Cars are unnecessary

Cars are unnecessary:

The simple reason people can't imagine doing without their car is that there are currently no viable alternatives (for many). But consider for a moment just how expensive your car is. A fraction of that cost, paid by car-owners and non-car owners alike could easily pay for a robust public transit system. It could also pay for a delivery service, freeing people of the need to own cars to haul groceries and heavy purchases.

A fraction of the money it costs to buy and maintain cars (and roads and police and, the big one, health costs associated with car accidents) wouldn't just by public transit, it would by NICE public transit. And not just in urban areas -- suburban and semi-rural areas as well.

Where public transit is simply too impractical, car share systems like Zipcar or rental car agencies could pick up the slack. In rural areas people would of course still need cars, but cars in rural areas aren't nearly the nuisance they are in densely populated areas. DailyKos