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posted by martyb on Tuesday April 30 2019, @01:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the bipedal-locomotion dept.

Phys.org:

The authors are calling on national and local governments to set targets for the proportion of trips made on foot, by bicycle and by public transport, including national targets of:

  • Doubling the proportion of trips walked to 25 per cent by 2050.
  • Doubling the proportion of cycling trips in each of the next decades, with the ultimate goal of 15 per cent of all trips being on bicycles by 2050.
  • Increasing the proportion of all trips by public transport to 15 per cent by 2050.

The report's authors further recommend:

  • The government develop a national promotion and education campaign to persuade people to walk or cycle to schools and work-places
  • That investment is made in liveable cities and creating urban environments designed for people, rather than cars
  • That new regulations are introduced to make walking and cycling safer

The report prominently cites health concerns as a key reason to not drive, because people need to exercise more. Is it a tacit acknowledgement of electric vehicles' (EVs) imminent takeover of global car fleets?


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday April 30 2019, @05:25AM (6 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday April 30 2019, @05:25AM (#836541) Journal

    the US was built on the automobile and the freedom of movement it granted.

    The US was built on the railroad and its ability to haul people and freight great distances at speed. Before that it was partly built on waterways comprising coastal waters, lakes, rivers, and canals. It was not until after WWII when Eisenhower wanted to copy the autobahn he had seen in Germany that America built its interstate highway system, but America was quite completely industrialized, modern, and atomic powered by then.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @08:46AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @08:46AM (#836583)

    It was not until after WWII when Eisenhower wanted to copy the autobahn he had seen in Germany that America built its interstate highway system, but America was quite completely industrialized, modern, and atomic powered by then.

    And like a typical American, he can't even copy something that is well designed already. In Germany, you don't have highways down middle of the city and no way to get through the city in some other way. In German cities, you can walk to a store. In a German city, you have access to bike paths... actually in Germany in general. In Germany, the roads are smaller and almost everyone rides a bike.. so drivers respect cyclists. In Germany, no one makes "suburbs" with no services or sidewalks.

    America after WWII was designed for the car, not a human. Germany, seems mostly opposite.

  • (Score: 2) by The Shire on Tuesday April 30 2019, @03:00PM (4 children)

    by The Shire (5824) on Tuesday April 30 2019, @03:00PM (#836712)

    The West was settled by rail, the industrial powerhouse of the US was built on the interstate highway system and the automobile. If you think the US was anywhere near the industrial giant it is today without roads you are sadly mistaken. The car allowed the people to move freely and easily to wherever their skills were needed. This was an enormous cultural shift that changed the country fundamentally.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 01 2019, @03:35PM (3 children)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday May 01 2019, @03:35PM (#837313) Journal

      The US was fully industrialized before the highways were built and Americans had a car culture. Rail and water transport carried most of the freight, and still do. The Interstate highway system and the car culture and the development of the American suburbs all came after WWII. That's not to say that trucking and cars aren't now a substantial part of the economy, because they are, but they were not necessary for industrialization. Given trends now in information technology and consumer buying habits (eg. Millenials are not buying cars) and additive manufacturing, it's possible that the car culture and trucking system will become a thing of the past.

      It is understandable for people who drive to work everyday, whose main interaction with shipping is the semis that they have to maneuver around on the highway, to believe that's what makes America's economy run, but it isn't. It's like people who work in sales believing that the world would come crashing down without them, or how journalists scream that the sky will fall unless people give them more attention and money. That is, they can only see the world through their own lens.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 2) by The Shire on Wednesday May 01 2019, @08:03PM (2 children)

        by The Shire (5824) on Wednesday May 01 2019, @08:03PM (#837512)

        You're a utopian dreamer. Car automation may be coming, but the layout of the US will always require personal transportation. You will never see a day in your lifetime where that is not the case.

        • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 01 2019, @08:23PM (1 child)

          by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday May 01 2019, @08:23PM (#837522) Journal

          It has already been reported that millennials and younger generations are not buying cars. It is already reported that cycling, e-bikes, and ride sharing are eating away at car ownership. In new york city 70% of residents already don't own cars. Is it utopian to base a scenario on empirical data?

          It may remain necessary for some places and people to drive cars. Others may solve their transportation needs in other ways. But if current trends continue mass car ownership could well be a strange anachronism for kids well before we have passed from the earth.

          --
          Washington DC delenda est.
          • (Score: 2) by The Shire on Wednesday May 01 2019, @09:01PM

            by The Shire (5824) on Wednesday May 01 2019, @09:01PM (#837542)

            The funny thing about "ride sharing" is it requires a "ride", ie someone is doing the driving.

            As for statistics about the large percentage of people in NYC not having a car, it's because they live in one of the most densly populated cities in the country. It's in no way representative of the nation as a whole which has to travel significantly farther to get food or go to work. Suburban and rural areas make for highly inefficient and impractical mass transit locations. The car makes such areas workable.

            You have to stop thinking that this country only exists in densly populated cities, the REAL work of the nation never takes places at those locations - that's primarily paper pushers and the service industry to feed and entertain them. Actual industry doesn't take place there, it takes place in areas that need cars. Cars are a fixture. I'll say it again, they may become automated, but they will not go away in our lifetime.