Montreal-based writer Taras Grescoe says it is imperative for not just North America, but for the world to abandon the car.

His latest non-fiction book, Straphanger, argues that as a form of mass transportation the car is a disaster.

"Half of the world's population is now urban. It's going to be 75 percent in about 20 years, and cars aren't just going to fit in the new cities that are emerging," said Grescoe.

In North America the popular perception has long been that those who take public transit are losers.

"That is changing," said Grescoe. The Millennial generation when polled in the United States for example, 50 percent of them say they would rather have internet access or a smartphone than a car.

"That is a huge generational change and they're moving back to the cities and more opt to use public transportation. They get it."

 

Watch the interview to find out what Grescoe suggests needs to be done to improve public transit.

 

On Thursday Nov. 8, Grescoe and Gazette writer Mark Abley give a talk called Exploring Non-fiction writing at Vanier College.