Week 10/14-- 10 ways to change

We have done a significant amount of reading in this class on the ideals of public transit, urban renewal and greening and community sustainability. Reading Green Urbanism was a breath of fresh air for me as it discussed what has already been done in European cities that can possibly be implemented in the US. It also discusses the infeasibility of many projects up for adoption in the US and why something may work in one area of the world and not another. Personally, I think it is about time to stop saying “why can’t we be like ‘so and so’?” The US has to build its own goals and trails to reach them- here are 10 ways to start.

THE GOVERNMENT: Top down approach. This is how any really major change has ever happened in the world of environmentalism. Without governmental guidance or support very little will get done in a short period of time.

SHORT TERM: This is what we need, short term growth. People are sick of hearing grand-master plans. Let’s see something happen. Just one accomplishment that is noticeable enough to discuss could get a ball rolling. Specifically with transportation, it is hard to make something happen as the very infrastructure of a city relies on cars (which we are trying to prevent). To devise a small (look what we’ve done) project in a city like Ithaca would be incredible for progress and marketing/outreach purposes.

THE HITCHHIKER: A reason why America is so far behind Europe is also because of safety paranoia. In Europe, there is significantly less of a negative stigma regarding hitchhiking. Because this is a no-no in the US it is harder to implement Park and Ride programs or community carpooling. Everyone is watching their back every 5 seconds and cannot find a way outside of themselves to expand their horizons.

THE SYSTEM: There is a large systems problem in any city such as Ithaca in America. People, who are supposed to be the power force of “the system”, have no say. Yes there is voting but people can only vote once it has been approved by “the system”. If a city such as Ithaca took it upon itself to reform how the people interact with the whole, progressive ideas such as a PRT system would be much more likely to happen.

ACCESSIBILITY: In Ithaca, there is a problem. Many places have little to no accessibility. One of the most popular places to go in Ithaca is the farmers market. Have you ever been there? There is no place to park and you really can’t take a bus there for the risk of being run over after walking on the roads on route 13 (I think that’s it). This highway blocks everything that is not approximately a ton to get there.

PUBLIC TRANSIT: It is not “good enough”. If you have ever been to the annual funding meeting of a government the words “good enough” comes up a lot. This is almost always said for public transportation. “Getting the job done” or “good enough” should be redefined. People should not have to wait 20 minutes (like I did the other day) for a tcat that was late. Efficiency is something that can usually be improved on in discussing transportation. Invest in it, the money is available.

EXPANSION: Build up, not next to. This is a growing problem for cities. They cannot expand anymore… well good! Grow and stop expanding. Suburban sprawl is one of the reasons why there is poor public transit and poor accessibility. Cities should learn to grow up, both literally and figuratively.

TAXES: Taxes of people should be divided up equally for what they use. Taxes should therefore pay for public transportation- no card swiping or fuddling with change needed. This would ever cut down on lag between stations. There is always someone who doesn’t have exact change or his or her card doesn’t swipe. This shouldn’t be an issue.

TAX TRANSIT: Unfortunately, Bloomberg’s tax on cars into NYC was a good idea a little too early. It was too dramatic for the big guys- but this is exactly what we need. Make driving more expensive. It’s like oil. If it’s too expensive, we’ll stop using it.

CARS: Who killed the electric car? Well whoever did should kill the SUV. This big, clunky, car is a killing machine. It doesn’t only kill people with crashes but also kills with its awful mpg rating. So much pollution and so little air= big problem.