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What goes unsaid is that the mayor of Paris has chosen to throw "crumbs" (i.e., a few lanes here and there devoted to cyclists and buses) to "the masses" so as to free up the roads for the priviledged few.

Frankly, I much prefer our much more egalitarian roadway system here which does not discriminate against the average person. French gasoline prices are 3 times what they are here. Crude oil goes for the same price in the world market for the French as it does for the Americans. I.e., the "cost" of the gasoline is essentially the same ... it's the taxes which make the price of gasoline so much more expensive in Europe than in the U.S. It's one of many ways that a scarce resource (roadways) get allocated to those who can afford it. (Other methods include high property taxes on automobiles and extra taxes for larger cars.) It wouldn't do much for encouraging the mobility which a growing country, such as the US, requires. It's based on a model that assumes "we have a set and limited resource and need to allocate it to the highest bidders" ... unlike our model where we instead work to make mobility (and the opportunities and feedoms it affords) available to all. As Dave Murphy aptly wrote earlier today, without the mobility of the car we wouldn't have had the mixing of races, ethnicities, etc. that have allowed our melting pot to melt. Where he errs is in thinking the job is done. He's exhibiting the same mindset the French do when they worry about allocating "what is" vs. working at making more available to everyone.

It would be a terrible model to follow for our great nation.

by Lance on Dec 30, 2008 11:05 pm • link • report