pay him some money for fuel every few months. Everything else I can easily do by bike. And that is a pretty normal way to go about things here in the Netherlands.
@@rendomstranger8698 Couldn't agree more! Cars are so expensive and are just standing still like 90% of the time. In big cities, you can just rent a car through car sharing systems whenever you need one. And honestly, I hardly ever need one in this country.
@@davidcoen5547 Things can change. Many cities in Europe are finally realizing that bikes are good in many ways. The Netherlands was not a bike country either, as it started to develop bike infrastructure in the 70's. It takes time, but it's possible if there is political will and money.
To me it seems many Americans love going to Disneyland because it's the only place they can freely walk around in an urban-like setting for hours as a family without the threat of being run over by a car. (Also without being shot, thanks to strict security checks at the gates). In other words Americans go to Disneyland to escape from America. Whereas in Europe nobody needs a Disneyland to have that pleasure, since European cities fulfill that need by design, without making you purchase expensive tickets. I honestly don't understand how Eurodisney is still a thing, tbh.
If Europeans don't step up and do something about their government sponsored third world invasion, they will have violent crime as bad as America (they already do in parts of some western European cities.)
"We talk about cars being freedom for Americans, but is it really freedom to have to pay 4 to 5 figures on a car, and then thousands every year to maintain it? Is that freedom to need to do that just to get to work? Is it freedom to have to drive literally everywhere, and if you can't afford to drive, have your opportunities limited tenfold? I would say no."
Now that is a profound statement
America is not land of free in workplace, health, moving around your city, and more. As American I would love to stay in USA but it need to change.
More like land of the incarcerated.
I'm so glad that young people in america are realising the problems in their city design, hopefully they make the change !!!
The problem is that Baby Boomers and Generation Xers will both fiercely oppose their efforts to make the US less car centric.
@@r.pres.4121 maybe some will but not all of us!! Some of the baby boomers in generation extras are strongly for less car centric areas and neighborhoods and cities and towns.!!!! 🙂🚲
My guess? We already cannot afford anything as is because our economy sucks. A car just means more unjustified expenses. Add to that, college, bills, inflation, rent/housing costs, cost of food, possible medical expenses, clothes? Add the insurance, gas and maintenance, assuming you don't already have to put up with car payments. There is a reason many young people don't want cars, don't want to go to college, work multiple jobs. Because we simply CANNOT AFFORD THE CAR INFRASTRUCTURE. It is too expensive, and will just make existing in this country more miserable and stressful.
Is it seriously communist of me to not want to share the roads with people who are driving only because they have to? Many people don't actually like driving. But they don't have a choice because the crappy infrastructure made it that way.
It's more of affordability problem of some aspects (housings, healthcare and education fees) and social problem (poverty among minorities ethnics and gangs culture) than a city design problem (whether it's car-centric place) in my opinion...
I started taking up bike commuting when I was 23 and 1 year into a full time job. I love using my ebike for transportation.
I've often thought about how easy it would be for something to go wrong on the highway. Traveling by train, or really any means of transportation where you don't have to watch the road, is so much more relaxing.
@Moon Shine sure cars are nice for going camping and such, but day to day to get to work or the store, I'd much rather get on a bus or train. And I would do exactly that were my work not barricaded from the nearest bus stop by a highway interchange and a road without sidewalks that people constantly run the red light on. I'm pretty likely to get run over because of that. I don't want to drive tired, but the way my city is built, I have to pretty often. It puts me and others at risk of death or dismemberment.
Until the transit employees go on strike
The biggest problem is being isolated for yourself in the car, at home and so on makes you intolerant towards others and their right to be there as well.
People use these mechanisms to be isolated from the rest of humanity. That's a feature not a bug. The running out of patience for other people's crap part tends to happen before not after.
Awesome video! I'm so happy more and more people are catching on to just how disastrous cars are in the US. Hopefully soon we can return to a time pre-Eisenhower where we had stellar transit and the true freedom of great rail and street car travel. I'm 24 and getting ready to sell my car to move to Boston and finally live car free, that'll be my moment of freedom!
So I take it Boston must be a pretty walkable city?? I’m from the west coast where there’s massive sprawl so I’m not sure if the east coast is better.
