The Consequences of our Transporation System/ Part I - Why Transportation Sucks in America
Now you're probably asking how did I come to the conclusion that our transportation system is designed to force you to consume as much oil as possible? Well it wasn't easy because there's no one out there pointing to the obvious. I came to this conclusion one cold morning riding the new Primo route 103. When I got off the bus at the Diabetes Institute, I noticed that there was no traffic. It's 8am in the morning, there should at least be 3 cars on Zarzamora passing by and more down the stroad coming. But not a single car in either direction as far as I could see. I did notice about 7 or so individuals (not including myself and my partner) on the bus that I got off of. It finally clicked as to why Randal O'Toole use to be for buses over trains and now declares that transit is dead. Apparently, those seven people who were riding the bus that day weren't driving a car burning gasoline. Whether they could afford a car in the first place is not the point here, it just so happens when you're not driving a car, you're not burning gasoline. Sure, seven people not buying gasoline isn't going to hurt ExxonMobil, Valero, or wherever you go buy your gasoline. But just like the dome on the bottom of the peanut butter jar which is there to reduce the amount of peanut butter that you're able to buy. You, not driving your car acts like that dome to the gasoline providers.
Also, please spare me your electric vehicle arguments. There isn't enough of them on the road and judging by the availability of lithium, there won't ever be enough of them to replace diesel or gasoline vehicles.
Have you ever heard of TxDOT hashtag #EndTheStreakTX?
According to TxDOT, there hasn't been a day without a death on Texas
Roads since November 7, 2000. What boggles traffic experts is why? Most
will tell you that it's because of distracted driving, but what if I
where to tell you that it's because people are scared because they're
lost and don't know where they are. In the book "From Here to There The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way" by Michael Bond
goes into what happens when someone is lost. The fear and anxiety one
experiences when lost leads to cognitive dysfunction. It's interesting to note that the year 2000 just happens to be the same year when an
entire generation who where driven to and from school finally came of
age to be able to get driver's license.
In Michael Bond's Book,
chapter 2 explains the developmental skills that children acquire while
roaming around on their own. Not just spacial awareness, but the life
skills that enable children to become functioning adults. On page 31,
he shows a map of a kid who walks to school compared to a kid that is
driven to school. The child who walks to school drew a map with
landmarks and streets. The kid who was driven by mommy and daddy just
draws a line between two boxes.
"Free play makes us less likely to suffer from spatial anxiety and more proficient in wayfinding. Those of us with highly restricted home ranges as children make particularly anxious navigators as adults.19 This is especially relevant to girls. For various reasons, parents tend to restrict their daughters’ freedom of movement more than their sons’ (in Roger Hart’s study in New England, the boys in the town ranged twice as far as the girls).20 It has always been this way, and is usually done out of concern for their well-being. But as we’ll see in Chapter 6, it may be having a profound impact on the way girls experience the world when they grow up and on their overall spatial abilities, which affects their opportunities in later life."
It's my opinion the reason
why we haven't had a day without a death on Texas roads since Nov 7,
2000 is because we stopped allowing kids to roam on their own and kept
them coupe up inside. I'm also beginning to think that this lack of
having kids not roaming around on their own is leading to bigger
societal problems such as obesity and the opioid epidemic. When you
think about these problems and the requirement to have a car so you're
able to function in society, it's starts to make sense on why we have a
growing number of men dropping out of society for if you don't own a
car, you're more likely to be unemployed.
