Slashdot Mirror
Has the Industrialized World Reached Peak Travel?
Harperdog sends this excerpt from Miller-McCune:
"A study (abstract) of eight industrialized countries, including the United States, shows that seemingly inexorable trends — ever more people, more cars and more driving — came to a halt in the early years of the 21st century, well before the recent escalation in fuel prices. It could be a sign, researchers said, that the demand for travel and the demand for car ownership in those countries has reached a saturation point. 'With talk of "peak oil," why not the possibility of "peak travel" when a clear plateau has been reached?' asked co-author Lee Schipper ... Most of the eight countries in the study have experienced declines in miles traveled by car per capita in recent years. The US appears to have peaked at an annual 8,100 miles by car per capita, and Japan is holding steady at 2,500 miles."
Yeah the folks in India have this "compressed city living" down pat. AKA slums.
But we Americans and Europeans don't want to live that way.
- City planners never account for quality of life. While your vision may be cheaper, I'd still sooner commute from a exurb of DC (home) to another exurb of DC (work), then have to actually live inside DC and walk/bike. I would feel like I had been sent to hell. (I don't like tight spaces or concrete.)
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
...but the taxes! We have to lower the taxes... We need the wealthy to have plenty of cash on-hand to make this a better world for us all.