I’m Not Asking You to Get Out of the Car

I've written often in this space against the car and for alternate
modes of transportation. But I'm not asking you to get out of the
car. Some would vilify the car as the root of such evils as rampant
obesity and suburban sprawl and escalating pollution. I understand
the argument, but still accept the car as a fine mode of transport.

Besides, I'm doubtful we can change Americans' love affair with the
car. Gas prices would have to go significantly higher, public transit
options would have to get a whole lot better, and traffic jams would
have to become incredibly worse, for people to even think about giving
up the car and all that comes with it. It's like it's fixed into our
country's psyche.

But while I condone driving, I hope you'll think about some things,
maybe the next time you're stuck in a sea of cars on your local
highway at rush hour. Namely, that you'll think about how little you
are paying for the societal negatives your driving and idling imposes
on all of us: carbon emissions, wear and tear on our roads, and loss
of productivity caused by sitting in traffic, to name three. If you
think the taxes you pay when you first bought your car, or the taxes
embedded the price of each gallon of gas you pump into your car, are
covering this, you're not even close.

So I'm not asking you to get out of the car. I'm just asking you to
pay for what your car is costing all of us.