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It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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You don't need a car for your long trip. You need a working high speed rail network.
The idea of "embracing smaller cars" is 30 years out of date. You needed to build the infrastructure to provide transportation so that it gets unnecessary for you to own a car.
Until that exist: You probably need a bigger car.
I usually vacation in rural areas and it wouldn't make sense to build train routes there, but even if I were going somewhere by train, I would still want to have a car once I arrived. (A place like NYC might be an exception because there's nowhere to park unless you're staying on the periphery.) I suppose I could rent a car at my destination, but I think having to do that would be more expensive and less convenient than just owning a long-range car.
I've heard Europeans talking about how great their rail network is, but I'm not convinced. I've never used it myself so maybe it's better than I think it is, but here in the USA I prefer to drive even if there's a train straight from where I am to where I'm going.
(I know there are environmentalist arguments in favor of trains, but I'm not addressing those here - I'm only talking about what I want, not what I might be obligated to do.)
As one of those Europeans I can assure you that having a working train network is great. But again: That's not the situation you're in, so I completely understand your decision.
The change we need to see in regards to the environmentalist arguement you're mentioning, will only be successful if the option to take a train and rent a car close to your final destination is more convenient or faster or cheaper or all of those for you.
It's the way we build the world that decides what is the best way to travel. We should build better worlds, not better cars.