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| Image 2022-11-1 |
This world isn't without irony for one of the people trying to shine a light on these societal problems is Saager Enjeti. On May 31, 2022, he complained in a monologue, (Image 2022-11-1) that the solution isn't the humble bicycle for we are Americans. Yet on any given day, he and Krystal Ball will do a story on the lack of housing which Donald Shoup points out that our need for car storage is one of the causes that leading to the housing shortages. He has complained about the increase death rate caused by obesity and other factors. He also complained about MSNBC saying that "Fitness is Fascist", yet he completely leaves out the reasons why we don't have an active society which is the lack of safe infrastructure to exercise on, and other transportation options available so you can afford that gym membership instead of spending all of your money on your car at the pump. I completely agree with Enjeti that MSNBC's position is just nuts, but my question is "would this be because such a political issue if a third of us in the United States used a bicycle for transportation?" Other people have pointed out the positive physical outcomes to using a bicycle for everyday errands and I've listed some of those sources below. I've also experienced this first hand when I went to a doctor in my early 20s and she tried to prescribe medication for a low heart rate. My my question to Enjeti here "isn't your goal with Breaking Points to make society be a healthier place and not just physically but mentally as well?" As a member of the working class, I can tell you that not everyone can afford a gym membership especially if a good chunk of that paycheck is going to maintaining a car to get to and from work which brings me to my last point.
Recently on Breaking Points, they had two segments about why men in ever increasing numbers are dropping out of society. One interview with Nicholas Eberstadt and another with Richard Reeves. After watching both segments and a monologue by Emily Jashinsky, I can't help but wonder was I ever one of these men? In late 2008, I've decided to drop out of society for I didn't own a car and wasn't able to find a job. I was only able to break this rut when a friend invited me to live with her close to downtown. By doing this, I was able to show potential employers that I just happen to live around reliable bus service and able to re-enter the workplace. But what if I wasn't able to become employed again, would I be one of those men that they're talked about? And how many other men are in similar situations because they don't own a car and are being denied work? It's interesting to note as I write this, there are help wanted signs all over the place with topics like 'quiet quitting,' 'remote work' and the Great Resignation being reported in the news rooms across the globe. It's interesting to note that according to Nicholas Eberstadt, the trend of men stepping out of society started to happen around 1965. The1960s just happens to be the decade when private transit companies started to go under and the cutting services across the nation began. Correlation or causality; from my personal experience, it's causality and people like Enjeti are unwilling to connect the dots.
And finally, some final thoughts for Enjeti in the tweet below (Image 2022-11-2).... |
| Image 2022-11-2 |
- Over 40,000 deaths on our roadways annually
- Air Pollution dropping the IQs of Children
- Joe Minicozzi and Chuck Marohn conclusion that car infrastructure is bankrupting our communities.
- The fact that it takes longer to get to places
Images:
Image 2022-11-1. Brent Toderian tweet that Saager Enjeti complained about: https://twitter.com/brenttoderian/status/1529963941987684353
Broadway Limited: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Limited
Urban Air Pollutants Can Damage IQs before Baby's First Breath: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/urban-air-pollutants-can-damage-iqs-before-babys-first-breath/
Michael Bond, "From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way": https://www.amazon.com/Here-There-Science-Finding-Losing/dp/0674244575
Super Chief: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Chief
Saager Enjeti Twitter: https://twitter.com/esaagar?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Why is there an indentation in the bottom of some food jars, like peanut butter instead of being flat?: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-an-indentation-in-the-bottom-of-some-food-jars-like-peanut-butter-instead-of-being-flat
Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920084/
How Car Ownership Helps the Working Poor Get Ahead: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/how-car-ownership-helps-the-working-poor-get-ahead/431160/
Men In CRISIS As They Drop Out Of Workforce | Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp5z0CdF_Rg
