Professor John McCarthy
Father of AI

Articles

The Near Future - Advocacy and Predictions

Commentary on individual transportation and the environment.

Preserving Individual Transportation

Since the 1920s, i.e. for about 80 years, most American transportation has been based on the individually owned car. Although relying on cars has always been criticized, and most severely since the environmental movement became influential in the 1960s, cars have prevailed in America. Moreover, other countries, even after many of their politicians swore they wouldn't, have followed the American path. Thus crowded Japan has 550 cars per thousand people compared to America's 770. That's rather close. If environmental ideology can't persuade the Japanese that they don't need cars and to stick to their excellent public transportation, what chance does this ideology have with Americans who have been relying on cars since Henry Ford brought out the Model T in 1909?

The world can and should preserve and develop individual transportation. Why? Because people prefer it. In the US there are special lanes for car pools, just two people in a car. Yet one sees the lanes where one occupant cars are allowed completely crowded, while the car pool lane is almost empty. Moreover, most of the cars in the lane are parent and child or male and female couple, i.e. not the car pools the law was intended to encourage.

Why do people so strongly prefer individual transportation?

  • You start when you are ready.
  • You enjoy the privacy.
  • Your car serves as a closet.

How are we going to maintain individual transportation? There are obstacles. Some of the obstacles are natural, and some are consequences of environmentalist ideology.

What about going to smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles?

Public Expenditures

Even with lowered tax rates, the US and other developed countries will have enormous amounts of money in the next hundred years. What should the public do with all that money?

Here are some ideas.

Solve the parking problem with underground construction.

Perhaps an office building requires and number of square meters of parking space equal to the number of square meters of office. Apartment buildings require less. Restaurants and theaters require more. Besides parking associated with particular buildings, there needs to be general parking space. This can be under the streets.

Separate pedestrians from vehicles by putting vehicles on a lower level. The goal is that careless children should be able to go anywhere on the pedestrian level without danger from vehicles.