Only the pre-eisenhower era. Why not the pre-independance era. That will be great for lots of dummies. Later Saints guys would be delighted too.
@@ivyreece9925 SF on the west coast is walkable as well.
@@francoislechanceux5818 car addicted freak!
For the past 11 years as a home/property owner I got rid of my car as a Senior citizen and have been riding electric bikes pedaling bionically along with the electric motor to get doctor recommended aerobic exercise and as for transportation. I live in a very hilly area so riding a regular bike would be too strenuous for me.
One ebike is a Lectric XP Step Thru (1.0) that I even take right into my local Fred Meyer grocery store 3.2 miles away and use it just like a shopping cart putting the items that I put right into a front basket or pannier bag and go right into the checkout counter. I don't need a plastic shopping bag either and don't need their shopping carts or a parking space. Where I live it rains about 1/3 rd of the year and I have another ebike (RadRover) that I heavily modified a rain attachment for (Veltop Classic + model online from France) with other Lexan shields and stainless steel whip antennas instead of the Veltop's fiberglass rods which constantly broke.
With all those modifications I can ride without getting wet at all even in heavy rain storms. The only time that I can't ride is when there are heavy windstorms (not often) or when there is snow and ice on the ground (about 1 weeks time out of the year). Sometimes I do have to occasionally take a public transit bus. Most items I can just have delivered directly to my private owner occupied house.
Great video ! As a colony of the US Puerto Rico also has car-centric infrastructure which has affected us greatly. No train on such a small island ( there was once , ripped out during the 50s/60s :( )
Same thing in major US cities, that all had streetcars (trams) but these were later bought up and the trams were trashed.
What’s criminal about Puerto Rico is the constant construction of new single family homes in an Island with very limited resources and land. Our former European style towns, trains and infrastructure were destroyed to give way to depressing suburbs and highways. Just the as with other cities in the US, you can’t get anywhere without a car.
Well, we got a train now... But it doesn't go anywhere. It's clear that it's unfinished and I would love to see it develop according to its original plans, but as long as cars remain dominant I don't see that ever happening. Same with potential improvements to our bus service. Not saying our current train is useless, but it saddens me that it could be so, so much more. Our level of car dependency is frustrating.
@@marcoalejandrocruz Purto rico should be its own country
They waste so much of lands just for parking lot...also they complains about land prices going skyrocketing and drastic numbers of homeless people..
Yep
Thank you for this video. I made a personal choice to give up driving 22 years ago when I moved to Alaska. I live inn a town with no public transportation unless you are a senior citizen, which I am not. We also have limited sidewalks which are poorly maintained in the winter. I have noticed a weird phenomenon, people in cars are always in a hurry, while people on foot always have time to stop and chat. I have bus passes around the globe for when I travel. I have not regretted giving up a personal vehicle and I hope never to own a car again. Thank you.
I only owned two vehicles in my life and I really don’t miss them. I allowed my drivers license to expire in 2015 and have become dependent either on public bus transportation or on my road bike to get around. I don’t need a car.
Yes I noticed that too, people with cars Usually are in a hurry and even if they’re retired they tend to be in a hurry to or on vacation they get impatient with other people and honk on their horn because they want to do everything in a few days instead of slow down relax and talk to people
Minimum parking requirements is a lot like single family zoning. The only purpose is to force people to live a certain way and buy certain things, creating bubbles and overinflating prices. A lot of community shops don't need a ton of parking because they are not serving the entire city, just their small, walkable area.
@Moon Shine In the 20th century do you think that most people just "magically" owned cars and that's why cities changed? You can see older cities in the U.S. looking very different (kind of European) and in those places there was lots of push back against private vehicles bcs it made the streets dangerous, and car purchases started to dip. Auto manufacturers started getting nervous over this and started lobbying for laws like Jaywalking, and laws to change newer developments to be car-centric also having a person from GM as the secretary of defense during Eisenhauer. It's not a stretch to say that the conspiracy is mostly true as it's been many decades since then. The free market alone wouldn't have created this.
