[chmod600]

Yeah, I've always found that particular argument unconvincing. If road usage grows, that means more people are benefiting, right?

There are some fundamental problems with cars crowding out alternatives (either due to cost or space). But saying that utilization is evidence that something is bad seems backwards to me.

[ndsipa_pomu]

There are a number of problems with increasing car utilization. They tend to prevent other forms of transport from co-existing as busy roads are not attractive to walk/cycle/scooter along. There's also the sizable amount of pollution from tire and break wear which is not solved by EVs (except electric scooters/bikes - they produce a negligible amount of tire particulates due to their reduced weight).

When you have increased car usage, there's also a demand for car parking and once you start assigning a large amount of space for car parking, you end up pushing facilities further apart. This means that more journeys then become impractical except via cars and the problems increase.