Society pays a steep price for car culture

Spending money on roads is a bottomless pit, writes Albi Sole.

It is an illusion that children cannot walk or bike to school by themselves.

Re: “City is ignoring the plight of motorists,” Stephanie Kusie, Opinion, April 3.

Stephanie Kusie of Common Sense Calgary thinks that city hall should focus on reducing traffic congestion before spending money on pedestrians and cyclists.

I suspect that many other Calgarians, especially those living in the deep south, agree with her. Unfortunately, her common sense approach is based on a web of illusions and would take us further down a dark path to higher taxes and reduced quality of life.

It is an illusion that the traffic congestion is a solvable problem. Better car infrastructure encourages people to drive more, and the more we drive, the more infrastructure we need. Roads for cars are a bottomless pit into which we shovel precious tax revenue.

It is an illusion that active- transportation infrastructure is expensive. The $ 5 billion squandered on the southwest ring road could pay for both the southeast and north central LRT lines. Alternately, it could pay for one line and a bike and pedestrian network connecting stations with commercial, social and residential centres.

It is an illusion that the “good parent” should drive their kids to soccer games, music lessons, etc. All kids should play sport, but elite sport is not the answer to the physical activity crisis. Only seven per cent of children get enough exercise and most children who play sport regularly still don’t get enough.

What children do need is more self- directed outdoor play in their own neighbourhood. Children who do get this opportunity are much more active, healthier ( physically and psychologically) and do better at school. Unfortunately, few children get this opportunity because residential roads are optimized for car use, not children’s play.

It is an illusion that driving to activities is safer than letting kids range free. The No. 1 cause of sudden traumatic death for children is car accidents. ( Fifteen children 14 years or younger died in 2013 in Alberta.) Less than one child is abducted by a stranger in all of Canada each year. The greatest single health risk to kids is the sedentary and overscheduled lifestyle that car culture promotes.

It is an illusion that children cannot walk or bike to school by themselves. They need training to get started, but after about Grade 3, most children should be able to walk or bike to a local school on their own. Parental hovering is not required or helpful. Prioritizing children’s safety over a driver’s convenience would help.

It is an illusion that better roads will improve the quality of our lives. The more we drive, the more we suffer from poor physical and psychological health and die early. Poor health makes life less enjoyable, adds to health- care costs, and places burdens on family and friends.

Our dependence on cars drives poverty, because those who can’t afford a car have reduced access to better jobs, and needing a car to get to work costs $ 8,000 to $ 10,000 in aftertax dollars each year.

Car culture discriminates against young adults who cannot afford a car and the elderly who can no longer drive. Many seniors can’t walk to the store because either it is too far; or their earlier car- dependent lifestyles have robbed them of their functional mobility; or because crossing roads is too dangerous. When seniors are forced into dependency, they suffer, and so does the health care budget of those who must support them.

It is an illusion that Calgary’s weather is too harsh for people to walk or cycle year- round. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Sure it’s a fuss, but far less of a fuss than the many “inconveniences” imposed on us by our “convenient” cars.

The car- powered urban experiment was the most influential social engineering project of the 20th century, and it is a massively expensive failure. Because we have made cars so convenient, it makes sense to most people to spend more money on cars. This commonly held sense of what is right is what makes more investments in roads seem like common sense, but in this case, “common” sense is “mistaken” sense.