@@moonshine8255Bruh, the CEO of General Motors, Charles Wilson, became the secretary of state under Eisenhower and redirected federal funds to build more highways. GM even pushed out pro-car propaganda flms in the mid-20th century in order to get Americans hooked on car culture. Euclidean zoning requires only single family homes and nothing else. Robert Moses, the first commissioner of NYC’s Dept of Parks and Rec referred to ethnic neighborhoods as “blight” and purposefully bulldozed over them to build stroads and parking lots in the city. This is all fact, not conspiracy.
The wildest thing to me is that we Americans don't realize how subsidized driving is. Gas is very subsidized, roads are very subsidized (past the gas tax, even in my "fiscally responsible" state, 50% of road funding comes from other taxes other than gas tax), cars themselves are subsidized. You touched lightly on this but another aspect of induced demand comes from basic market economics, in that many roads are free to use (due to the aforementioned subsidies) and it incentivizes people to use all the supply available--the demand increases to meet the freely available supply. As an flipped example, the Ohio River bridges that link Kentucky and Indiana in Louisville had lots of traffic before expansion, so they decided to build a new bridge to carry traffic in the other direction on the freeway. However, to pay for the project, they decided to toll the bridges. What they found after construction is that traffic levels are lower because of the new toll meaning that, because there is now a price on that supply, the demand is no longer there.
That isn't to say that we should stop these subsidies; rather, I think the subsidies should be more evenly distributed across all modes of transportation, to give people options. That's the main issue here--we don't have options, it's cars and cars only.
When I was in HS I wanted a car because I wanted to be seen as cool and get a gf and also to go backpacking/camping. But after I turned 18 and started using public transportation to commute to work, I started to see cars as more of a pricey privilege when I can just take the bus or ride my bike. Btw I live in LA and despite the car centric infrastructure, we're more walkable and dense than the average sun belt "city".
@Alaric Goth It depends where in LA you live. Here in the San Fernando Valley it is very car centric and the buses take me where I need to go but if I go from one side of the valley to the other, it can take me 1-2 hours while driving can be as little as 20 minutes because of all the freeways we have. Although I am curious to your statement about how car culture is the reason for many gangs here.
@Alaric Goth Ok I see what you mean but what about Harlem? That as far as I know didn't get gutted by freeways but yes you do make a good point. And the problem with people relying more on rail transit over buses because of traffic is overcrowding like what happens in New York or even Bart in the Bay Área during rush hour. If there weren't so many cars, I think more people would ride buses and alleviate congestion on trains. And in the end we really should demolish freeways, whether the Bronx crosstown expressway or the tangle of freeways surrounding Downtown Los Angeles.
@Alaric Goth Ok I see what you mean but what about Harlem? That as far as I know didn't get gutted by freeways but yes you do make a good point. And the problem with people relying more on rail transit over buses because of traffic is overcrowding like what happens in New York or even Bart in the Bay Área during rush hour. If there weren't so many cars, I think more people would ride buses and alleviate congestion on trains. And in the end we really should demolish freeways, whether the Bronx crosstown expressway or the tangle of freeways surrounding Downtown Los Angeles.
@Alaric Goth Ok I see what you mean but what about Harlem? That as far as I know didn't get gutted by freeways but yes you do make a good point. And the problem with people relying more on rail transit over buses because of traffic is overcrowding like what happens in New York or even Bart in the Bay Área during rush hour. If there weren't so many cars, I think more people would ride buses and alleviate congestion on trains. And in the end we really should demolish freeways, whether the Bronx crosstown expressway or the tangle of freeways surrounding Downtown Los Angeles.
As a european from Germany it really hurts my eyes how American traffic infrastructure is build. I mean Germany is not the best country for public transportation, because we have a pretty big car lobby as you all know, but we are still light years ahead the US. You explain the Problem very well, why should someone change something that works? You grow up with that extremly terrible system. Hopefully things change drastically in the future. Before I forget, those Parking lots and Suburbs are the most ridicoulus things ever.
Your people make Volkswagens AND have the InterCity Express - for me, it's the best of both worlds.
@@stevenmaginnis1965 It looks better from the outside. Idea and products actually good but far from perfect.
It doesn't work in the US though. The only way it can be seen to work is big corporate America.
The automobile companies have conspired for years to discourage the use of mass transit.
