The inescapable power of the car

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     August 1, 2023 It's getting to the point where my friends just roll their eyes whenever I start going on about traffic signals and road design and cyclist fatalities. I get it. People die of various causes every day. Why should people care about this one in particular? I think that the ways we move around are integral to our relationship with the planet, and it's impossible for me not to notice how hostile our built environments are to safe, emissions-free travel. My colleague Tim Murphy has a phrase for this: "I got traffic-pilled," [he writes](, "and once you get traffic-pilled, you start to see the power of the car everywhere." I experienced the power of the car yesterday, when all my cycling plans went awry. For weeks, I had been looking forward to riding my bike from Denver to a Big Thief concert at Red Rocks, about 20 miles outside of the city. After the show, I planned to bike seven miles to a light rail station in Golden, Colorado, and take the train back home. When storm clouds materialized just as I was setting out on bike, I was defiant. Thunderstorms often pass through Denver on summer evenings, but they're usually over quickly, and everything dries up as soon as the sun comes back out. You don't get the sort of persistent, drenching rain you get in New England, where I grew up. Except for last night. It rained for my entire journey to Red Rocks, and when I showed up, soaked, it was unclear whether the show would go on. I huddled under a tree with the handful of other people who had biked there. The doors opened after the threat of lightning had passed, and the show began at 10 p.m. The only problem was that the last train headed toward the city departed at 11:17 p.m. There was no way I'd make it. I consulted my options. There were no buses available. I could take an Uber or a taxi, but I didn't want to leave my bike behind and have to drive back later to pick it up, or, worse, have it get stolen. I decided to bike back. I was 10 miles from home at 1 a.m. at some office park west of Denver when it started to rain again. Wet and discouraged, I caved and ordered an Uber XL, figuring my bike would probably be safe here if the driver refused to take it. But the driver graciously made room for my bike in the back of his Dodge Grand Caravan. For all my efforts, I wound up slinking home in a minivan. Any number of policies could have made this less likely to happen. Expanded train schedules. Any sort of affordable public transit to and from the venue. But I also probably should've checked the weather before I left. —Abigail Weinberg Advertisement [House Bookshop ads]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Of Course Republicans Still Want Trump After All These Indictments]( But those fretting over his chances against Biden forget one key fact. BY INAE OH FROM THE MOTHER JONES STORE   Mother Jones Store T-shirts, books, back issues, and new merchandise! Go to the official Mother Jones Store and show your support beyond the pages. [Check us out!]( [Trending] [Henrietta Lacks' family reaches settlement with company profiting off her stolen cells]( BY ARIANNA COGHILL   [Trump loyalists lay out plan for second term: Gut worker protections]( BY NOAH LANARD   [When white people became "white people"]( BY GARRISON HAYES   [Phoenix just had its hottest July ever. So what now?]( BY WYATT MYSKOW Advertisement [House Donations Ad]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Barbie 2 Should Be About the Gender Binary. It Practically Writes Itself.]( Gerwig knocked it out of the park, but may I humbly suggest another inning? BY HENRY CARNELL [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755