This week, Austinites will endure “unseasonably warm weather,” with temperatures reaching into the mid- and upper 90s. Despite the sweltering heat however, the city of Austin’s anti-car crusaders want you to ditch your air-conditioned automobile and instead hustle around town by walking or biking.
The city’s latest car-hating campaign comes as part of its promotion of the Week Without Driving (WWD) project, which is yet another progressive push to pressure people out of their single-occupancy vehicles (aka privately-owned vehicles) and into “more inclusive, accessible [public] transportation” options, if only for a short time. The organizers’ long-term goal seems to be to build lasting support for “the most effective policy solutions,” which is code for environmentalist-approved modes of transportation that come at the expense of the one form (i.e. roads) that most people use to get around. WWD’s soft approach provides a subtle but puissant way to agitate for collectivist change—using the machinery of government to achieve the gains, no less.
Unsurprisingly, the social justice class at Austin city hall are quick to lavish praise on WWD. One city councilmember recently remarked:
“[This] week really is an eye-opening opportunity to see our city and our transportation system in a different way, and to build empathy for the thousands of Austinites who don’t drive—whether by choice or by circumstance.”
…
“If you can get into a bicycle or an e-bike or if you have other options available to avoid the cost, you can spend your budget dollars on something else you want or need.”
Oddly, this same elected official did not express similar cost sensitivities when voting for a 20% tax rate hike expected to cost the average homeowner an extra $302.14 in city taxes. And, of course, the city’s aggressive, new tax increase will be added to the $10,356 in local property taxes already paid by most area homeowners.
Inconsistencies aside, the city’s support of WWD is frustrating for one major reason.
See, most people expect their city governments to police the streets, put out fires, and pick up the garbage. But far too many big cities, like Austin, are consumed with chasing after (woke) political agendas that divert time, treasure, and talent away from the basics, like easing traffic congestion, stopping crime, and actually addressing homelessness.
Admittedly, the city has probably used few resources to promote the WWD social experiment; but the problem is that officials are engaged in an endless number of WWD-like campaigns and the collective impact of this activism on core service delivery has not been good.
So here’s my challenge to Austin’s political elite: Go one week without driving us all crazy and master the basics of city government, and then—and only then—I’ll consider quitting my car for a time and becoming a bicyclist.
But not until it cools down.