National

In London, owning a car is becoming increasingly pointless. While London is far from perfect, it has been working hard to ween us off car usage.

The bottom line: As Americans rebuild cities hit by the recent hurricanes, they should do so in a way that makes owning a car unnecessary in major U.S. cities, too.

Car-share schemes allow me to find and book a car on my phone, and park it in any type of bay for free. I have a folding bike I can carry on public transport or in a taxi. We now have Cycle Superhighways – protected bike lanes running across the city. Employees get tax breaks on bicycles.

The subway in London works well, and carries 1.37 billion people per year. At rush hour, trains come every 1 minute. London buses are clean, and taken by everyone. Public transport data is open-sourced, so apps like CityMapper show me exactly how to connect all these transport options.

This is made possible through public sector investment into public transport and government-managed schemes to incentivize or discourage certain behaviors. We are discouraged from driving into Central London by Congestion Charging of $15 a day, and parking fees as high as $10 an hour. Congestion charging reduced pollutants in London's air by up to 20% in the first 1 to 2 years, and saw nearly 40% more people taking the bus.

Cities need to make the car obsolete

Walking in London. Photo: Frank Augstein / AP

Future

Expert Voices

In London, owning a car is becoming increasingly pointless. While London is far from perfect, it has been working hard to ween us off car usage.The bottom line: As Americans rebuild cities hit by the recent hurricanes, they should do so in a way that makes owning a car unnecessary in major U.S. cities, too.

I write this from outside America; a Londoner, and a European. One thing that has struck me in recent debates about Trump, Brexit, and the wider questions of economics, society, and healthcare is a statement I've heard from several Americans:

"America is a Capitalist country. We are not Socialist."

So the government does not pay for people's healthcare, infrastructure (or whatever we were discussing). This very binary idea of what being capitalist means threatens a slow collapse into social unrest and, historically, revolutions. Once poverty affects life expectancy, you are down to the basics of raw humanity. People get angry and desperate, and being rich becomes uncomfortable.

In the UK, where we all have free healthcare, many people find it bizarre to see such U.S. opposition to basic healthcare for everyone. It seems barbaric, not "Capitalist."

Bottom line: If economic factors keep wages from rising, then the rich who are getting richer need to recognize their responsibility to those who are getting poorer. But none of this will happen while economically ultra-conservative billionaires run America. Instead we will see an increase in poverty, and the death not only of dreams and aspirations, but also of people.

Robert J. Gordon, economics professor, Northwestern University, author The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The political pendulum will swing back

Darrick Hamilton, director of urban policy, the New School: The dice should not be loaded

Edmund S. Phelps, Nobel laureate and economics professor, Columbia University: Give us grassroots innovation

Lyman Stone, agriculture economist, USDA: Resist the taker-state

Inequality shatters societies

I write this from outside America; a Londoner, and a European. One thing that has struck me in recent debates about Trump, Brexit, and the wider questions of economics, society, and healthcare is a statement I&#x27;ve heard from several Americans:&quot;America is a Capitalist country. We are not Socialist.&quot;So the government does not pay for people&#x27;s healthcare, infrastructure (or whatever we were discussing). This very binary idea of what being capitalist means threatens a slow collapse into social unrest and, historically, revolutions. Once poverty affects life expectancy, you are down to the basics of raw humanity. People get angry and desperate, and being rich becomes uncomfortable.In the UK, where we all have free healthcare, many people find it bizarre to see such U.S. opposition to basic healthcare for everyone. It seems barbaric, not &quot;Capitalist.&quot;Bottom line: If economic factors keep wages from rising, then the rich who are getting richer need to recognize their responsibility to those who are getting poorer. But none of this will happen while economically ultra-conservative billionaires run America. Instead we will see an increase in poverty, and the death not only of dreams and aspirations, but also of people.Other voices in the conversation:<ul><li>Robert J. Gordon, economics professor, Northwestern University, author The Rise and Fall of American Growth: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="The political pendulum will swing back" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/the-political-pendulum-will-swing-back-1513304210-470f4b09-258c-476d-b0d5-e2e7df5a9ed5.html" data-vars-content-id="894613ef-c4ed-4a1b-8d56-4ff8846540a4" data-vars-headline="Inequality shatters societies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/the-political-pendulum-will-swing-back-1513304210-470f4b09-258c-476d-b0d5-e2e7df5a9ed5.html" target="_self">The political pendulum will swing back</a></li><li>Darrick Hamilton, director of urban policy, the New School: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="The dice should not be loaded" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/the-dice-should-not-be-loaded-1513304206-c372de28-9799-4bc1-8f5d-8ca5fbde4173.html" data-vars-content-id="894613ef-c4ed-4a1b-8d56-4ff8846540a4" data-vars-headline="Inequality shatters societies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/the-dice-should-not-be-loaded-1513304206-c372de28-9799-4bc1-8f5d-8ca5fbde4173.html" target="_self">The dice should not be loaded</a></li><li>Edmund S. Phelps, Nobel laureate and economics professor, Columbia University: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Give us grassroots innovation" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/give-us-grassroots-innovation-1513304210-25aabd0d-d8b1-4e59-9569-7b23e0900dbb.html" data-vars-content-id="894613ef-c4ed-4a1b-8d56-4ff8846540a4" data-vars-headline="Inequality shatters societies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/give-us-grassroots-innovation-1513304210-25aabd0d-d8b1-4e59-9569-7b23e0900dbb.html" target="_self">Give us grassroots innovation</a></li><li>Lyman Stone, agriculture economist, USDA: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Resist the taker-state" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/resist-the-taker-state-1513304210-7dfb5d6c-2e6b-47ca-9d72-e2aec7c80a07.html" data-vars-content-id="894613ef-c4ed-4a1b-8d56-4ff8846540a4" data-vars-headline="Inequality shatters societies" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/resist-the-taker-state-1513304210-7dfb5d6c-2e6b-47ca-9d72-e2aec7c80a07.html" target="_self">Resist the taker-state</a></li></ul>

Tobias Stone, writer

Stories

Cities need to make the car obsolete

Inequality shatters societies