You may love that conversation, but how many Americans are willing to give up their vehicles?
In America, the privately owned vehicle isn't just transportation, it's a status symbol. That's not going to change just because someone crunched some numbers.
“We” is not nearly as many as you may believe. I would say most people don’t want to give up their car. That’s why people spend so much time maintaining their cars, polishing them, buying nicer ones, etc. Some people want to give up their cars, but you need everyone to want this, and they don’t. A technical solution is more likely to work than a mass social upheaval.
Cars are different than a lot of goods though, because in and of themselves they are a wealth signal (at least in the US).
Most Americans don't really need an SUV or a pickup; a minivan or a sedan are more practical. Yet most Americans are buying them, because it makes them feel better about what they're driving and they want to show off. You may only take your car to the grocery store, but if you meet Becky from PTA in the parking lot and she has a really nice car that she owns, that's still a big deal.
Unless the ownership cost of a car were to spike significantly, this part of American culture seems hard to change, particularly when automakers spend lots of money making sure that Americans see premium gas-guzzlers as status symbols.
Cause freedom. You're talking about the U.S. Why does the US need gun ownership? Cause.
> wouldn't fleets that are constantly bringing in revenue be more efficient than everyone owning a car and driving maybe 2 hours a day?
I hear this again and again and I wonder how detached from reality people are. There are many reasons this won't happen. People have different standards of cleanliness. People have different standards of how much scratches they tolerate on a car. People view cars as status symbols. The list goes on.
People buy condos even though a rental would financially make more sense. But they want to own something they can call theirs and do with it whatever they want or keep it pristine to their liking.
I think they miss the boat in some ways... Ownership is nothing but having the right to deprive others of using something combined with responsibility for it's upkeep. It can be convenient, but in many cases, for me, it's irrelevant, or suboptimal. I don't care about having the ability to prevent other people from using a particular vehicle. It's not worth the maintenance time for me - forgetting about the cost altogether. What I really care about is having access to a vehicle when I need one once-or-twice a week - ideally one best suited to the task at hand. Communication technology has improved such that I can get what I want/need without the actual benefits and drawbacks of "ownership".
Maybe that choice of word is ham-fisted, but there’s no doubt that personal automobiles enjoy a cultural and economic supremacy that should be challenged.
I'm not talking about cars as status symbols, but as factors of identity. Teenagers want cars because it is a rite of passage. Half my coworkers want trucks because they are 'outdoors' people. And some do use it as a monetary status symbol. Some people are just car people who have strong opinions about the car they drive because it is part of their self-expression. This is a pretty big thing in American culture.
I think you're right, but cultural values like these can take way longer than just a few years to change. Cars, car ownership, car tinkering, etc are such a part of American culture at this point that it'll take a long time for any ownership numbers to reflect the realities of shared models. I think.
The only way I'm giving up mine is after I either drive it into the ground or crash it. I would love a more environmentally friendly vehicle but not at the expense of my ability to actually own things.
I think psychology, cars in the US are connected with independence and liberty in the US rather than just utility. If your car fails to let you be independent (because it can’t do something you only need three times in your life) then maybe that is actually a big failure of its “promise” to give you independence and personal liberty and that therefore decreases your perception of the value of the car by a lot.
I realise this whole argument for pricing the car is ridiculous from a rational standpoint but I think it matters more how it feels to ordinary Americans.
Dude. This is just never going to happen, maybe ever. Car ownership is baked into a core part of our identity, culture, and social norms. It's like saying we'll start renting toothbrushes instead of owning one.
Yes, but those many will be much less than they are now. I believe we'll own a car only if and when we can't avoid it (having babies to carry around could be a reason for many of us) or if we want to brag about our money.
I don't own a car since 2012 because I was not using it enough. I'm using car sharing now and a little more trains. It's much less expensive, maybe a little more time consuming, but that time is gained because I have less things to care about. Cars became a commodity for me, and I see no reasons why they shouldn't be. All I ask from them is be safe.
In America, the privately owned vehicle isn't just transportation, it's a status symbol. That's not going to change just because someone crunched some numbers.
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