Having just bummed around Europe, I was musing on the differences between Europe and the United States much like Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction.  Yeah, there are all those little differences he talked about, but there is also one noticeable large difference as well- just about every major city in Europe has an extensive rail based transportation network in addition to a fantastic intercity train network.  In short, residents of most European cities can live without a car without that being a serious imposition on their quality of life.  Few cities in the United States can make that claim.  We’ve built an infrastructure that requires citizens to own a car, and I think it a burden.

To start with, a car is a large and heavy object.  Just walking around downtown Denver it amazes me how much valuable real estate is taken up simply to store automobiles.  I personally think this space could be put to better use.  Anyway, that space is still not enough.  If you want to park your car downtown on a weekend you can either pay a lot or drive around for a half an hour looking for a meter.  The fact is, in urban environments, a car is more a liability than asset.  You are a freer and happier without having to deal with it.

Then there is the environment of course.  Even if you aren’t a liberal hippy- hell, you don’t even have to believe in global warming- to see that cars affect air quality.  In many cities,especially in the summer,you can see the smog, taste the smog, and can feel a good burn in your chest if you breathe deeply.  This is not good.  Better air to breathe increases quality of life.

Safety is also a major concern for Americans. The DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 37, 313 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2008. This is the lowest number of deaths on U.S. roads since 1961, when 36,285 lives were lost.  The nation also saw the lowest fatality rate ever recorded in 2008 at 1.28 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down from 1.36 in 2007.  So last year was the best year since 1961 with regards to automobile fatalities, and still that is over 37 thousand people killed.  The same source also reports that these deaths account for 94% of all transportation deaths.  Planes, trains, and bicycles all fall in to that 6%.  Another way to look at it is that if you average automobile related deaths over the last 10 years, the death toll is roughly equivalent to 10 September 11^th attacks per year.

Yet another issue is traffic and congestion.  Ask yourself this:  Has heavy traffic ever put you in a better mood?  If you live in a place as ridiculous as Los Angeles, ask yourself: How many hours of my life have I spent sitting in traffic?  The average is 3.5 days a year.  If you did that for 20 years, you will have given almost 70 days of your life- over 2 months!- to sitting on the freeway in traffic.  Traffic congestion certainly has a negative impact on the quality of life.

How about the energy independence we are so eager to achieve?  The less gas we use, the less reliant we are on OPEC.  And what about auto insurance?  That is a mess.  Liability is mandatory, many people still drive without it, and it generally costs a lot for those who do pay it.  What could you do with the money you spend on gas and insurance?  Probably spend it in a more enjoyable way.

The reasons we don’t have a rail system like Europe’s are many.  Our country’s relative youth and size are among them.   GM is also among them.  This was a company that held a lot of power for a long time, and had a vested interest in keeping our national transportation system automobile dependent.  If GM did indeed start to produce bullet trains it would be ironically redeeming.

Of course I am not one to suggest that a company do anything without a return on investment.  That means that change has to start with the public, the consumers.  Rail lines will make money if the demand for them exists.   That demand should exist.  I’ve lived the life of a daily commuter in the past.  Now I live and work downtown, and take the car out once or twice a week and can honestly say that the less I have to drive the happier I am. 

Similarly I would much prefer to navigate the streets of New York City, Paris, or Berlin on their metro systems than driving in a car.  Many in the United States I think look down on public transportation as something for the less fortunate, instead of the luxury it is.  Consider a night out on the town without having to drive- everybody can go out and drink and no designated driver required.

Our economy is in the tank.  Most economists I’ve read advocate a return to a more production based economy.  Like, we need to build stuff.  Our government is hemorrhaging cash trying to simulate us to start building stuff.  The question of course, is what exactly should we be building and producing?  I advocate that an extensive national bullet train system coupled with more rail based intra-city transportation is an extremely worthy investment that will directly increase our quality of life while also making a positive contribution to environmental improvement.