Car Dependence
Basics
Mounting Transportation and Housing Costs Devour Household Budgets
On Monday we wrote that Americans can't afford a transportation bill that locks households into the expenses of car dependence. Yesterday the Center for Neighborhood Technology hammered the point home, releasing new data showing how communities are getting less and less affordable nationwide.
February 29, 2012
Maps Show Striking Link Between Car Commuting and Obesity
Check out these two maps, the first showing obesity rates (by county) in the United States and the second showing the percentage of commuters who travel by car (via Planetizen).
January 17, 2012
Trapped By Car Dependence: Stories From Commute-Battered Americans
Meet Darren Flenoy, a Bay Area security guard who lives 40 miles from work. Gas costs him about $500 a month. His car payment is another $500. On top of that, he spends $80 per month on insurance and $180 on tolls.
October 31, 2011
Time to See Older Drivers Through Dry Eyes
“Have you cried at your desk at work yet today? Would you like to?” Time Magazine recently asked, inviting its readers to indulge in emotion on behalf of an Iowa couple whose story went viral last week. Gordon and Norma Yeager died as the result of a car crash, the same way about 630 Americans die per week but with scant media attention. The Yeagers, after seven decades of marriage, passed away holding hands in the hospital.
October 24, 2011
Exxon: ‘One Mega-Highway, Please.’ Texas: ‘Coming Right Up’
It's generally difficult to determine exactly how and to what extent the shadowy hand of Big Oil is at work in our publicly funded infrastructure decisions.
September 13, 2011
Has America Passed Peak Car Use, or Is It Just a Cyclical Decline?
Fast Company is the latest media outlet to trumpet the decline of driving, with a look at the phenomenon dubbed "peak car use."
July 8, 2011
How Gas-Dependent Is Your State?
It's no secret that higher gas prices are hitting American pocketbooks hard. To a remarkable extent, however, exactly how much pain Americans are experiencing is a function of where they live.
May 26, 2011
Creative Crusaders Who Inspired Us in 2010
Travelling the country this past year promoting our book Carjacked, we met some pretty remarkable people who are working to reduce the price Americans pay for mobility. In the book we detail how our car dependent transportation system offers an awesome array of downsides, though they are often obscured by the auto industry’s relentless marketing blizzard.
January 13, 2011
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: The Last of the Streetsies 2010
We couldn’t put a bow on 2010 until we’d thanked those who contributed to the cause of sustainable transportation and smart growth last year and shaken our fist at those who’d done their darnedest for sprawl and highways. Check out our first two installments of national, state and local Streetsie winners. Here are our parting thoughts and your final votes. Then we can really move into 2011.
January 5, 2011
Driven to the Poorhouse: How Car Title Lenders Prey on Americans
The cheerful come-ons seem more cheesy than sleazy -- “Looking for a New Way to Borrow?” “Apply Now-Get Cash Today!” “Go From $0 to Cash in Less Than an Hour” -- but these are not the friendly offers of local diversified banks. They are the insidious pitches of companies that do one thing very well: make car title loans to Americans desperate for cash.
November 10, 2010