Friday, January 11, 2013

Uncaring or uncarring

This is the last entry you can comment on for January.

How do you feel about cars?  If they are bad for the environment, how can we help people become less dependent on them and use them less?  Do attitudes need to change about cars, or do government policies?  What do you think about the solutions proposed in this article, both for urban and rural areas?  Is Slovakia become more or less like America in terms of being automobile-centered?

3 comments:

  1. For a longer time it is known that cars are not ecologically friendly for our planet earth. However, every day more cars are created and there are more drivers. This causes enormous CO2 emissions. Particularly in the USA it has become a serious problem. The majority of the people, who live in rural areas, like Kentucky, have to rely on their cars.

    I lived in Wisconsin, where everything is very far away and the transportation system is very poor. USA is one of the only countries in the world, which legally allows 16 year olds to drive because many of the teens need the car to drive to school, to work, to a friend’s house and so on. Most of my friends there never used a bus to get from point A to point B. In Wisconsin it is believed that only poor people, who cannot afford a car, use a bus. Most of the people in my school believed that driving a bus can be dangerous.

    As I lived in the USA, I hated the fact that I couldn’t get anywhere without a car. I always had to ask my aunt for a ride. Moreover, what I hated the most was that I could not just walk somewhere and be independent. Additionally, now I live in a city, where I believe the transportation system is very good. I can go, wherever I want without using a car. My opinion, about cars is that they should be only used in cases when driving long distances. In other situations, I believe that walking, taking a bus and driving a bike is a more ecological and definitely a healthier way how to get from point A to point B.

    In my opinion, people should change their attitude about cars. Most importantly, people should not judge somebody who uses the public transportation system or a bike because it doesn’t directly mean they are poor and cannot afford a car. In the article, it is mentioned that the environmental groups in Kentucky are aiming at practical solutions as creating campaigns against vehicle idling. I believe it is a good start but there has to be done something more drastic to change the attitude of people about cars for example, try to create a better public transportation system and persuade people that using public transportation is not a bad or embarrassing thing to do.

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  2. Unlike my hometown, Bratislava is a city with half a million inhabitants, with tens of thousands people arriving here daily for work or education. Walking here does not mean a nice stroll, but rather a noisy, lengthy and tiring walk. In big cities, transporting is not a simple issue. It takes me 45 minutes to come to my school. Therefore, as it is a big chunk of my time, I do not want to prolong it any more, nor I want to spend this time praying for it to end.

    This pictures what emphasis should be put on transportation in general. I believe that even now many people could do what has Erin done. Give up on a car and take up a bicycle. However, there is no other non-violent way to make them do this than to improve the public transportation so it would be attractive for them. In big cities, this surely can be done, but it requires huge attention and thorough planning. A sensible balance between cars and public transport has to be made. I do not think that using legislative to restrict the use of cars is the right way. People themselves have to be willing to change their ways of transportation.

    On the other hand, my imagination falls short when it comes to the villages, just like the author's hometown. Cars are inseparable part of the life there. The true solutions should not be aimed primarily at decreasing the amount of cars, but at improving the transportation and just like the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, bring the things people need closer, so they do not have to travel. This should in turn automatically lower the necessity to use a car. Similarly to the paragraph before, make people want the change themselves, and they will even participate in the process of improving our environment.

    I think that cars are were handy way of transporting, and to significantly limit their usage is next to impossible. If we want to halt the deterioration of our atmosphere through decreasing the number of cars, we cannot do it directly by decreasing the number of cars, but indirectly through showing people that there are better ways to travel, and making the usage of car less of a necessity. I believe this is one of the most efficient ways to fight the car pollution, while not justifiably aggravating people.

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  3. There really isn’t anything in the article that I disagree with. The author is undoubtedly right in saying that for some people driving cars is a necessity, and this is definitely also the case in Slovakia. In rural and mountainous areas mainly in the North and East of the country everyone of working age and a decent wage has a car. Perhaps the most significant difference from the US is that even in these areas we have public transport, which many people take advantage of.
    In modern culture cars represent not only independence, but they are also a sign of well-being, which is fundamentally wrong in my opinion. Sure, I myself would love to have a car that I would drive to school or wherever else I would be going. It is not by choice or with the aim of preserving the environment that I travel by public transport – does this make me a selfish person if I want that feeling of independence without regard to the externalities?
    There isn’t that much of a difference between the mentalities of Slovaks and Americans. The reason why people travel more by public transport here is that they have less money and there is a better infrastructure. The solution to the too-much-cars problems isn’t simple – it requires a change of mentality and, as mentioned before, an infrastructure of buses, trams or metro, which is unlikely to happen if a village is sprawled over a larger area and the bus goes every two hours.
    The future in this aspect is not bright. Ironically, the rising fuel prices and oil reserves that are running out might serve as encouragement for people to use cars less and consider alternatives.

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