Brilliant Analysis. Same here in Europe, most countries are very car centric. A few cities try to change that slowly like towns in the Netherlands or Copenhagen in Denmark and improve bike infrastructure. The Segway PTT was a good idea to reduce car use. Unfortunately it failed for different reasons. (One was the to high price) I'm hopeful that's the youth today will think in the right direction and change things. Greetings from a German living in Ireland.
Which countries are very car centric in Europe? I think you can live very well without a car in countries like Germany. In most cities, there are various public transport options such as streetcars, buses, commuter rail, subways and long-distance trains. And in many cities you can get around really well without a car. Walking in the cities is also very pleasant.
@@mimimi8238 There are lots of car-centric places in Europe, but the notable difference is that there are alternatives you can choose, and it's getting better. And really, there's nothing wrong if some people want to live in a place where they are car-dependent, as long as you aren't *forced* to live there.
The problem in the US is that every single city has car-centric infrastructure, and only a few places have any alternative whatsoever that is in any way convenient. This means that all the people who don't want that are forced to compete for a small supply, leading to high prices. Thus most people can't afford to live in a place where there are alternatives.
@@mimimi8238 England seems to be pretty car-centric to me the way a lot of its towns and cities are laid out
@Marcel Stankowski that's very common everywhere. The saying that I use to describe this is "the grass is always greener on the other side". Which it's not, sadly, it just seems like it is. If you look or live with something long enough you become desensitize and then things seem dull or boring. A house, city/town, state or country (even world If you talk to some people) are not enjoyable to live in when people neglect these things and would rather dispose of it and move on to something new somewhere else. In some cases though the grass is greener on the other side, but that side won't let you in because you are an outsider (manly referring to the elitist of the world).
Umm you have an extensive passenger rail system tho.
From experience of leaving a large home in a suburban area that makes it's residents depend on cars to then moving to the downtown area of my city in a small apartment inside a building complex I agree with this.
Living in the city my quality of life is so much higher.
Many are seeing that as well, so rents in many downtown areas have really risen.
Car-dependent infrastructure in the United States is among the most poignant crystallizations of Neoliberal Capitalism as it exists currently. Hyper-individualistic to a fault, expensive, and exists as having the illusion of freedom, without actually providing it. So many aspects of America's brand of Neoliberalism comes down to: "well if you don't like driving, then you have the freedom NOT to drive, you know"; it's a vain attempt at dismissing and refusing to solve real issues that affect millions of people. We know that your opportunities are drastically limited without a car in the US; this ultimately limits whether or not you can afford housing, what school you can go to, if you can get yourself to the hospital, the grocery store, I could go on. Because of this, your choices are basically: "buy and maintain a car and drive everywhere, or die". This is absolutely not freedom, it's duress.
It's also madness!
👏👏👏
👏 👏 👏
I used to think it was freedom as a teenager, and it was growing up in the U.S.. but as an adult I see it is akin to slavery. Even though I drive an older paid off car, seeing people with 400$ notes and 250$ insurance is mind boggling. Yet they have no choice. They need a reliable car to drive 60+ miles a day.
Nah, it’s definitely a conservative thing, and conservatives are the ones I see most likely to make such arguments. PragerU even made a video called “The War on Cars”. I agree that neoliberal politicians are too scared to make any radical changes though, and would rather reinforce the status quo, at everyones’ expense.
It's helpful to simply point out the full scale of the problem. Americans are very hesitant to be critical of our car-centric culture. I can understand the difficulty of trying to convince people who have lived their entire lives in a corporate capitalist system that private ownership is actually harmful to their ability to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. But it's a necessary lesson. If we look at the parts of the world with the most efficient transit systems, its the cities and countries that make driving and owning a car the most difficult. Big cities and cars simply do not mix.
But is it really a capitalist system where all these highways were built and funded by government, where parking minimums are mandated by government, when zoning makes it illegal to build dense walkable neighborhoods because of government, when many streetcars were not allowed to raise their fares to keep pace with inflation, again because of laws passed by government.
This car centric culture did not come about and would not have existed in a free market. The argument should not be that people should give up their suburban lifestyle, the argument should be to legalize alternatives that are better.
