Car Dependence
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Opinion: Could You Go a Week Without Driving? (Yes — And Here’s Why You Should)
If you can drive and can afford a car, you probably don’t understand what it’s like to rely, day in and out, on walking, rolling, transit, or asking or paying for rides. But this is every day for non-drivers.
May 24, 2023
Podcast: Is the Electric Car a ‘Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing’?
On today's episode of The Brake, we sit down with the co-author of a new paper, "Exposing the Structural Violence of Private Electric Automobility," to talk about why the EV debate is so polarizing.
May 8, 2023
How the U.S. legal system supports car-dependence, and how we can change that
Gregory Shill of the University of Iowa discussed his paper "Should Law Subsidize Driving?" at UIC.
October 21, 2019
Why 36 Car Spots is a Reasonable Number for an Apartment Building by The 606
There are myriad reasons why 36 car parking spaces in a building with 124 households is a good number to shelter in Logan Square near the Blue Line.
March 28, 2018
America’s Car Ownership Rate Higher Now Than Before the Recession
After growing for a few years, the share of car-free households in America has dropped below 2006 levels.
October 10, 2017
Car Dependence Is a Poverty Trap That States Exploit to Raise Money
State and local governments in much of the country use the threat of drivers license suspension to impose fines and sanctions that can entrap people in a vicious cycle of indebtedness.
September 29, 2017
More Driving, More People Dying on America’s Streets
On Friday, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration released new data [PDF] showing that traffic deaths are up. Up quite a bit.
February 9, 2016
Animation Explains How Bad Planning Makes Car Ownership Compulsory
This is a pretty great animation explaining how American cities were undermined by a slavish dedication to storing and moving cars. It's by comedian Adam Conover from TruTV's "Adam Ruins Everything," who also made this great video explaining the screwed up origin of the word "jaywalking."
November 12, 2015
How America’s Staggering Traffic Death Rate Became Matter-of-Fact
How did more than 30,000 annual motor vehicle deaths become something that most Americans accept as normal? A new paper by Boston University professor Itai Vardi tries to answer that question.
September 14, 2015
How to Make Big Box Stores Less Terrible for Walking: 8 Expert Tips
It's no coincidence that the most dangerous streets in many communities are the ones in front of big box stores.
September 8, 2015