Designers, planners, academics and writers are often accused of and fall victim to the phenomenon of analysis paralysis. In short, we continue to collect data on a quest to make the best decision we can regarding an issue; but then we become overwhelmed with data and fail to take action.
As designers, this comes in the form of site analysis. Simply stated, "...the site is analyzed for its fitness for the purpose of the plan..."(Site Planning, Lynch/Hack. 1984.).
In retrospect, our discussion of the auto industry bail-out and our national transportation planning problem has been a broad-stroke, preliminary site analysis. We have identified some core issues, behavioral patterns, social and cultural preferences, environmental impacts and are now prepared to offer a preliminary planning structure that will benefit our nation and our society.
So without heading into a analysis paralysis, let us begin our national recovery.
As we have mentioned, there is a dire need for a systematic paradigm shift with regards to our national transportation planning goals. This will require participation from a variety of stakeholders; resulting in the implementation of a plan which will ensure an equitable and sustainable national transportation strategy. So without further adieu, let us begin.
Proponents of NAFTA, G8 nations and a host of economists are already beginning to boil-over with reasons we should avoid this avenue. However, if we plan to resuscitate our domestic automotive manufacturing industry, we must give consumers a reason to purchase domestic products. These tariffs not only encourage consumption of domestic products but they will provide a revenue source for our nation that does not come from the pockets of our own citizens.
2. Streamline the domestic manufacturing process.
If we look back to the factors which lead to the creation of the Hyper-Capitalist system, we can argue that its founder was a simple man named Henry Ford. When that name is mentioned, many people conjure images of the now famous "assembly-line process". The Hyper-Capitalist system has distorted the original intention of this process which has lead to a disparity among the compensation workers receive for such work. Consider this fact; an auto worker in the United States averaged a salary equivalent to $70-per-hour while teachers in this nation averaged only $33-per-hour (for a 9-month position). Is manufacturing an automobile truly more challenging and important than educating our nation?
3. Establish more stringent standards for fuel efficiency and tax manufacturers whose products fail to meet or exceed those standards.
The average fuel economy for American autos (2007 model year) is 34-mpg, while the average for Japanese imports is 40.6-mpg. Furthermore, the Chevrolet Aveo tops the list at 37-mpg while the Toyota Prius achieves 51-mpg (both averages shown are for highway miles).
4. Impose regulations which match users with the type and size of vehicle they require as opposed to what their Hyper-Capitalist fueled consumption habits desire.
This will probably be considered the most unattractive element of the plan, but this is essential to the systematic paradigm shift that we must achieve. In simple terms, if you are not employed in the construction trade or don't own a farm, you do not need a truck capable of hauling tons of materials. If you are a homemaker, you do not require a Cadillac Escalade to perform daily short-trips errands. This restriction allows the automotive manufacturers to focus on more fuel efficient autos while also reducing the cost of manufacturing (less steel, etc...); allows designers to destroy less of the landscape to accommodate oversize passenger vehicles and reduces the consumer's expenditures on automobiles.
5. Impose a car-pool tax on single-driver commuters, impose a higher tax on gasoline, offer higher tax credits for the manufacturing of smaller and efficient automobiles and offer tax credits for car-poolers and transit riders.
All of these elements are simple revenue generators that will encourage and facilitate the systematic paradigm shift.
6. Utilize our existing Interstate System for the implementation of alternative forms of viable transit systems; specifically Bus Rapid Transit (BRTs).
Our friends at AASHTO (The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) have been requiring transportation planners and engineers to design highways with ample amounts of "extra space" (e.g. recovery areas, over sized shoulder widths, wide median widths, etc..). With a retrofit that utilizes these spaces, we can definitely re-design our Interstates to accommodate BRTs. This action will also result in development patterns which encourage and foster more compact, compatible and cohesive designs that can combat the adverse effects of sprawl.
7. Utilize alternative energy uses in the development of BRTs, specifically fuel-cells.
While fuel-cell technology was once a hopeful aspect of passenger automobile development, the amount of cells required to efficiently power passenger cars was found to be unachievable. However, buses are a perfect match for the utilization of fuel-cells and many are currently being developed and deployed in various areas of the nation.
8. Utilize our national rail network for commuter and light-rail systems.
Encouraging automotive manufacturers to explore other technologies (especially trains) is not a unrealistic proposition. (In fact, I must give credit to Car Talk for helping to foster this particular part of the planning strategy). Our friends at Car Talk raise a very valid point, Ford CEO Alan Mulally was once CEO of Boeing!!! So a establishing operations for the development of alternative forms of transportation should not be a stretch for Ford.
What we have outlined here are the basic elements of a national transportation strategy which will foster a systematic paradigm shift towards an equitable and sustainable society. Many of these elements impose taxes on various users, manufacturers and limit the need to create over sized swaths of paved areas throughout our nation.
In the Hyper-Capitalist system, the most effective of way of encouraging a systematic paradigm shift is by relating every aspect of every element to the almighty dollar.
People should think things out fresh and not just accept conventional terms and the conventional way of doing things. -R. Buckminster Fuller
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