The car: not as necessary as you think

[nxylas]

Nice article from The Guardian (UK) here, though sadly, most of its conclusions don't apply to the US.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2147419,00.html

[ramapo]

1. The comments are interesting

It is a bit discouraging to realize that the car has become as ingrained in everyday living throughout most of the rest of the world as it is here. Then there are the emerging car states of China and India.

I thought England had somewhat better mass transit than we do in the U.S. but that does not sound to be true, especially outside the city.

I think anybody who lives in a city is crazy to own a car. The costs of parking alone are astounding. You can always rent...

[nxylas]

2. It's all relative

If you're comparing rural mass transit in the UK to Portland or New York, then it comes up wanting. But compared to rural areas in the US, it is certainly better. A place would have to be VERY isolated to be completely without mass transit, as many places are in the US. But on the whole, rural towns and villages in Britain are underserved by mass transit, it's true. You can largely blame the Beeching rail cuts of the 1960's, when Britain's rail network was literally cut in half (in terms of route miles and stations), with rural branch lines being the main victims. Before then, pretty much every village had its own railway station.