Seventeen years after giving up my

Seventeen years after giving up my car, I still feel like a second-class citizen. I am trying to do the right thing, but the United Kingdom just isn't run for people like me.

Take our bus services. My home city, Oxford, has invested massively in a park-and-ride scheme: buses shuttle people into the centre from car parks on the periphery. At first I thought this was a great idea. Now, having stood for what must amount to weeks at bus stops, watching the double deckers go by every couple of minutes without stopping, I realise it's not just the roads which have been monopolised by drivers, but also the public transport system.

Or take the bike lanes. Most consist of lines painted on the road where it is wide and safe, which disappear as soon as it becomes narrow and dangerous. One of them, in Oxford, has been gravelled, which shows that the people who designed them have never ridden a bicycle. When we asked for proper lanes on one of the city's busiest streets, the council chose instead to narrow it and widen the pavements, in the hope that the bicycles would slow down the cars. The cyclists, perversely reluctant to become human speed bumps, started travelling down the pavement.

Now there is almost nowhere reserved for people like me. Out of political power. Our demands are counter-aspirational, and therefore of little interest to either politicians or the media.

Now, to my horror, I find I am beginning to question even the environmental impact of my 17 years of abstinence. It is true that my own carbon emissions have been suppressed. It is also true that if everyone did the same thing the total saving would be enormous. The problem is that, in the absence of regulation, traffic expands to fill the available space.

By refusing to own a car I have merely opened up road space for other people, who tend to drive more fuel-hungry models than I would have chosen. We can do little to reduce our impacts on the environment if the government won't support us.

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There are some compensations, however. About three or four times a year I hire a car. When I stop at motorway service stations, I am struck by the staggering levels of obesity: it appears to be far more prevalent there than on trains or coaches. People who take public transport must at least walk to the bus stop. The cyclists among us keep fit without even noticing.

Being without a car has forced me to embed myself in my home town. It throws me into contact with far more people than I would otherwise meet. There are a couple of routes which make cycling a real pleasure: the towpath along the Thames, for example, takes me most of the way to the station.

But overall, as far as self-interest is concerned, I would struggle to claim that giving up my car was a wholly positive decision.

Результаты (английский) 1:

Seventeen years after giving up my car, I still feel like a second-class citizen. I am trying to do the right thing, but the United Kingdom just isn't run for people like me.Take our bus services. My home city, Oxford, has invested massively in a park-and-ride scheme: buses shuttle people into the centre from car parks on the periphery. At first I thought this was a great idea. Now, having stood for what must amount to weeks at bus stops, watching the double deckers go by every couple of minutes without stopping, I realise it's not just the roads which have been monopolised by drivers, but also the public transport system.Or take the bike lanes. Most consist of lines painted on the road where it is wide and safe, which disappear as soon as it becomes narrow and dangerous. One of them, in Oxford, has been gravelled, which shows that the people who designed them have never ridden a bicycle. When we asked for proper lanes on one of the citys busiest streets, the council chose instead to narrow it and widen the pavements, in the hope that the bicycles would slow down the cars. The cyclists, perversely reluctant to become human speed bumps, started traveling down the pavement.Now there is almost nowhere reserved for people like me. Out of political power. Our demands are counter-aspirational, and therefore of little interest to either politicians or the media.Now, to my horror, I find I am beginning to question even the environmental impact of my 17 years of abstinence. It is true that my own carbon emissions have been suppressed. It is also true that if everyone did the same thing the total saving would be enormous. The problem is that, in the absence of regulation, traffic expands to fill the available space.By refusing to own a car I have merely opened up road space for other people, who tend to drive more fuel-hungry models than I would have chosen. We can do little to reduce our impacts on the environment if the government won't support us.AdvertisementThere are some compensations, however. About three or four times a year I hire a car. When I stop at motorway service stations, I am struck by the staggering levels of obesity: it appears to be far more prevalent there than on trains or coaches. People who take public transport must at least walk to the bus stop. The cyclists among us keep fit without even noticing.Being without a car has forced me to embed myself in my home town. It throws me into contact with far more people than I would otherwise meet. There are a couple of routes which make cycling a real pleasure: the towpath along the Thames, for example, takes me most of the way to the station.But overall, as far as self-interest is concerned, I would struggle to claim that giving up my car was a wholly positive decision.

Результаты (английский) 3:

放弃我的车十七年后，我仍然觉得我像一个二等公民。我想做一件正确的事，但英国并不是跑的像我这样的人。把我们的巴士服务

。我的家乡，牛津，有大量投资在一个换乘方案：穿梭巴士的人进入中心停车场周边。起初我以为这是一个好主意。现在，在为数的要周在公共汽车站，看着双德克斯去每隔几分钟不停，我意识到这不仅仅是道路已被垄断的司机，而且公共交通系统。或者把自行车车道

。大多数是画在那里宽阔安全的道路线的消失，就变得狭窄而危险。他们在牛津，一个，已经回升，这表明是由谁设计的人从来没有骑过自行车。当我们问到正确的车道在一个城市最繁忙的街道，会转而选择窄，拓宽路面，希望在自行车汽车慢下来。骑自行车的人，却不愿意成为人类的速度颠簸，开始沿着路面。

现在几乎没有留给我这样的人。从政治权力。我们的要求是反理想，因此感兴趣的是政客或媒体

。现在，让我震惊的是，我发现我开始怀疑，甚至我17年的禁欲的环境影响。这是真的，我自己的碳排放受到抑制。这也是真实的，如果每个人都做了总的节约将是巨大的同样的事情。问题是，由于缺乏监管，交通扩展以填充可用空间。

拒绝自己的车，我只是打开了其他人的道路空间，会带动更多的耗油车型比我会选择。我们可以做的很小，减少对环境的影响，如果政府不支持我们。



广告有一些补偿，但是。一个年约三或四次我租了一辆车。当我停在高速公路服务站，我的肥胖的惊人了：这似乎是更为普遍比在火车或教练。人们乘坐公共交通工具必须至少走到公共汽车站。在我们骑自行车的人保持健康，甚至没有注意到。没有车

迫使我把自己在我的家乡。把我和比我会遇见更多的人接触。有一对夫妇的路线，使循环的真正乐趣：沿着泰晤士河纤道，例如，以我最去车站的路。

但总体，就利益而言，我会努力说放弃我的车是完全积极的决定。