Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 27/Nov 10:00

Stop car ownership double standards

THE EDITOR: I write in response to the fact that every time the issue is raised about affordable cars, there are objections, with people saying that the less well-off should be using public transportation instead. This is based on an absurd and elitist idea that there is some kind of either/or choice between affordable vehicles for ordinary people and an efficient public transportation system. This wrong-headed idea was on display the moment Ministers Satyakama Maharaj and Eli Zakour announced measures to make vehicles more affordable, a long-time UNC policy. Instead of welcoming this long-overdue relief for middle- and lower-income families, writers immediately and aggressively raised the same old objections. What these critics – who often drive luxury vehicles – don't understand is that one does not preclude the other. You can have affordable vehicles and an excellent public transport system. Under the PNM government, however, we had the worst of both worlds. Under that party vehicles became significantly more expensive while public transportation became worse, slower, and more expensive. Citizens suffered all around in a lose-lose situation. Anyone with common sense knows that affordable vehicles and excellent public transportation systems can work together. In most developed countries, people own personal vehicles and use efficient public transport for daily commuting. Many cities encourage park-and-ride, mixing private mobility with mass transit. Owning a vehicle does not mean relying on it for everything. It simply means freedom. As Basdeo Panday famously said when he created the foreign-used vehicle market, a car is freedom. He was right. There is a world of difference between a family that has a vehicle and one that does not. A car allows you to take an elderly parent to the doctor, drop your children safely to lessons, get groceries without walking in the hot sun or the rain, and maintain your dignity and independence. A car also empowers small entrepreneurs – gardeners, plumbers, electricians, painters, retail vendors, mobile businesses – who rely on mobility to earn a living. A vehicle is often the difference between being trapped in poverty and climbing out of it. It is long past time we stop treating affordable cars as something for a well-off few. We should be building a win-win system. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's government is trying to achieve this again. We have moved past the last government, which penalised the middle class and poor by bold-facedly telling them they have to ride bicycles, while PNM ministers drove luxury SUVs. Let us support policies that actually improve the quality of life for ordinary people. I fully support the Prime Minister’s approach. LYNDON DE GANNES Arima The post Stop car ownership double standards appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.