I think you have to look at this as a great competition. Polls consistently show that people say they would like to cut back on driving, but when asked to redirect resources from driving to support other modes, there is fierce resistance. The fact is we cannot make people change how they decide what mode to use. But we can work to change the built and social environment to put alternatives into the realm of possibility for a larger number of people.
I agree that Dave-bashing (or anyone else) is not the solution. I have always thought that if we can make sure alternatives always get a level playing field when solutions to city problems are being considered, we can develop enough momentum to make positive change. What I am afraid of right now is that we are losing momentum. We are stuck at 2 ride the drives, funding looks like it will be flat, and I see no progress on Soglin's plan to re-re-re-re-re-visit the role of bicycling in the city, while at the same time Mayor Dave's platinum report is all but forgotten. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hans Noeldner Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 1:16 PM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: [Bikies] Whipping boy Dave It is a lot easier to gripe about ex-Mayor Pave (i.e. Dave Cieslewicz) than to get out there and disrupt several hundred thousand Dane County residents who believe they have a God-given right to take their own armored personnel carrier with themselves everywhere they go. And far easier to blame an ex-Mayor for higher fares than to convince several hundred thousand Dane County motorists that subsidies for transit should trump subsidies for drivers. When I walk and ride my bike in the Village of Oregon and the surrounding environs I don't see ex-Mayor Pave holding a gun to the head of any of the motorists whose behaviors, in the aggregate, make our communities unsafe, impractical, and unpleasant for people to walk, roll wheelchairs, push baby strollers, ride bicycles, and share transit. I don't see ex-Mayor Pave forcing several hundred parents in the Village of Oregon to drive their precious children to elementary school. I don't see ANY elected officials forcing us to do all this driving. For that matter I don't see car companies or oil companies or highway builders forcing people to drive everywhere. I see a LOT of ordinary people who WANT to do it - and right now most don't give a s**t about the externalities of their driving. It is going to take a lot more than Dave-bashing to change this. Many, many more of us need to confront the status quo - not only in council chambers, but at gas stations, grocery stores, in our neighborhoods, on our streets, at our school drop-off zones, etc. Hans Noeldner standing all by himself protesting gas consumption at the Oregon Kwik Trip ain't cutting it. Courage! Vision! Hans Noeldner
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