War on Cars? Or War on the Carless?

Seattle's Publicola, in anticipation of an upcoming panel discussion on the War on Cars, invited two of their panelists to guest editorials. David Roberts, from Grist, wrote The War on the Carless. Michael Ennis, of the Washington Policy Center, wrote Seattle’s War on Cars Is a War on Drivers.

Robert's piece is excellent. Unlike Ennis, he understands that things are the way they are because of previous decision-making. Ennis' piece lacks that kind of perspective.

Here's an excerpt from Roberts:
"If there was ever a “war” involving cars, it ended long ago, and cars won. Their dominance has been so total for so long that we’ve come to think of public spaces designed to accommodate two-ton vehicles as the default state of affairs. The public, including the poor and working-class who are most likely to rely on public transit, massively subsidizes roads and parking. Even the most marginal efforts to charge drivers for the services they enjoy (with, say, parking fees) is greeted as an act of hostility."