This message was self-deleted by its author

[meadowlander]

18. Virtually nobody is "forced" to buy an automobile.

You, for the most part, choose your major life circumstances. You chose your job, your house and how you get between them and you can usually chose something different. I didn't own a car until I was in my early 40s because I chose to pay extra rent to live in cities close to my job and public transport. Not everyone is able to afford that.

And I do think some people, because of their life situation, are always practically going to need a car. In most areas, you can't ferry multiple kids/toddlers/infants between school, extra-curriculars, appointments, jobs, etc. on public transport or bicycles. Some people have health issues that mean that can't use active transport or are in areas with terrible access to public transport options. As someone who spent most of my adult life going grocery shopping every week by bus and having to plan an extra hour to get anywhere because I usually had to transfer which meant sitting in the rain for up to 20 minutes for a bus that might or might not show up, I can tell you that those options suck and represent an unacceptable (if not impossible) step down in life quality for most people.

If we can create a personal car-like option while minimising the adverse environmental effects that seems like the way forward in many situations. Not everybody lives in a city, or even a city where it's feasible to provide city-wide coverage of rapid transit options.