[Grovenet] Biking in Forest Grove

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

I was raised with the mantra that 'driving is a privilege, not a right' but
I doubt if that would hold up in the real world of America today any more
than saying walking is a privilege and not a right (although it seems to be,
in fact, trying to go anywhere on foot in places like central Beaverton and
around many large shopping malls). 

In too many areas of the country we've allowed everyone to become totally
dependent upon the motor vehicle to get around, even for the simplest tasks.


I think that's something easy to forget here in the Portland area
especially. In spite of its deficiencies, the public transportation system
here is absolutely astounding in its service compared to most other cities
in the nation, especially when you consider the tiny population of the
Portland metro area. (Yes, one million or so people is tiny compared to any
part of the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago...)

There's a huge liability that comes with that change because it becomes less
and less practical to prohibit people from driving. Clearly, as a society
we're turning to technology to make up for incompetent drivers with
everything from anti-lock braking systems to the latest in anti-tailgating
and automatic braking systems when people try to drive into places where
they shouldn't be or try to follow too closely, and now the new 'stability
control systems' that prevent a driver from mishandling their vehicles so
badly they tip over. From what I read, the stability control systems soon
will be mandatory on all new vehicles in an effort to keep everyone on their
wheels regardless of what the driver does. 

Safety systems? Sure! But in relying on them they become an essential part
of the vehicle too.

Years past I knew a number of people who grew up in San Francisco without a
driver's license and who, even as adults, saw no need for a driver's license
or the expense of a car, even for long distance travel. They could get
anywhere in the city they wanted on public transportation and they had
trains, busses and airplanes for anything else. These were people who were
adults in the 1950's and 1960. 

All of their children now have driver's licenses and automobiles, even those
who still live in San Francisco. 

Just a very few years ago China had one of the smallest number of
automobiles per capita in the world. Now it's fast becoming as dependent
upon the motor vehicle as the people in Los Angeles. 

Can that trend be reversed? I wonder...

Ron D'Eau Claire 



-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of David Morelli
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 9:05 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Biking in Forest Grove


I didn't see the contents of the investigation, only the result.  No  
cell phone?  Wow, that would have been my first guess.

Driving is a right?  No, it really isn't.  The problem is that we  
design our cities and home/work/shopping network as if the ability to  
drive is universal.  We separate our activities by law to require  
some form of transportation to do the most basic actions, and then we  
design our cities so that only automobiles can fill the  
transportation needs of our residents.

There is no reason a city cannot be compact enough for people to walk  
everywhere.  Cities were like that for a few thousand years, so it  
must work.

There is no reason a large city cannot be laid out so that origins  
and destinations are on a mass transportation corridor.  In those  
times and places where transportation was by river, canal, rail, and  
trolley it worked.

There is no reason a major metropolitan area cannot have a functional  
mass transit system for daily needs while sustaining private vehicles  
for recreation.  Curitiba with a population of 1.6 million has one of  
the highest rates of auto ownership in Brazil, the cleanest air of  
any Brazilian city it's size, and a mass transit system that operates  
without subsidy while carrying a million or more commuters daily.
http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/patterson_curitiba_brazil.html

Then people who shouldn't drive could afford to give up their cars.    
Instead we have a vocal lobby to retain and expand auto dependency.

David