From the article: “There’s something about the freedom of mobility and there’s something very American about it, and so, I also think that there’s a lot of people around the world that think about American cars, and they think about American road trips, and we want to invite the rest of the world. They’re going to come for FIFA’s club games, or they’re going to come for the World Cup, or they’re going to come for the Olympics, come and see sporting events, but then you can also take a week or 10 days with my family to travel around this great country. Stop at our great restaurants. Stay in our wonderful motels or hotels. Gas up your car with great American energy.”
THIS is actual car-brain thinking. I see a lot of memes in fuck cars attacking individuals and the choices they are forced to make, but this article illustrates issues that we have to fight. It’s got all the delusion you expect from a government source written by car companies: tying car ownership to freedom, oddly thinking that non-americans think about our car culture as a positive experience, and that wonderfully tone-deaf tagline.
Your city likely has some form of a transportation committee. Join it. Go to the meetings. The switch to Zoom has made it even easier to do so. My experience with our local zoning committee has reinforced that you have to fight like hell, even with your own neighbors, to do simple things like decrease parking requirements. Car-brain is real and it’s propped up by decades of propaganda and policy.
They’re going to come for FIFA’s club games, or they’re going to come for the World Cup, or they’re going to come for the Olympics, come and see sporting events
Nobody’s coming anymore, nobody wants to risk being thrown in a concentration camp because they aren’t white and rich and supporting Trump enough.
Getting ANYONE who isn’t already actively trying to reduce their own vehicle usage or doesn’t use primarily mass transit to pay attention to how much space has been given up for cars is like pulling teeth from a stone.
Even people who have never had a car seem to think cars are the only thing to use.
Getting anyone to even acknowledge the complete lack of travel infrastructure around my area is hard. There are few sidewalks outside the downtown area and a few surrounding residential areas. There are no sidewalks connecting downtown being 4 intersections.
There are two bike lanes that total about 1.5mi, marked on the shoulder of a street as an afterthought, and no penalties for parking in it.
Some of the roads around here don’t even have enough shoulder to allow two semi trucks to pass, let alone two cars and a bike.
I’m contemplating making a sign for my bike trailer that says “IF YOU ARE ANNOYED I’M HERE, TELL YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL TO BUILD A BIKE PATH”
I have started saying “bike path” instead of “bike lane” when talking to most people since they get offended at the mere thought of “losing a lane” to cyclists.
I’ve also thought about making a sign that says “rider is armed and carries a brick” since people literally throw things at me and some have even gotten out of their cars to scream at me.
Do they honestly believe tourists are going to come here for a sporting event and then go on a fucking road trip? These people are so beyond out of touch.
Yeah, but the real lynchpin is Acela. Two other venues for the game are Boston and Philadelphia. It is feasible to make NYC/NJ the base for the games while seeing games in three different cities.
From the article: “There’s something about the freedom of mobility and there’s something very American about it, and so, I also think that there’s a lot of people around the world that think about American cars, and they think about American road trips, and we want to invite the rest of the world. They’re going to come for FIFA’s club games, or they’re going to come for the World Cup, or they’re going to come for the Olympics, come and see sporting events, but then you can also take a week or 10 days with my family to travel around this great country. Stop at our great restaurants. Stay in our wonderful motels or hotels. Gas up your car with great American energy.”
THIS is actual car-brain thinking. I see a lot of memes in fuck cars attacking individuals and the choices they are forced to make, but this article illustrates issues that we have to fight. It’s got all the delusion you expect from a government source written by car companies: tying car ownership to freedom, oddly thinking that non-americans think about our car culture as a positive experience, and that wonderfully tone-deaf tagline.
Your city likely has some form of a transportation committee. Join it. Go to the meetings. The switch to Zoom has made it even easier to do so. My experience with our local zoning committee has reinforced that you have to fight like hell, even with your own neighbors, to do simple things like decrease parking requirements. Car-brain is real and it’s propped up by decades of propaganda and policy.
Nobody’s coming anymore, nobody wants to risk being thrown in a concentration camp because they aren’t white and rich and supporting Trump enough.
Getting ANYONE who isn’t already actively trying to reduce their own vehicle usage or doesn’t use primarily mass transit to pay attention to how much space has been given up for cars is like pulling teeth from a stone.
Even people who have never had a car seem to think cars are the only thing to use.
Getting anyone to even acknowledge the complete lack of travel infrastructure around my area is hard. There are few sidewalks outside the downtown area and a few surrounding residential areas. There are no sidewalks connecting downtown being 4 intersections.
There are two bike lanes that total about 1.5mi, marked on the shoulder of a street as an afterthought, and no penalties for parking in it.
Some of the roads around here don’t even have enough shoulder to allow two semi trucks to pass, let alone two cars and a bike.
I’m contemplating making a sign for my bike trailer that says “IF YOU ARE ANNOYED I’M HERE, TELL YOUR LOCAL COUNCIL TO BUILD A BIKE PATH”
I have started saying “bike path” instead of “bike lane” when talking to most people since they get offended at the mere thought of “losing a lane” to cyclists.
I’ve also thought about making a sign that says “rider is armed and carries a brick” since people literally throw things at me and some have even gotten out of their cars to scream at me.
Do they honestly believe tourists are going to come here for a sporting event and then go on a fucking road trip? These people are so beyond out of touch.
NJ got the finals for the World Cup in '26 in part because people could take a train to other venues.
That makes sense. New Jersey has a perfectly adequate rail network. It’s not amazing but it’s better than most places
Yeah, but the real lynchpin is Acela. Two other venues for the game are Boston and Philadelphia. It is feasible to make NYC/NJ the base for the games while seeing games in three different cities.
I’ve been thinking about doing similar for a long time, but I’m worried it would trigger more road rage.