@@Knightmessenger I think he meant how corporations lobby the government to benefit them instead of the people, and where it's the companies that really get to decide how we get to live and not the government, people who truly care about the well being of the people.
@@jukio02 thats true and RepresentUs has a great video on how public opinion means little on what gets passed but money really, really talks.
That's why we need a better form of voting that leads to increased representation.
And yes corporations lobby for all kinds of things ordinary people dont want but many of the bad urban policies were self inflicted. Detroit bulldozed Paradise Valley and Black Bottom to run a freeway adjacent to downtown Detroit, not General Motors.
@@moonshine8255
Walkable areas shouldn’t be so expensive that they’re enclaves for the wealthy. But that’s exactly what it’s like in the US right now, because there aren’t enough of these walkable places to meet demand.
Also, “there’s no auto industry conspiracy.” The plot of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit is literally a retelling of the General Motors Streetcar Conspiracy. Cities were built to be walkable for centuries before public transit, and before the automobile. What do you think US cities were like before the Interstate system?
Case in point: Chicagoland. Literal representation of everything wrong with car-centric technology. I feel it will be very beneficial to Americans to visit places where the automobile isn't the primary place of transportation (Europe, East Asia, parts of the Northeast), etc. It awakens something more primitive in you and it makes you feel more free because it shows you how many places you can go without a car. Car-centric infrastructure has also contributed significantly to the obesity epidemic in the States. The automobile and the highway system, compared to millennia past, is a very young and unsustainable system.
Another dummy that hasn't really left his country.
Honestly If I were IDOT, I'd straight up Demolish I-290 and replace it with a Avenue as wide as Stony Island and Restore the Garfield Park branch
@@moonshine8255but do highways, roads, stroads not cost extensive amounts of taxes ? rural USA is pointless to change because of the distance but it’s so possible in cities
@@Szcza04 Roads cost nothing when you never build them. CA HW 5 that connects LA to Bay Area is still the same 2 lane highway since 60's. Population increased and traffic got worse each year. In 2008, bill for high speed rail was passed to save the environment. Cost 10 billion. Now 15 years later, not a single mile was build. China has since build rails all over the country.
CA talks about getting out of cars, but never build any rails or roads. If CA has been building road as population increase, and tax income increase, we would not have traffic jam. Or if they build public transportation, that works too. They did neither.
@@moonshine8255We're not even talking about rural here, this is about our cities and suburb centers that we've designed to entice the use of cars near-exclusively to get around. Rural areas are where cars can make sense, but that doesn't mean the rail lines that many of them have through them can't also have passenger service to connect in back with the cities that they used to also host.
As a wise man once said "car bad train good"
ever since i’ve gotten a license the feeling of freedom has gradually diminished. id rather be able to be on a train and use my phone during the entire trip than to constantly keep my eyes and all other senses on the road and other drivers
The first time I heard engineers talking about how to improve traffic my initial thought was, if there are too many cars for the given throughput of the road system, just remove cars from the road and problem solved. It's obviously the cheapest and most efficient solution. I remember I got a look for that take, and it will always stick with me.
This video should be getting way more attention. So many old people and people my age will defend car centrism to death without realizing the disastrous consequences. I honestly blame the car lobbyists and oil corporations.
Seeing so many young people recognizing and talking about this gives me so much hope for our future. Thank you for helping more people to see the cycle we’re stuck in!
i work as a Light Rail Train Operator in a major city in the US, got this job because i like trains and i want to be a part of the change to better public transit and walkable areas, you got a new sub to your channel, looking forward to more videos.
I loved the style of your video. I loved the cyclical storyboard starting and ending in the car park. You are evidently creative and had something to say. I really enjoyed the vid and am looking forward to more!
In the Netherlands you take your bike and cycle within 10-15 minutes to a nearby shopping centre :)
Finally, some one said it! Building more parking lots makes everything spacious, which makes it so hard to walk around! as a person who CANNOT afford a car and have to rely on someone to drive me anywhere, this has been my struggle ever since i lived alone. I had to make sure when i was living myself that I can WALK to work... now, I have someone who can drive me to work... still sucks since I can't walk on my own anymore, but I at least have transportation.. i still wish I could walk to work again.
