Well, crap. Turns out they're not gonna ban cars in Beijing for the Olympics after all. No, I'm not worried about the athletes. I'm sure they'll all truck in bottles of oxygen to snort before and after their events. I was excited about the social experiment and logistics necessary to move so many people in an urban environment. Especially ones who were unfamiliar with the region. When I first heard of the plans to limit automobile traffic I thought it was one of the most ambitious and socially aware efforts I'd heard of. Imagine, using a world stage to point out that cars are not actually very efficient for moving masses of people and hammering home that they degrade the air quality immediately.
I was really rooting for them. But now I hope it blows up in their face and becomes one of the worst gridlock fiascos ever to grace the planet. Then maybe people will wonder what would have happened if everyone was riding trams, buses, or bicycles. Weak sauce China. Weak sauce.
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