THE NETHERLANDS IS TOO SMALL
FOR PERSONAL AUTOMOBILES
Since the
brainchild of Dr. Hub van Doorne (van Doorne's Automobiel Fabrieken - DAF)
sprung full blow on to the cramped streets and rambling country lanes of the
Netherlands
in 1959, the sandbar called The Netherlands has never been the
same.
Over the
years, this small convenient easy to drive personal auto has been replaced by
millions of larger and more consumption-prone vehicles clogging those same streets
and lanes, causing congestion and polluting the air. Millions of automobiles
drive more millions of kilometers each year. Thousands of hectors of the
richest farm land on earth are covered with cement and asphalt and hundreds of
kilometers of traffic jams disrupt nerves and complicate the Dutch way of life.
Parks have become parking lots and inner gardens
smelly storage for rusting
automobiles.
It is time
to put an end to the personal automobile in the Netherlands. It is time to tax
away useless automobiles in the cities and towns and replace them with reliable
free 24 hour
a day, 7 days a week public transportation.
The current
road and street system can easily support vehicles for moving people and
freight to do business and maintain the economy. Each automobile used only for
personal use should be taxed a minimum of €10,000/year on top of any road and
fuel taxes.
The money
collected used to fund a complete convenient and reliable public transportation
system. From taxi service for midnight emergencies to a range of vans and buses
to additional trains and fast ferries, the movement of people can be maintained
without
the incessant drone of personal automobiles.
In most
cities and towns, including the largest ones like Amsterdam and Rotterdam,
bicycles are actually the most cost efficient and most reliable means of
transportation. An ambitious program of both ownership and rental of bicycles
will also be funded by savings on road building, importation of expensive
foreign oil and health problems caused by
both air pollution and road rage.
Public transportation
can move people at a fraction of the CO2 released
by personal automobiles.
It is
time to release the Netherlands from the grip of the oil, cement and automobile lobbies and return it to the sustainable Dutch way of life.
With a usable land area of only 33,883 sq km (13,082 sq mi)
it is now time to return to the pre-DAF era.
Lloyd Chris Blake
The Netherlands on the 11th March 2015
Photos by Harm Kuijers
.
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