Show Motorists That You Feel Their Pain
Wheel Life column - September 30, 2000
by Todd Litman and Suzanne Kort - Victoria Transport Policy Institute

All right all you sanctimonious cyclists, stop smirking when you ride past gas stations. Motorists are awfully sensitive to condescending cyclists these days, according to last Sunday's column by Jody Paterson.

Drivers have our sympathy. They endure high costs, no exercise, traffic congestion, parking problems, and boredom. But let's put this suffering into perspective.

Although some driving can be considered "necessary," much is not. People drive for errands, such as a trip to the video shop, that could be combined with another trip a day or two later. People drive out of habit, when they could bike, walk, carpool or take the bus. People drive to show off their prestigious car, or because they want to wear fashionable shoes that are unsuitable for cycling.

All this extra driving has impacts on the rest of us. It increases traffic congestion, requires expensive road and parking facilities funded by general taxes, imposes accident risk on other road users, and it causes environmental degradation. As long as cyclists bear a share of these costs we have a right to criticize unnecessary driving.

We never suggest that people must give up cars completely. We haven't. But automobile use could be reduced significantly with modest effort. We say that as parents of two young children who attend a school more than a kilometre from home and participate in various extra-curricular activities, yet we still use alternative modes for most trips.

Cycling for transportation does require an investment in equipment, but we could outfit our whole family for what an average household spends annually on automobiles, and still have money left for a trip to Hawaii. It also requires planning, but that soon becomes habit. It usually takes longer, but avoids the need to schedule special time for exercise.

The key is to choose alternative modes FIRST, and drive only when other options are unsuitable. As one newspaper editor says, "Think before you drive." Rather than demanding fuel tax reductions and more free parking, support cycling and pedestrian improvements. If you do these things, you needn't worry about criticism from cyclists.

In the book "Energy and Equity," Ivan Illich calculated the real speed of different forms of transport, taking into account time spent on travel and earning money to pay for them. A motorist who spends ninety minutes a day driving 35 kilometres, and devotes 20% of their income to a car is actually traveling only 10 kilometres an hour overall. Although we may be slow, we cycle faster than that!

For every letter to the paper from a smug cyclist accusing drivers of being lazy there are dozens of advertisements that glorify automobiles. Such ads are intended to make anybody who does not drive an expensive, new motor vehicle feel vulnerable, inferior and irresponsible as a parent. Are motorists' concerned about how such messages make cyclists feel? How about a column on that subject, Jody?

We suspect that motorists are hyper-sensitive to criticism because it challenges their core values, not just their travel habits. After a lifetime of indoctrination, many people uncritically accept consumerist ideals: You are what you own. Everything is a commodity. Money solves all problems. Newer, bigger and faster is better.

If your lifestyle is based on these values, it's troubling when somebody questions them. Millions of families go into debt to finance oversized vehicles that are far more expensive than necessary, with the hope of gaining self-confidence and prestige. But they still feel unfulfilled, and now they can't afford fuel to drive. No wonder they are touchy!

So please, cease ridiculing those miserable motorists. Simply show by example that travel alternatives are feasible and satisfying.

And let those poor drivers know that you share their pain. Next time motorists grouse about the price of gasoline, complain about the high cost of drinks and sweets that fuel your vehicle. Have you seen the price of cheesecake lately?