Inb4 lemmy’s famous misreadings, I think we need a shitton more public transportation. But I know it’s not going to be a 100% replacement.

What we need is transportation, and cars are a very sucessful form of transportation. There are a lot of factors: 1) Location, you can go anywhere. 2) Timing, you can go any time. 3) Distance. This is a big one why cars specifically are very successful, they are good for any distance whether it’s a short trip, medium trip, long trip, or even multiple days long trip. 4) It’s fast. For all of those trips on 1-3. Excluding certain times into say downtown they are incredibly fast. 5) It’s door to door transportation. Add it all up and you have a very succesful mode of transportation.

Compare those for any other mode:

Public transportation 1) doesn’t go everywhere, you have last mile problem on both ends. So add in walking. 2) limited timing especially at night. Schedule has to fit. Involves waiting. 3) Distance means time goes up dramatically and with transfers. I regularly had to wait 25 minutes at transfer. 4) Slow. It just is. 5) Not door to door. Usually lots of walking. Inb4 lemmy’s famous misreading, yes I know there are exceptions. Yes more service means more passengers which means more service and more gaps are filled, etc.

Ebikes (pedal assist electric bikes). 1) Go everywhere. 2) Go anytime. 3) Good for short and medium trips. And occasional long trip 4) Can actually be fast, especially if the route avoids lights. But not as fast as a freeway for long distances. 5) Door to door transportation. This is why I’m a big fan of ebikes, they hit almost everything. They really are the game changer. But we need a lot more infrastructure. It might not be the best on long trips and in bad weather. Side note about normal bikses: The way I compare them, normal bikes are limited to physical exertion. Ebikes are limited to time, very similar to cars. Though at the long range cars are still more comfortable.

Walking. I’m just gonna wrap this one up as most people are not gonna walk that far every day. We should have walkable cities for short walks and health and neighborhoods, but walking to downtown ain’t an option for the vast vast amount of the city, either physically or time wise.

This is where I love autonomous taxis. If you can do your daily commute on public transportation and then use autonommous taxis to fill in the gaps (which there will be), that can dramatically lower car ownership levels. Normal taxis are expensive when you have to pay for the driver. Uber is basically slave labor.

You said own cars, as in personal use. But I will add there is a ton more. You have business, commercial, and industrial. Getting large amounts of commercial and industrial goods around to stores quickly and efficiently adds a ton to societal efficiency.

So what does that transportation add? Maybe this was the crux of your question and I spent too much time on the others. It’s basically a lubricant for society, business, and industry. Society depends in large part on transportation (yes I’m choosing that word intentionally). If you don’t have easy transportation everything is like molasses on every level.

Jobs: You wouldn’t be able to get workers because they wouldn’t be able to commute. I remember a documentary that London (way back when) basically maxed out on population because transporation via horses and walking had maxed out. Then trains were invented and the city was able to grow.

Industry: Getting goods around is critical to grow industry. Trains are great for moving a large amount of cargo from A to B, think coal, fertilizer, etc. Trucks are much better for getting a small amount of cargo from A to B, C, D, etc and vice versa.

Commercial goods: Stores keep getting bigger for good reason, it’s cheaper to ship and operate that way.

Each mode has its place. I agree we are too reliant on cars and haven’t accounted for the externalities.

Hope that helps.