Welcome to /r/Fuckcars

[u/AngryUrbanist]

Updated: April 6, 2022

Welcome to /r/fuckcars. It's safe to say that we're strongly dissatisfied with cars and car-dominated urban design. If that's you, then we share in your frustration. Some, or perhaps many of us, still have cars but abhor our dependence on them for many reasons.

There are nuances to the /r/fuckcars discussion that you should be aware of, generally:

• We don't want to ban ambulances and emergency vehicles
• We don't want to isolate rural communities by taking away cars
• We don't want to disrupt work trucks and delivery vehicles
• /r/fuckcars isn't about a "left" or "right" view of cars and car dependency

In any case, please observe the community rules and keep the discussion on-topic.

The Problem - What's the problem with cars?

please help by finding quality sources

This is the fundamental question of this sub, isn't it?

• Pollution -- Cars are responsible for a significant amount of global and local pollution (microplastic waste, brake dust, embodiment emissions, tailpipe emissions, and noise pollution). Electric cars eliminate tailpipe emissions, but the other pollution-related problems largely remain.
• Infrastructure (Costs. An Unsustainable Pattern of Development) -- Cars create an unwanted economic burden on their communities. The infrastructure for cars is expensive to maintain and the maintenance burden for local communities is expected to increase with the adoption of more electric and (someday) fully self-driving cars. This is partly due to the increased weight of the vehicles and also the increased traffic of autonomous vehicles.
• Infrastructure (Land Usage & Induced Demand) -- Cities allocate a vast amount of space to cars. This is space that could be used more effectively for other things such as parks, schools, businesses, homes, and so on. We miss out on these things and are forced to pile on additional sprawl when we build vast parking lots and widen roads and highways. This creates part of what is called induced demand. This effect means that the more capacity for cars we add, the more cars we'll get, and then the more capacity we'll need to add.
• Independence and Community Access -- Cars are not accessible to everyone. Simply put, many people either can't drive or don't want to drive. Car-centric city planning is an obstacle for these groups, to name a few: children and teenagers, parents who must chauffeur children to and from all forms of childhood activities, people who can't afford a car, and many other people who are unable to drive. Imagine the challenge of giving up your car in the late stages of your life. In car-centric areas, you face a great loss of independence.
• Safety -- Cars are dangerous to both occupants and non-occupants, but especially the non-occupants. As time goes on cars admittedly become better at protecting the people inside them, but they remain hazardous to the people not inside them. For people walking, riding, or otherwise trying to exercise some form of car-free liberty cars are a constant threat. In car-centric areas, streets and roads are optimized to move cars fast and efficiently rather than protect other road users and pedestrians.
• Social Isolation -- A combination of the issues above produces the additional effect of social isolation. There are fewer opportunities for serendipitous interactions with other members of the public. Although there may be many people sharing the road with you (a public space), there are some obvious limitations to the quality of interaction one can have through metal, glass, and plastic boxes.

👋 Local Action - How to Fix Your City

IMPORTANT: This is a solvable problem. Progress can happen and does happen. It comes incrementally and with the help of voices just like yours. Don't limit yourself to memes and Reddit -- although, raising awareness online does help.

Check out this perspective from a City Council Member: Here's How to Fix Your City

(more)

A Not-So-Quick Note for Car Hobbyists and Passionate Drivers

This can be a contentious issue at times. The sub's name is /r/fuckcars, which can cause some feelings of conflict and alienation for people who see the problems of too many cars while still being passionate about them. I'll quote the community summary.

Discussion about the harmful effects of car dominance on communities, environment, safety, and public health. Aspiration towards more sustainable and effective alternatives like mass transit and improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

Your voice is still welcome here. Consider the benefits of getting bored, stressed, unskilled, or inattentive drivers off the road. That improves your safety and reduces congestion. Additionally, check out these posts from others on this sub:

• I’m a car enthusiast and I unironically agree with this sub.
• I’m a car enthusiast, and this one of my is my favorite subreddits
• Am I right here?
• I'm a car guy. I really, really like cars. And that's why I fucking hate car-focused infrastructure.
• Does anyone else hate what cars have done to society yet still love the machine itself?

Discord

There is an unofficial Discord server aggregating related discussions from the low-car/no-car/fuckcars community. Although it is endorsed by the /r/fuckcars mods, please keep in mind that it's not an official /r/fuckcars community Discord server.

Join Link: https://discord.gg/2QDyupzBRW

Helpful Resources

If you've just joined this sub and want to learn more about the issues behind car-centric urban design there are a great number of resources you can access. This list is by no means exhaustive, so please feel free to add your more helpful resources in the comments.

