Some experts claim that remote work is the most effective way to reduce vehicle travel, but my research indicates that improving and encouraging walking, bicycling, and public transit can provide larger impacts and benefits.
Did the Pandemic End the Car s Domination of New York Streets?
Imagining a post-car (or car-lite) New York City. March 3, 2021, 6am PST | James Brasuell |
Henry Grabar writes:
In the year since the pandemic shut down New York City, momentum has been building around the idea that the city ought to take back more space from cars. Especially while it’s still in partial hibernation.
The various phases of the pandemic have given repeated occasions for New Yorkers to witness what a city can be without cars filling every space to the brim and beyond.
The Big Apple s low car ownership rates and high population density make it the natural candidate to push the experiment even further, according to Grabar, and one safe streets organization, Transportation Alternatives, has recently published a report called 25x25 that imagines the possibilities of closing one-quarter of the city s streets to automobiles by 2025.
Reversing Car Dependency
A new report examines how governments can encourage citizens to use alternatives to private cars in order to reduce car dependency. March 1, 2021, 12pm PST | Todd Litman Share
A new report by the International Transport Forum analyzes fiscal policies and other instruments for managing urban traffic and correcting current policy biases that favor automobile travel over more sustainable and affordable transport options. The report also reviews international case studies of integrated transportation and land use planning to make transportation more efficient and reduce congestion on streets.
Among the conclusions made, with much more detail, in the report:
Cities need more efficient, less damaging and fairer use of scarce space.
Automobile Dependency: An Unequal Burden
Automobile-dependent planning has changed automobiles from a luxury into a necessity. Excessive vehicle costs leave many households without money to purchase essential food, shelter and healthcare. They need more affordable transportation options.
Todd Litman | December 15, 2020, 5am PST Share
Vic Hinterlang
Entertainer Will Rogers once noted that, The United States is the only country ever to go to the poorhouse in an automobile. This has become tragically true for many low- and moderate-income families.
For example, thousands of automobiles regularly line up to receive food bank packages, as illustrated in the photo above.
These are mostly nice SUVs, light trucks and vans, the types of vehicles owned by responsible families living in automobile-dependent communities. Automobile food bank lines are, to a large degree, a self-fulfilling prophesy: Because residents must drive everywhere, they have high transportation costs, leav