15:17 is the single best monologue I’ve ever heard about this and is truly inspiring. You put into concise words what I’ve been struggling to get people to understand in just a manner of minutes.
I JUST LOVED IT!
Not only was it beautifully articulated, but there were also many takeaways from the pack-filled enjoyable informative video.
Liked and Subscribed
I'm definitely looking forward to more content like this.
Good stuff, I have a feeling this will get lots of views. I also feel like it helps to show those people who can't even really imagine another way of living just how nice it can be when urban design is person, bicycle and public transport focused. Even just photo/video examples of those such places like you'll find in the Netherlands don't even need explanation to convince just about anyone how much more inviting and pleasant they are to live in and call home. So much of the US and its cities seems downright inhospitable to human life once you wake up to what's possible. I don't see this shift happening meaningfully in the US within my lifetime which is part of why I moved to Europe in 2020.
I love cars but I agree there are a lot of issues with them and transport. I hated going outside as a kid because there was no where I could go, they hardly ever laid down sidewalks outside suburban neighborhoods
The algorithm has chosen you my friend! Excellent, well informed, and high quality video.
Great video. I couldn't imagine waiting until I was 16 (ore 18 here for the license) to get some kind of freedom and not being tide at home. As I was 11 i start using my bicycle to go to school, friends, grocery stors etc. When I was 15, every second weekend I get on the train to another city and watch my favorite football team (you call it soccer). All with my own earned money that I got from my newspaper delivery in my local area. This, is freedom I think.
That sounds dope
This channel is about to blow up…fantastic content man keep it up!
This was great dude! Im looking forward to seeing more stuff and I wish you much success
Okay, so why doesn’t this have 380 million views? Love the vid - keep it up👏🏼
Love this fire you have, keep on posting.
Most urbanists seem middle aged or older, you are young and that very much gives me hope for the future.
Its the young that have the power to change this. The older generations are mostly the ones allowing this to continue but they won't be around soon so young people need to decide and realise America is broken and needs change.
Not Just Bikes will make a comment here soon lol.
But for real this might be the most thorough analysis video on RUclips of the systemic issues of auto centric design and dependency. Good work
Dude you killed it in this one, super professionally done!
This is one of the best explanations that I've seen regarding car-centric infrastructure! Also I love that KSG poster!
Amazing video, very well presented arguments and good editing. More mobility and urbanism content 👏.
Excellent video! I think it's very persuasive! I've been learning about the problems with American transportation over the last few weeks, but I still learned something. I'm shocked at how dangerous our driving centric culture is for the elderly and teenagers. These are tragedies and horribly facts of life in America, but it's all the more necessary to share in order to change hearts and minds as best as we can.
I think a point that could have been further expanded upon (maybe it's in past video or will be in a future one) is that car-centric infrastructure is an economic drain offset by debt and tax dollars. Road-building continues to be heavily funded by higher levels of government. This causes municipalities to create sprawling infrastructure networks to satisfy their residents and get their community growing, but end up far too large to affordably maintain.
And, worst of all, it's not obvious how expensive car-dependency really is. Other transportation methods can't compete in modern day America. The average American would say it's because cars are just better. In reality, road infrastructure is super expensive and not sustainable but America's socio-economic system uniquely supports it. The hidden price to it is a mix of the aforementioned government spending, exploitation of marginalized groups, and the relatively easy access to personal car loans. It's a drain on our economy, our planet, our health, but we're so used to paying the toll that we'll take this road to ruin anyways.
I'd hate to be here when the oil runs out and only the rich can afford electric cars!
I agree. And driving a car everywhere even and the drive-through is contributed to obesity.
also read that there were two walkers killed by a car because the car driver made a left turn across the crosswalk and accelerate it and injured the walkers in the crosswalk and they died later.
I'm so excited I found this channel!!
This was a baller video, it was concise and informative. You earned a subscriber, I hope to see more!
Thanks AJ! At 62, it's great to see someone much younger understand my plight so well. Keep up the good work!
