Car Culture
Streetsblog Basics
America (Or 1,800 Miles of It) Through the Windshield
It's easy to tut-tut at the auto-dependent from the transit-rich confines of New York City. So, to get a taste of what it's like out there as the era of cheap gas seemingly draws to a close, Streetsblog sent me on a road trip. My destination was Athens, Georgia, where I checked on the state of bike-ped infrastructure in what could be a model small city for the future of American mobility. I'll be filing more Athens reports soon. In the meantime, here are some quick hits from the road.
June 10, 2008
The Windshield Perspective, Same As It Ever Was
From the way back machine comes this remarkable essay, "The Last Traffic Jam," about the blind spots that plague the motoring mentality. The anonymous author, writing for Time Magazine in 1947, delivers observations about road rage and the endemic violence of driving that still apply today.
June 6, 2008
“My Next Vehicle Will Be a Bicycle”
Like media outlets everywhere, CNNMoney.com is reporting with greater frequency on rising fuel prices, with headlines like "Six fixes for pricey gasoline" and "Bad news for Detroit: Miles per gallon." In a recent online poll, the financial website asked a question that is surely on the minds of many Americans: "The next vehicle I buy will be...?" In the non-random sample of 42,275 respondents, more people said they are leaning towards a bike than a truck or SUV.
June 5, 2008
Car Buyers Pick Their Poison: Free Gun or Free Gas
With Detroit increasingly desperate to unload inventory, one Missouri car dealership seems to have struck gold with a special promotion: Buyers get a $250 coupon towards either a gun or gasoline. The offer comes from Max Motors,
a small dealership south of Kansas City that has slapped
the image of a grimacing cowboy wielding two pistols all over its
website.
June 4, 2008
Responding to Criticism, Sen. Adams to Hold Transpo Meeting
We posted yesterday about proposed legislation by State Senators Eric Adams and Jeff Klein to increase summer driving by suspending tolls on bridges and tunnels, thereby leaving transit riders to pay for their largess. Soon after, Adams constituent Carrie McLaren picked up the news on her neighborhood blog, Hawthorne Street. Now Adams wants to hold a kitchen cabinet meeting about the bill:
May 29, 2008
Joe Lieberman: Did Someone Say “High Gas Prices”?
How obsessed is Washington with gas prices? Acting on a Streetsblog post from last week, a reader wrote Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman urging him to support legislation that would bolster funding for Amtrak. In response, Lieberman's office sent a long, long form letter outlining the many ways the senator is -- you guessed it -- working to keep gasoline as accessible as possible.
May 28, 2008
State Senators: Let’s Get More Cars on the Road
The bad ideas from Albany show no sign of letting up. Just when you thought the push for a state gas tax holiday had died down, State Senators Jeff Klein and Eric Adams -- of the Bronx and Brooklyn, respectively -- roll out their own version of summertime "relief" for drivers, and it's a doozy. They want to suspend tolls on bridges and tunnels in the New York City area on major holidays and, yes, give drivers a gas tax rebate of up to $200.
May 28, 2008
Chrysler: Let’s Ruin America!
Looks like Chrysler has figured out a novel way to move their 2008 model gas guzzlers off the lot. Sign up for their new "Let's Refuel America!" credit card and they'll lock in the price of gas at $2.99/gallon for three years.
May 20, 2008
Open Season on Parking Spots, and Parking Agents
The Daily News today has the sickening story of an off-duty NYPD officer beating an NYPD traffic agent for ticketing his girlfriend's illegally parked car in the Bronx. The capper: the agent was reportedly cuffed and taken to the precinct, while the cop he says assaulted him has not been charged with a felony, though the state just adopted a law stiffening penalties for attacks on traffic agents.
May 16, 2008