Most people in the debate over the future of private transportation fall into two camps: 1) those who want everyone to keep driving their own car, strictly fossil-fuel, and 2) those who want everyone to keep driving their own car, as long as it's electric. Either way, they'd keep complaining that they can't find parking, that it takes them an hour to go a few miles, about the traffic, the roadwork, the construction zones, the accidents, the reckless drivers, the people who shouldn't be behind the wheel, etc.
Neither option, by the way, offers a real solution to pollution and global warming. The prospect of roughly 10 billion cars on the road, whatever fuel they run on, can hardly be called consistent with an intelligent environmental policy (and not just an environmental one).
People don't seem to get it, and that's honestly unbelievable: the main problem isn't the type of engine, it's the number of cars on the road. They all leave at the same time, they all go to the same places, each one alone in their own car. I watch them from my terrace overlooking the ring road, and honestly, I find them kind of touching. There they all are in a line, yawning, killing time on their phones, cursing, alone in their tin boxes, without even someone to chat with. And then they're surprised there's traffic. Oh, but the "passion for cars"! Hey, to each their own. Mine are aimed at less mechanical things, if you can put it that way. What matters is learning not to complain about a problem you're helping to feed.
Of course, the main blame doesn't lie with the drivers. As usual, they're pawns in the hands of whoever is pushing propaganda for some sinister interest. If the only alternatives you give them are private cars (which cause the traffic) or public transit (which works for many people, but not everyone), you can't blame them for making the wrong choices.
I'm not in favor of control imposed always and everywhere through mandates and bans, either. It would be enough to let people take advantage of all the solutions technology puts at our disposal. Around the world, shared transportation systems already work, and work very well. Ever heard of Uber? Well, it's not the only one. I've also happened to use other operators like Grab, Bolt, and Gojek. It works much like delivery by "riders." You open the app, choose your destination, your pickup point, the type of vehicle, and the algorithm finds you vehicles in service nearby.
Someone comes to pick you up, drops you off when you arrive, then goes to pick up somebody else. You can really ride like a king: you can choose any kind of vehicle, from a scooter to a limo (there are even ones driven by women). You don't have to watch the traffic, you don't have to park, and you don't have to own a car, with all the costs and wasted time that come with it. You don't need a license, you have no civil or criminal liability for what happens on the road, you can use your phone, read a book, doze off, you can even be hammered! And the fares are perfectly fair, especially under free competition. Not to mention the jobs that get created, on top of the drastic reduction of cars on the streets. And of accidents!
The future, by the way, promises even more developments: autonomous driving, car-to-car coordination, traffic control systems and service centers, assorted optimizations. All of this, combined with recent innovations already within everyone's reach, can revolutionize traffic in cities and beyond. Politicians don't have to invent anything. They just need to make it easier for new technologies to come in.
So, no special bans. Some people will still need to use a car. Okay, no need to forbid it. But there's also a ton of people who, if they could, would (almost) never drive, and maybe wouldn't even buy a car or get a license. No prohibition needed, just real alternatives.
And less empty rhetoric.
Not to mention pointless squabbles.
Or factional interests.
Don't fossilize on the type of propulsion. The solution is to cut the number of cars on the road.
Drafted from Italian with Blog Translator, then revised by me.