Just discovered your channel with this video. I'm a fellow Minnesotan from Saint Paul. [Kuya] Matt is the name, at least that's what my wife calls me. I agree with your arguments and have always wished we had a better transit system with 5/6-minute headways every half mile so the need to own a vehicle would be more hassle than convenience. I have never understood why the transit system in the Twin Cities necessitates that people must be routed through the city centers to get from one city to another. The way to promote transit would be to have direct routes on all the major streets instead of funneling everyone into the downtowns where they must waste precious time on their journey to their final destination.
You're gonna like this Friday's episode, then :)
@@AJTabura, I subscribed so I won't miss it. Salamat!
We have the same problem with public transportation in Buffalo, the whole is centered on downtown with most bus routes radiating out into the suburbs. Many times if you want to go from the northern suburbs to either the eastern or southern suburbs, you have to go downtown and than transfer to another route. It is not all that convenient.
AJ, I think this is one of the best summaries of this topic than I have heard to date. Great work.
👏👏👏 amazing video bro, the fact that you recorded that on a mall parking lot is just cherry on top.
Just wanna say that I really appreciate this video, and can't wait for the next one. I wear myself out arguing with strangers on FB over posts by the NYC Dept of Transportation cautioning motorists to drive safely. With each of those posts, promoting Vision Zero, come a deluge of victim - blaming protests from motorists who enjoy the dystopian car-centric nightmare our streets have become, and love whining about pedestrians on cell phones. It's pathetic. I'll be dropping links to this video from now on, to hopefully educate some folks into becoming more humane people.
Nicely done - well summarized.
I was here before this channel exploded in popularity
Keep up the good work dude!
fantastic video, glad to find another urbanist youtuber!
This is criminally underrated, you have a new sub
Like a lot of things, it only worked for a few decades because the post-WW2 boom allowed even the most wasteful systems to work. Followed by a few more decades of “American exceptionalism” fueled denial.
I was first exposed to this car-consumed, hyper-suburbanized infrastructure when I moved across America 6 months ago. I lived on biking, transit and walking in my home cities up north and when I lived in a large town on the East Coast too. In my new suburban area it was extremely hard to get a working bike with supply chain failures, combined with the corporate wasteland here. No local stores. I've gone through many bikes that I had to return, one that got stolen. But every time I had a bike meant I didn't have to walk for 2-6 hours or spend my last few dollars on one Uber ride. This kind of place just makes me disgusted by cars and driving. It's extremely expensive, dangerous, embarrassing. And that's money I'd use to move into the city and save my life.
Biking is the GOOD part of my life in the suburbs. The part that is brutal to survive and harshest on me is witnessing the extreme isolation and extreme materialism that is killing people at the deepest soul level. They have to do such bullshit work and waste so much of their time damaging their health just to make enough money to pay for all the things that further deprive and damage them. Whoever sold expensive poverty as wealth pulled off the biggest scam in history.
Business
Keep on doing this sort of Videos and spread the word
greetings from Berlin
I grew up in the Philippines. By 12 years old, I felt comfortable going around the city on my own walking, tricycles (rickshaw/tuk-tuks), and jeepneys. It was great, there was no issue going to the malls or other places with friends. When I moved to Las Vegas at 16, it was like being house arrest. Social life was non existent until I got a car. Having a car is nice, but it shouldn't be necessary for the freedom to go places.
Car sharing is a great stepping stone in cities, it makes much more sense for one car to facilitate multiple drivers... I don't really need a car in Spring, Summer, and Fall but use car sharing primarily for the Winter.
Great presentation, Thank you! ❤️
you have high quality content for such a small channel. Good job!
Thank you so much for this excellent video. People will run circles around trying to accept that car infrastructure is inherently selfish and beyond expensive, when they attack the budgets and costs of transit projects.
Really liked the video, links to sources would’ve been nice but really nice vid!!
You are great man - keep it up!!!
To be able to do other things while commuting to work instead of paying attention to the road just adds so much value to my life
Chick-Fil-A is directly across the street, maybe 50 feet. To get there, walk down a block, cross three crosswalks (this side has "No Crossing") each 8 lanes wide, come back up the block, and finally arrive. Absolute insanity.
Very good video, it deserves way more views.
Amazing video, full of details i was pretty unaware about US regulations.
