I live in Bethesda, MD. I don't know about elsewhere, but a lot has happened in the last thirty years to reduce consumption. The building of the METRO was slower than initially anticipated, but has proceeded at a pretty steady pace. Commuter trains and buses connect the "exurbs" to the city. There are incentives to carpool. A good measure of the pace of mass transit growth is that parking rates in the midtown area have been well below inflation, and are not much heavier than they were twenty years ago, although the city has grown in population and especially in commuters.
Ironically, the SUV wave was sparked by higher efficiency standards in conventional cars, which affected size and the perception of safety. There are still plenty of people like me who factor in consumption when purchasing a vehicle, and demand fuel efficiency, as a matter of personal economics. The Honda Accord and Toyota Camry are among the most popular, and fuel efficient, cars on the road. I own a Honda. I also have a Chevy Cavalier, which is pretty fuel efficient itself, and is one of the most popular American makes.
In general, I do not think that we are doing too badly, and that the agitation for improved consumption models has been without affect. |
