- cross-posted to:
- fuck_cars@lemmy.ml
- fuckcars@lemmy.world
- nyt_gift_articles@sopuli.xyz
- cross-posted to:
- fuck_cars@lemmy.ml
- fuckcars@lemmy.world
- nyt_gift_articles@sopuli.xyz
In Colorado, that new vision was catalyzed by climate change. In 2019, Gov. Jared Polis signed a law that required the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent within 30 years. As the state tried to figure out how it would get there, it zeroed in on drivers. Transportation is the largest single contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, accounting for about 30 percent of the total; 60 percent of that comes from cars and trucks. To reduce emissions, Coloradans would have to drive less.
Too bad Colorado’s Front Range (where most of the state lives) has some of the most sprawling land use in the country. The state’s second largest city (Colorado Springs) is basically one giant suburb surrounding a tiny downtown core. You can put in all the transit you want, but it won’t matter if you can’t resolve the last-mile problem (which in Colorado is more like the last-ten-miles problem).
Yeah Colorado is a hugely car-brained state. It’s infuriating because I want to bikepack there but after spending a whole day just getting out of the metro area, I find better places to travel now.