A recent Reddit post is driving awareness of a major problem — with driving.
The poster shared their upset with a forum dedicated to discussing the harmful effects of car dominance on the planet and the people who live on it, as well as hopes of moving toward more sustainable and effective alternatives like mass transit and improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.
"People pay $200 to park at State Farm Arena when there is a train station right next to the arena," the OP wrote above a photo of the parking sign for an event in Atlanta, Georgia, and line of cars just beyond it.
"Is there a train station near most people's homes? What percentage? What average distance? How many lines does Atlanta have? We're missing a lot of context. I can't really judge these people if public transport there is rubbish," commented one user.
Both the OP and the commenter have valid points. People and the planet would benefit from increased use of low-impact travel options like public transit, walking, and biking, but solid infrastructure has to be in place for that to happen.
Just because there is a train station right next to the arena doesn't mean potential riders have easy access to it from where they live. If they still have to drive or use another form of transportation to get to a point where they can get on the train, they are far less likely to use it.
The same goes for riding a bike — if there isn't a safe way to get there, especially with all that traffic, and somewhere safe to lock it up, riders are unlikely to take the risk and ride there.
A typical car produces over 10,000 pounds of planet-warming carbon pollution per year, so the fewer people behind the wheel of one the better. That said, as absurd as it may seem, the hassle of figuring out how to take inept alternatives makes the waiting in lines and $200 parking fee worth it for many drivers.
"Holy crap, is that real?!" one shocked commenter asked. "Are you parking on the field for that price?"
"$200 is a new record," added another. "I like to ride my bike by the arena and stadium whenever there's a big event to see how high parking is, and the previous highest parking fee was $120 for Taylor Swift."
"I remember swifties on the marta went viral last year," a third responded.
The phenomenon the Swifties created was indeed fantastic, and hopefully, more infrastructure will be put in place so future event-goers will get on board with low-impact ways of getting to them.
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