This weekend Boston played host to Rail~Volution 2009. The conference is a meeting of the minds: multimodal practitioners/engineers, politicos, citizens, and students; all of whom are interested in and/or focused on “Building Livable Communities with Transit.” Due to my course load and homework, I was only able to manage one day at the event – but it was certainly worthwhile.
The convention include mobile workshops that took part around metro Boston and evaluated options to create more livable communities in those locations (better transit and access which results in happier, healthier citizens that are in the end more willing to consumer). While there certainly is the capitalist self-interest of those vendors looking to “sell” the community on their method of transportation (streetcars, bike lanes, etc.), the public good is the front-and-center concern.
It was great to see so many people focused on this new movement, this new paradigm shift away from the mentality that life has to revolve around the automobile. As Americans, we are finally learning what our European and Japanese counterparts have long understood, mass transit benefits all and is environmentally and socially just. There is a lot of work to be done in order to complete this shift, but the cogs are moving and the convention was a great reflection on that movement.
Sadly though, there are two recent items that I have noted that are in direct contradiction to the public’s desire to move away from the automobile. And those two items come directly from the auto industry itself:
1. Audi recently put out a new ad to promote their “clean diesel” A3 TDI. As they put it, it’s more “fun” to do your part (save the environment) by driving their car rather than using any alternative to the automobile. It’s quite funny how they show the negative aspects to alternative travel methods and not a single negative aspect to driving a car. Those would include but of course are not limited to (on the individual level): high cost to purchase the car, constant costs to maintain and insure the car, housing/parking for the car, safety concerns with the car, environmental impact to produce and deliver the car. But hey, it’s fun to drive a “clean diesel” car, right. It’s still a non-renewable resource.
2. Lexus is sponsoring the Parkitecture Design Competition. As Americans decide to use other transit options, the need for multiple cars within their family is shrinking. Lexus thinks otherwise. The competition promotes the concept of 1) a free-standing building (great use of land area) and 2) the need to store up to three autos (though they do not state this is for the hypothetical family but they also do not state that you should consider in the design the access by multiple families).
I myself am auto-free though we do have one car in the family, a car that is rarely ever used thanks to the awesome T and walkable neighborhoods here in Metro Boston. While I myself will not be sway by a fun car ad or made to think I really need a cool new garage, there are others that will be affected by these. These same individuals may have begun to sway to alternative methods. And its these same individuals that the auto industry is grasping for. A paradigm shift is inevitable, it will be exciting to see when it fully comes to fruition.
