SoylentNews

Urgent Action Needed to End Our Love Affair with Cars, Report Finds

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

Phoenix666 writes:

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?

---

Original Submission

• Re:More nanny state nonsense Re:More nanny state nonsense (Score: 5, Insightful) by lentilla on Tuesday April 30 2019, @05:36AM (1 child)

  by lentilla (1770) on Tuesday April 30 2019, @05:36AM (#836543)

  The summary of the report made no mention of taking people's cars away.

  "The Government" is well aware that people are not getting enough exercise and would like to reverse this trend. Now, are they going to be standing behind us with a whip whilst we run on a treadmill? No, don't be daft. There is absolutely personal responsibility involved, but Government still has a role, and that is...

  ... Governments need to make sure that people are able get about their daily lives without relying on a car. It's as simple as that.

  "Urgent action needed to end our love affair with cars" is not smug hubris - it is the simple truth. Our addiction to cars has caused:

  • Many millions of deaths.
  • Vehicle exhaust, brake dust, tyre dust, oil everywhere.
  • Our landscape littered with roads, roads and more roads.
  • Noise.
  • Oil, and thus war, war and more war. (Although these oil grabs are often called "bringing democracy to the Middle East".)

  Worst of all, because it is either impossible or unsafe to travel without a car - due to everybody tearing around in their cars - now everybody needs to have a car. (To address your statement regarding the United States: yes, the car did do great things in the middle of the Twentieth Century - but in giving freedom it also took much freedom away - the golden handcuffs of becoming slaves to the automobile.)

  Absolutely our love affair with the automobile needs to change. It needs to change to the point that people are able to make the choice to drive because they have other options available. Government most certainly has a role to play in this - not by taking away people's cars - but by designing infrastructure in a human-centric fashion and an understanding that people come before cars.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+3
  Insightful=2, Informative=1, Total=3
  Extra 'Insightful' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		5

• Re:More nanny state nonsense (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @10:35PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @10:35PM (#836923)

  Don't forget the other reason to keep getting in wars in the Middle East: to take out / reduce the threats to the Jewish State known as Israel.

  Parent