I invite you to compare typical US cities against the city of Buenos Aires, argentina. You have a total different format there in terms of urban planning
You are from the south metro where I live i see and I’d say Burnsville is a great example of an extremely car centric city, im so glad governor Walz wants to build more light rail after saying “We can’t keep expanding the highways” referencing the recent 35w expansion. Another problem in the south metro is the stroads throughout Apple valley where I live and Burnsville.
Great and clear analysis!
Outstanding video. Great work
Great video AJ!
Trains are pretty epic!
awesome video, I lived in Germany for 3 years without a car. I think that is why I have fond memories of living there. I now and yet again without a car and enjoying my experience. Right now it is just a 2 month test of its feasibility in my life. Yes I am doing it in the Summer, but if successful, I plan on making it permanent.
The thing is, car ownership should be fine, just not a necessity to facilitate you going about your life like a normal person
What you (hypothetical all-powerful force) really need to do is provide all kinds of alternatives to driving, and make those options better than driving (that includes making driving worse, but not by neglecting infrastructure maintenance like you do now, because that's only unsafe), and people will naturally move away from owning cars and using cars so much.
Then we build these roads called "Stroads" that are more dangerous and cause more traffic issues. This just makes so much sense....
Put trains on em via viaducts
Stroads simply do not work without access roads off to the sides of the main roads and even then you have to turn the main road into a highway (Queens Blvd NYC vs Route 19 Clearwater FL)
Preach man! That was very concise and well stated
one of the ways i would know i'm not in the upper class in America is because few of the transit lines would go in any direction relevant to me. the upper class decide where to build transit, yet the lower class need and use it far more.
luckily Melbourne Australia has such a comprehensive system, i only _sometimes_ feel completely lost with no options to get home or to my destinations.
Love the video! Great points throughout.
One minor thing I noticed: you're saying "exasperate" when I think you mean "exacerbate." Easy mistake to make, no big deal.
Thank you so much for talking about this!
Riding the bus in the US has a negative social stigma. Most parts of the US (with exception to big cities) are designed to be car dependent . So people who have a disability, low income, (old grumpy, shady looking dudes for some reason) and a lot minorities use public transit. Somehow simply using public transit makes you look somehow lower class who can't afford a car.
I wish it wasn't that way and that public transit could be less stigmatized and that public transit could be improved, especially for the people who truly need it. I don't think it's like this in all places in the US nor is it a huge assumption that most people have. I'm just stating this from what I've observed.
I also agree that car dependent infrastructure is definitely not good.
Maybe commercials should be made that shows so called regular people riding the bus also and business people and entrepreneurs.
I studied geography and urbanism for five years, I read really a lot about the theme and your video still made me learn. Sorry if this sounds arrogant but as you say, the things you are stating are a proven fact to the point they don't even argue about it outside of the US. You have also fantastic communication skills. Great job mate!
I would add another thing: the waste of space and resources get even worse when you factor in most cars travel empty, carrying no luggage, groceries and just one person. On the top of that cars keep getting bigger, resulting in a single person occupying the area of a studio on the road
How do you get hundreds of comments but only have 1.5k subscribers? Good content, subbed.
Very Well Illustrated!
Great video! This frustrates me because there is no need for research etc for politicians. Just fly to Amsterdam in the Netherlands and see how the streets are designed and then simply copy it!
Sure, I'd be happy to fly to Amsterdam if COVID ever stops being a thing!
At this point I'd rather move to Amsterdam or Europe. 'MURICA feels like a lost cause.
"How to Fix America's Bad Transit Networks" is out now! Check it out! 🚉👍
ruclips.net/video/rW8QeyxYBnQ/видео.html
I just did. Eager to wait! 👍
Great video! Also, I love the hoodie you're wearing, can you tell me where you got it?
@@otterable1 the clearance rack of Marshall's I believe haha
Have you seen suspended monorail trains or low speed maglev?
US or European date?
Excellent video! Kudos!
Great video! Also, southern states that offer lower taxes are partly because they pass the cost of infrastructure onto individuals. The north east with more public transportation pays for these services through taxes. Southern states can offer lower taxes but pass infrastructure (car, car ownership) onto individuals. I’m in the northeast and because of lack of parking, my husband and I just have 1 car. I can bike to places if need be (I’m not in suburbs though which - when have more parking and road options - encourages everyone to get a car