You realize that this post is immediately above one that's critical of replacing outdated houses, right?

Jon Spallino is leasing his third Honda hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and says he hasn't had to make any changes to his life or driving habits because he doesn't have a standard gasoline car.

[...]

As part of Honda's decade-long beta test of hydrogen technology, Spallino may be the dream brand advocate, routinely putting 1,000 miles a month on his FCX Clarity and helping Honda better understand what changes need to be made for fuel cell technology to reach the mainstream.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20140223…

What's a car?

If the car industry wants to survive they'll have to get behind self-driving cars. People would get the comfort and convenience of a car with the hands off "let someone else worry about the details" attitude of public transportation. You don't have to drive yourself but you also have access to this vehicle 24 hrs a day at a moments notice without having to cram into it with strangers is a pretty compelling pitch.

The solution is obvious, and it's been embraced in other industries: make cars more disposable. If the car manuf. can get people to think they need a new car every 5 years, or 3 years, then they will sell more cars. Makes me wonder what the average ownership time of a car is in the US?

God, Seattlers are such f'n idiots. The hydrogen fuel cell car and the self-driving car are hoaxes. Corporate car manufacturers, dealers, financiers, insurers, parking garage czars, et al, want fat ass motorists to keep driving everywhere for all purposes daily, paying the premiums and costs of driving, ignoring the impacts, ignoring their insanity of driving like chickens with their heads cut off.

There are four modes of urban/suburban travel: cars/trucks, walking, public transit, bicycling. For the cars/trucks mode to function adequately, the other travel modes must also function in ways idiot Seattlers cannot imagine, nor will their corrupt, fat ass lords of big business ever let them realize as long as the mainstream media can be bought. Rainier Club Boys supported Hitler and their descendants are likewise malevolently misanthropic.
Seattle is dying. Corporate big wigs will move elsewhere, the same way Boeing big wigs moved out.

Non-public transit motorized vehicles will always be a part of the cityscape, to the extent required by commerce and construction. But elective, personal ownership of automobiles is on a relatively steep decline in this city. New housing developments are built with the bare minimum of parking spaces, less than one space per unit. Short-term rental services (Zipcar, Car2Go) proliferate around the city, as do ridesharing and for-hire enterprises like Lyft and Uber (in addition to the existing taxi services). Unless you need a personal vehicle for work purposes, it's becoming more hassle than it's worth to own your own car in Seattle.

Oh, goody, the dumbest person in Kent and the craziest person in Portland have already added their invaluable input to this discussion.

There is no such thing as gradual cultural change.

I disagree. I think many cultural changes are basically a function of the number of new people being born and the number of old people dying. As the percentage of new people gradually increases, so does the popularity of their new ideas.

You are going to want to rely on taxing something other than cars to fund mass transit if you actually intend to get rid of them.

@10 FTW.

I'm glad to see Charles' continued insistence that the only people who exist are those who live within a huge city and refuses to offer any sort of plan for everyone else except for "it's gonna happen, I swear!"

I'm dead serious when I say I want to hear what that sort of transition is supposed to look like. Instead, all I hear is

1. Cars are bad
2. ?????
3. Profit!

Charles, what in the heck is your step two? Posting to the Slog?

The popularity of cars vs. other transportation modes in Seattle is utterly irrelevant. Whether you're seeing more bikes or pedestrians in your cozy neighborhood means nothing globally. The growth of car purchasing is being driven by the developing world. China is already the largest car consumer, and one of the largest car producers, in the world, and that trend is extremely likely to continue. Next up: Brazil and Indonesia. India to follow. As more and more people cross the magical $5,000-per-year income threshold, car ownership is not only going to continue to increase, it's going to increase faster than ever before.

@Fnarf,
You have point. I've said the car may be obsolete in 150 years but now I might be mistaken about that time period vis-a-vis the developing world. I do believe "car culture" will diminish in the developed world within that time.

You're correct. China especially is fast becoming a "car culture". Because of their growing per capita wealth, bikes are now being replaced by cars. Evidently, Beijing has a terrible pollution problem. More cars aren't gonna help. In fact, as great friend of mine pointed out after my return from China 10 years ago "Imagine just a million more cars just in one country." Not good.

My favorite Seattle car owner comment: "I can't drive my car today; I don't want to lose my parking space."

I, personally, can't wait till the gridlock is so bad that that drivers will beg us bikers and pedestrians to deliver pizza to them as they sit for hours spewing out toxic fumes. Good luck with that.

$8,946 a year to own a piece of machinery that is only used a few hours a day at best?? (... and that cost does not include the economic cost of health-environmental damages left to future generations) ... The big surprise is that it has taken this long for people to reason this one out.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/04/avera…

Seattle is full of cars. jaywalking will get you maced

this isn't much of a point to make, Charles. the most populous country in the world is on a huge come up. birth rates are leveling off, generally. we should expect lots of demand peaks. this study says we're as many as 10 years out from peak car and think how many cars are already sold! there's 4-5 per person in N. America and West Yurp, no? they say we'll peak at 100 mil sold per year! there's a long way down on the other side of that peak to zero, and a long way up to go, yet. horizontal drilling will make for more plastic cars and more natural gas powered engines. the ability to afford a car will arrest somewhat the swelling of the shanties in the unwealthy world. electric cars will allow for coal and nuclear powered autos

the whole scientific Marxist creating the conditions for its replacement doesn't seem to be working out gracefully