Delay/Diminish/Prevent the Rise of the Private Car

[The Professor]

As the title what can be done to prevent or lessen private car usage?
How would transport appear today?

 

[Cash]

Somehow limit the development of the middle class, so that only the affluent could afford them while everyone else had to rely on public transportation. Rather like the case in Britain and Ireland before WWII.

 

[Falecius]

Probably a better public transportation before could favor a "for what it's worth, anyway" and make private cars not felt as an almost necessary good.

 

[Elfwine]

Probably a better public transportation before could favor a "for what it's worth, anyway" and make private cars not felt as an almost necessary good.

There's also trips outside the city, where we see the private car destroying more small railroads than I can count.

Just to pick the first ones that come to mind:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tamalpais_and_Muir_Woods_Railway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_Valley_Railroad

 

[CaliBoy1990]

As the title what can be done to prevent or lessen private car usage?
How would transport appear today?

You can't prevent it. Best way to lessen it, though, is to have a few more Communist governments in place. Outside of perhaps Cuba, automobile ownership has always been rare in Communist societies.

 

[Elfwine]

You can't prevent it. Best way to lessen it, though, is to have a few more Communist governments in place. Outside of perhaps Cuba, automobile ownership has always been rare in Communist societies.

That's more of a correlation than a causal relationship.

 

[CaliBoy1990]

That's more of a correlation than a causal relationship.

Not really. After all, one of the key tenets of Marxist thought was to discourage private ownership as much as possible; it can be assumed this would extend to automobiles as well as just about anything else other than the essentials.

To be fair, this could happen in capitalist societies as well; look at Japan before WWII, for instance.

 

[Elfwine]

Not really. After all, one of the key tenets of Marxist thought was to discourage private ownership as much as possible; it can be assumed this would extend to automobiles as well as just about anything else other than the essentials.

To be fair, this could happen in capitalist societies as well; look at Japan before WWII, for instance.

Yes really. Look at the countries that went Communist and tell me that they would have an economic, social and urban specifically situation where there will be high numbers of public automobiles.

Heck, tell me that's the case about modern Russia with all of 233 cars per thousand Russians in 2009.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/russia/passenger-cars-per-1-000-people-wb-data.html

(Interesting comparison of the US to other countries: http://www.theatlantic.com/internat...e-more-cars-per-person-than-americans/261108/ while we're on the topic )

 

[CaliBoy1990]

Yes really. Look at the countries that went Communist and tell me that they would have an economic, social and urban specifically situation where there will be high numbers of public automobiles.

Heck, tell me that's the case about modern Russia with all of 233 cars per thousand Russians in 2009.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/russia/passenger-cars-per-1-000-people-wb-data.html

(Interesting comparison of the US to other countries: http://www.theatlantic.com/internat...e-more-cars-per-person-than-americans/261108/ while we're on the topic )

Russia hasn't been Communist for 20 years, though, and no Western European Country I can think is a genuine Marxist state, either.

Also, I didn't say anything about public autos, btw. Just diminished ownership or private autos, that's all.

 

[Elfwine]

Russia hasn't been Communist for 20 years, though, and no Western European Country I can think is a genuine Marxist state, either.

Also, I didn't say anything about public autos, btw. Just diminished ownership or private autos, that's all.

So sespite Russia having not been communist for twenty years, it still has a low rate of automobile ownership for reasons entirely unrelated to ideological opposition to private property.

And public there was a brain fart.

 

[B_Munro]

Well, if we have a situation where we have some sort of ideological/religious cold war, and the one side has most of the oil and is disinclined to sell it, the other is likely to avoid a system of private mass consumption of a militarily valuable material. (But that's terribly vague).

Bruce

 

[The Professor]

Not really. After all, one of the key tenets of Marxist thought was to discourage private ownership as much as possible; it can be assumed this would extend to automobiles as well as just about anything else other than the essentials.

To be fair, this could happen in capitalist societies as well; look at Japan before WWII, for instance.

While Marxist thought would add to discouraging private car ownership I'm trying to avoid political reasons and factor in more economical matters.

Well, if we have a situation where we have some sort of ideological/religious cold war, and the one side has most of the oil and is disinclined to sell it, the other is likely to avoid a system of private mass consumption of a militarily valuable material. (But that's terribly vague).

Bruce

Tis a bit vague yes .
And seems more likely post1900 after the private car has already spread.


Is there any way we can impede the need for private cars?
What was early public transport pre-cars?