Americans are suffering from a preventable health crisis: https://speakeasy.substack.com/p/americans-are-suffering-from-a-preventable
America's roads are getting deadlier: https://www.axios.com/2021/11/03/motor-vehicle-deaths-united-states
Vox - The high cost of free parking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akm7ik-H_7U
USAFacts - Transportation: https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/transportation/
Gen Z CHEERS As Housing Prices Crash | Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78p_kY23LIA
Joe Minicozzi at Memphis Boot Camp - How We Measure the City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhvKIaLjOJ8
Time For Left To ADMIT Boys, Men Are In CRISIS | Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ur1nDXRT6k&list=PLR1VVi2S5xz-gWs7KKIsXy3vKhNkrtH4G&index=13
Elon Musk Admits His Project Was A FRAUD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LZGvsA9xus
Railway post office: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_post_office#Decline_and_withdrawal
Drivers Cover Just 51 Percent of U.S. Road Spending: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/01/23/drivers-cover-just-51-percent-of-u-s-road-spending/
Saagar Enjeti: MSNBC Says FITNESS Is Fascist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVqH2VKtjZs
NPR - How Driver's License Suspensions Unfairly Target The Poor: https://www.npr.org/2015/01/05/372691918/how-drivers-license-suspensions-unfairly-target-the-poor
Transit’s Not Bleeding the Taxpayer Dry — Roads Are: https://usa.streetsblog.org/2011/12/12/transit’s-not-sucking-the-taxpayer-dry-roads-are/
Windshield Bias Afflicts Broadcast Media’s Coverage of Cambridge Bike Lane Projects: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2022/05/24/windshield-bias-afflicts-broadcast-medias-coverage-of-cambridge-bike-lane-projects/
Windshield bias among transportation professionals shifts safety burden onto pedestrians: https://ssti.us/2020/06/01/windshield-bias-among-transportation-professionals-shifts-safety-burden-onto-pedestrians/
71% of young people are ineligible for the military — and most careers, too: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/14/military-service-most-young-people-dont-qualify-careers/3665840002/
Up to 75 Percent of US Youth Ineligible for Military Service: https://www.thoughtco.com/us-youth-ineligible-for-military-service-3322428
Media Ignores Life Expectancy DROPS From Drugs, Suicide, Obesity | Breaking Points: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uv1LkQ6I8
Saagar Enjeti: NYT Blames AMERICANS Driving For High Gas Prices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzd2p1ibzr0&list=PLR1VVi2S5xz8Nrfa5Cq6StALm9HEWzhOR&index=9
Campbell River seniors say they’re ‘terrified’ to leave their home: https://www.campbellrivermirror.com/news/campbell-river-seniors-say-theyre-terrified-to-leave-their-home/
Can Toddlers Cross the Street Alone? Yes, on Reality TV in Japan: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/world/asia/japan-toddler-tv-show.html
#EndTheStreakTX: https://www.txdot.gov/safety/traffic-safety-campaigns/endthestreaktx.html
Thousands of flights delayed and canceled on busy July Fourth travel weekend: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/record-july-4th-travel-weekend-thousands-flights-delayed-cancelled-rcna36497
Gryehound: https://www.greyhound.com/en
Transit Is Dead. Let’s Prepare for the Next Mobility Revolution: https://www.cato.org/commentary/transit-dead-lets-prepare-next-mobility-revolution#
Randal O'Toole: https://twitter.com/antiplanner?lang=en
Why Your Public Transportation Sucks | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z1KLpf_7tU
Why is there an indentation in the bottom of some food jars, like peanut butter instead of being flat?: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-an-indentation-in-the-bottom-of-some-food-jars-like-peanut-butter-instead-of-being-flat
NPR - A Call to Redirect Mass Transit Spending: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5176280
Randal O'Toole: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2010/1/4/randal-otoole.html
Adam Conover tweet on cars: https://twitter.com/adamconover/status/1587904876650139649
True unemployment' is a lot higher than you think: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-money/2022/05/31/true-unemployment-is-a-lot-higher-than-you-think-00035922
Physical inactivity costs UK over £10bn per year, report suggests: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/physical-inactivity-costs-uk-over-10bn-per-year-report-suggests-177548
Emily Jashinsky - How Neoliberalism UPENDED Our Sexual Politics And Crushed Happiness | CounterPoints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhtTA0dTZm4&list=PLR1VVi2S5xz_sKSQA7EqNbHbjglddpKJo&index=7
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