I fought the city of College Park vehemently to get a double wide driveway, which they refused, due to a 20 year old law that said no cars parked in front of homes. Drive ways are only allowed beside homes. The number of cars per person has nearly reached 1 to 1 in some areas of the United States.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-617-april-5-2010-changes-vehicles-capita-around-world
My neighborhood is packed so tightly with cars parked in the street that there remains only one lane down the middle. All streets in the Hollywood neighborhood of College Park are effectively one-way both ways.
In our case, we have a tiny little subcompact car I used to get to and from the office daily and a compact SUV we use for shopping or getting our daughter to Patapsco Park or Wheaton Regional Parks, two of our favorite haunts.
Thanks to COVID, I’m wondering if the constant growth of cars per capita might actually reverse itself. In addition to buying more and more cars, we are building more and and more lanes and there’s an extensive metro expansion planned to help move all these bodies into office buildings around the national capital region, but why?
Nearly 40% of the people who are going to work everyday can work from home. That number is almost certainly higher in the DC area. So why not save on the emissions? Why not stop expanding the highways? Why not stop buying so many cars? And running out of places to park them?
If I could be absolutely certain that I would never have to go to my office again, I would likely sell my car. We wouldn’t need to fight with the city about a double wide driveway. We could save on car insurance. And gas. A lot of gas.
Would 37% of American households sell one car? maybe not because many of those households probably have 2 people who can telework, so maybe only 20% of American households would sell their cars.
What would the morning commute look like for those who still have to drive if 20% of the cars disappeared? What would our air quality look like? I’ve been watching my daily report of Good, Good and Good this year. Clean, clear air is NICE!
And what would College Park look like if 20% of the cars didn’t have to be parked in the streets because they no longer existed?
At the beginning of this year, we were talking about which SUV we would buy when replaced the subcompact car. Just 8 months later, I’m thinking of getting rid of it for good. COVID dreaming
https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/ability-to-work-from-home.htm
35-Year Public Affairs & IT Professional 