cycling in Los Angeles and cycling in Melbourne

[gescom]

I think the idea that we would be better off with 'newer' cars on the road is false. The manufacturing process is just as polluting and wastefull to the environment as is driving an old car.


Anyway to quote the great Dr Karl

"trains are the second most efficient way of shifting matter around the surface of the planet - after the bicycle".

and

You might remember the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? On the surface, it's a jokey story about a 1920s world where humans live side-by-side with "toons" - indestructible cartoon characters. But the subplot is about a "toon" who wanted to destroy public transport in the town of Los Angeles. His plan was to buy up all the public transport, and then close it down, so that he could build strange things called "freeways" that would carry huge numbers of cars. Now this might seem like an outrageous conspiracy theory - but this subplot is based on an accusation aimed at General Motors back in the 1920s.

Back then, Los Angeles had a very efficient, clean and rapid system of public transport - of electric trolley cars. The conspiracy theory claims that General Motors, via a series of dummy companies, gradually bought up all the efficient city public transport systems across the USA. They replaced the fast, silent and clean electric trolley cars with slow, noisy and very smelly diesel buses. The passengers and townspeople complained about the stinky buses, and so the public transport systems closed themselves down - leaving the commuters with no option but to buy a car.

 

[John Doe]

I think the idea that we would be better off with 'newer' cars on the
: road is false. The manufacturing process is just as polluting and wastefull to the environment as
: is driving an old car.

If it was an equivalent situation then the newer cars would be better for cyclists. However there
are many other social downfalls to making everyone have modern cars.

: Anyway to quote the great http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/trek/s268283.htmDr Karl

Thanks for this. That was a good read. I like Dr Karl. I like it because I cycle to the rail 21km's
then catch the train to work. Ditto in the afternoon. So I am using the 2 most efficient forms of
transport.

Pete