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Then their car sales tax rate is 180%, which makes cars out of reach except for the wealthy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadking2003
They have 480 cars per 1000 people.
So - 48% are wealthy. That sounds - good.
Now, let's be serious: Copenhagen, which holds 40% of the Danish population, was founded in 1167 and the streets weren't laid out for cars. So yes, people commute by bicycle and public transport. And the thing is, it works. Are Copenhagen apartments small? Yes. That's because Copenhagen is expensive. And it's expensive, weirdly, because it's a really attractive place to live.
Do Danes travel? Oh yes. Six weeks of vacation and winter weather that's designed to make you depressed, of course they do.
Are we really so much better because we spend an average of half an hour each way in our cars on our commute because we don't have public transit options? I live in a city with one of the best public transit systems in the US, but I still have to drive a car for 45 minutes to get 10 miles because it would take more than 2 hours via public transit. That's just not the case is much of Europe, including Denmark. I'd gladly give up my car in a second if it meant getting a first world transit system.
Not me. I love cars.
And BTW, Germany, Norway, Spain and Italy have almost as many cars per person as the USA.
What is the big deal about driving a car? I think it is boring and a waste of precious time.
In any event the car will disappear in the next 300 years, perhaps soon. Cars have only been around for a very short time. I think walking or biking to work is way better. A short work week with no worries is also incredibly nice.
I am a conservative, and actually agree with this. I live in a very walkable neighborhood and can go weeks without using my car other than to go to work. I walk to the grocery, drugs store, mall, dentist, barber, bank, etc. I enjoy that. It saves time, wear and tear on my car, and gets me off of my butt for some exercise.
But why not let the individual make that choice rather than taxing cars 180%, or gas 300%, in order to force everyone onto transit, bicycles and walking? Why not 'to each his own?' What if some politico decided that he didn't like walking or biking and decided to impose a massive bike tax and toll booths on sidewalks?
480 vehicles per 1000 people in a densely populated country with good public transit seems perfectly reasonable. So every family has at least one car according to that statistic. That's certainly very far from your initial claim that Denmark had "one of the lowest car ownership rates in the world."
Not even close. For example, car ownership is 29.1% in Copenhagen.
And BTW, Germany, Norway, Spain and Italy have almost as many cars per person as the USA.
I don't think you'll find many Danes who love the 180% vehicle tax - I sure don't - but it's really not that big of a deal, either. If you looked into what a car dealership in Denmark will charge for a car - before taxes - you'd realize that dealers and manufacturers are ripping you off.
A bare-bones Honda Fit like the one I drive over her - stick shift, no frills, love that thing - starts at about $15,000. In Denmark, with the 180% tax, I would pay how much? About 150,000 DKR, or $23,000, give or take. Turns out it's not just government who'll happily take what they can get.
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I think it is boring and a waste of precious time.
