José Rezende Mahar used to say that automobiles are loved because they gave people the ability to see what was beyond the hills. This metaphor of widening human perspectives that my late friend liked to repeat lacked just one thing to be perfect: that people could go beyond the mountains and get back on the same day. What made cars an incredible invention was that they could save time. Any attempt to change them will have to take this into consideration.
This does not mean only battery electric vehicles and their lengthy charging process, but all suggestions about giving up on cars or using them only when they are really necessary. For public transportation to play an active role in this, it has to save people's time. In other words, you have to spare these folks from waiting and feeling bad. After all, time is relative.
Read Article