Early in the pandemic, when there was much less traffic on the roads, people took to their bikes. But since then, fewer people are cycling, with rates now lower than in 2011.
Uber is eyeing a service to take children wherever their parents would otherwise have to drive them themselves. Some might see it as a lifesaver, but it’s problematic for many reasons.
The Hoddle Grid that dictates the flow of vehicles and people in central Melbourne has had its day. It can be remade to reduce the dominance of cars and create a liveable city for the 21st century.
School children walk along a quiet street in Nakano, Tokyo.
Image: Rebecca Clements
Seeing Japanese parents send toddlers out on their own to do errands has shocked viewers. But not that long ago our neighbourhoods were also child-friendly, and we can make them so again.
Pedestrians pass the aftermath of a crash in Gaza City in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 11, 2021.
Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Traffic crashes kill and injure millions worldwide every year and are a major drain on economic development. Improving road safety would produce huge payoffs, especially in lower-income countries.
Many Australians are dog owners but feelings run high over the issue of allowing dogs on public transport. Despite polarised opinions, experience overseas shows how concerns can be managed.
Ford calls its all-electric F-150 Lightning “the truck of the future.”
Ford
Ford’s electric F-150 pickup won’t roll off assembly lines until early 2022, but the company has received thousands of preorders already for a vehicle aimed at the mass market, not eco-buyers.
Transport is the one sector where Australia hasn’t reined in the growth in greenhouse gas emissions. Electric cars will cut emissions but still leave us with all the other problems of car use.
The utopian 20th-century model of a modern city – one that has been replicated around the world – is being exposed as unsuitable for adapting to the pace of change in the 21st century.
Instead of free parking, our post-COVID CBDs need a big vision to become attractive destinations that aren’t car-friendly at the expense of being people-friendly.
Car parking occupies a large proportion of urban areas, and cities cannot keep sacrificing so much space to meet demand.
Neil Sipe
The global trend is to free up valuable city space by reducing parking and promoting other forms of transport that don’t clog roads and pollute the air. Australian cities are still putting cars first.
When most inner-city apartment residents don’t use cars to get around, you can expect public transport to feel the impacts of new developments.
Eric FIscher/Wikimedia
Traffic impact assessments required of major building developments mainly focus on the movement of cars, but these account for only 30-40% of trips by inner-city apartment dwellers.
The ‘Bicycle Snake’ in Copenhagen separates pedestrians and cyclists, allowing both to navigate the city more safely.
Cycling Embassy of Denmark/DISSING+WEITLING
New analysis reveals just how little is spent on cycling and walking projects around Australia. No state’s spending on cycling is more than 1.5% of its road funding.
Only in a few active travel strongholds, typically in the inner city, do Australian cycling and walking rates get close to those in Europe.
Andrew Robinson/Flickr
A comparison of Australian cities reveals cyclists and walkers are still very much a minority of commuters, despite the economic, health and environmental costs. Action on three fronts is needed.
Having a pet dog turns out to be a highly car-dependent affair.
Australian cities generally don’t allow pet dogs on public transport. Instead, owners need their own vehicle to travel with their dogs, and it’s a surprisingly important factor in our car dependency.
So much for context – authorities are allowing large out-of-place buildings in the higher-density retrofitting push.
Linley Lutton
Planners wish to correct past errors by increasing densities, discouraging car dependency and mixing land uses. But imposing imported strategies on Australian cities is producing unhappy results.
The relationship between drivers and cyclists is highly unequal, both physically and culturally.
Photographee.eu from www.shutterstock.com
The primacy given to the car has shaped our cities, the roads that serve them and our very thinking about the place of driving in our lives. And it’s a mindset that leaves cyclists highly vulnerable.
Only the beginning: already there are cars that can take over steering on highways. How will things change once driverless cars arrive?
Beck Diefenbach/Reuters