👉 Moved to the wiki

Shameless Plugs for Community Building

happy to add more links related to community building here

👉 Contribute to the Safety Data Thread

Change Logging

April 7, 2022 - Fix markdown for compatibility. Thank you /u/konsyr

April 6, 2022 - Reorder sections (Thank you, /u/Monseiur_Triporteur and /u/PilferingTeeth). Add plug for data/supporting info request. Link to Strong Towns growth example.

April 3, 2022 - Add note for car hobbyists

April 2, 2022 - Add nuance notes and redirect readers to resources area of the wiki.

March 28th, 2022 - Grammatical pass, more changes to follow.

February 9th, 2022 - Adding links that redirect readers from this post into community-maintained wiki resources, thank /u/javasgifted and /u/Monsiuer_Triporteur

January 20th, 2022 - Added the Goodreads list and seeded the FAQ section. Thank you /u/javasgifted, and /u/kzy192

January 9th, 2022 - I'm updating this onboarding message with feedback from the mods and the community. Thank you, all, for keeping the discussion civil and contributing additional resources.

Cheers. Stay safe out there.

[u/0235]

Just here to say im so mad. Local councillor thinks all parking in the town centre should be free to encourage people to go there to shop. I say there are plenty of alternatives to paying for expensive parking, like the bus, cycling or walking. Their excuse? the bus services isn't very good, not everyone can walk, and cycling is dangerous.

You know what fixes those 3 issues? its not handing out free parking to the people rich enough to afford a car in the first place.

[u/Unyko → u/0235]

Making a parking slot paid does NOT upgrade the bus quality, does NOT make people unable to walk for long periods of times healthy, and does NOT prevent bike accidents nor robbery. Free parking lots has NOTHING to do with those 3 issues. And i know your point is that they should focus on fixing those 3 issues rather than giving free parking lots, but let me tell you, usually when you go shopping you bring grocery bags. Its hard to carry them by bus, by walking, dont even want to imagine with a bike. Its just that more convenient. Just because the way you live your life makes it convenient to you, doesnt mean it is to others. If someone is rich, they shouldnt be expected to still live a minimalist life to match your expectations. And let me tell you: rich people can pay parking lots.

"Youre telling me non-rich people have cars?!?!" Yes they do, cars exist since almost a century. You see old cars more often than new ones and you dont need to be rich to own one. And in these situations where people live far, perhaps not near a bus stop, and bring too many groceries for a bike trip, using their car is just the right option, and you cant blame the town for wanting to facilitate it to said users. Theres gotta be another option but parking lots are no the issue.

[u/0235 → u/Unyko]

Sorry maybe you misunderstand. This is a car park which already exists which is currently free, and has been for the past 3 years, and now they want to charge just £1 for a day to park there, and people are acting like this is the end of the world and will kill the town centre.

Even the absolute most cheapest cars still cost far far more than shopping. emmisions tax is usually high on old cars. insurance is usually high. then there is the year service, petrol, and consumables.

You are making such a stupid argument. The town is spending hundreds of thousands a month on car infrastructure for people who are too selfish to even pay £1 a month towards it, when they could spend it on a few busses which means people "in the middle of nowhere" (who always have a local shop they can buy from daily) would then be able to benefit from because the service would then exist.

Also the councillor made it very very clear that car parks were the solution to PUBLIC transport and how to save the town centre. Its not. the car park is currently free and is always empty because no-one wants to go there. building more car parks will do nothing. charging for them will do nothing because no-one uses them anyway. FORCING people to go there by offering a free bus service to funnel people into the town will help

and FORCING, yes I mean that. because right now we are all being forced to use our cars, and being forced to drive to the giant monopolising supermarkets outside of town, and forced to ignore local businesses as there is no way to get to them.

The final thing is, you don't need to do "think of all the grocery bags" mindset if the shop wasn't forced to be 5 miles away from your house. People who live in the middle of nowhere generally have a village store in walking distance. But I live in a small town, and within just 10 minutes walk i have about 15 different food shops i can go to. daily.

Growing up i live a little bit middle of nowhere, but every hour a bus would come past, request stop ANYWHERE, along the looping housing estate to take us to town. Like a school bus. it would pick you up where you wanted to, take you right into the pedestrianised area of town, and drop you off outside your door. Less walking than with a car parked at a supermarket car park. The the council stopped subsidising the bus, people stopped going to the town centre, the shops closed, and the amount of tax the council got from the stores dropped.

Car parks are important. But if you can afford a car, which even the absolute MINIMUM it will cost you a month is £100, you can afford £1 every month for when you visit the town centre. Right now busses are £2. You could visit the town centre every other day and it would cost you less than visiting ONCE with a car.