Though progress is often slow, city planners and politicians are gradually waking up to the fact that when cities offer safe and affordable alternatives to cars, we start to travel differently.
More and more young people are choosing bicycles, buses and trains over owning a car out of the sheer cost. In Berlin, it’s public transport, not cars, which is the coolest way of getting around.
In Copenhagen, a city that has a long held reputation for being bike-friendly, a whopping 62% of people choose to cycle their commute.
In the French city of Lyon, the number of cars entering the city has fallen by 20% compared to just a decade ago. As the city’s network of bike hire stations continues to grow, town planners are hoping for a further 20% decline.
In London, where cycle super-highways are becoming popular, the share of journeys made by car has fallen by a quarter since 1990.
Car free days are rising in popularity in many of the world’s largest cities, giving people a taste of what it’s like to live with less noise, traffic and pollution. Bogota was one of the first cities to introduce a car free day, and it’s now become so popular that it’s been extended to a full week.
Bogotá’s Ciclovía is fantastic! I was there in the mid-nineties and they closed a major artery, the Carretera Séptima, on Sundays. Here some pictures.
I am sorry for your losses.
And no, declaring car transport as the “normal” mode of transportation and the completely unsustainable “American Way of Life” is not going to compensate for the lack of a working and accessible health care system.
Last not least because lack of any physical exercise, which is often a consequence of car dependency, causes a lot of health problems on its own.
And, European societies have stronger sense of solidarity. We just do not consider it a right to have a car for everyone.
You’re underestimating the size of the USA. We are about twice the size of Europe and less than half the population density. Most rural populations, the ones growing the food, are geographically isolated.
The whole world is not the same as Europe. Your solutions are not everyone’s. Would i like a betters solution than cars, sure. Walkable communities would be great. But you cant just snap your fingers and assume an entire society is just going to change because you hate cars.
You may hate cars and call us fat, but you are not looking at our reality. I’d say come visit and experience the vast distances, but now is not a good time, there is a crazy nazis in charge.
https://www.simplemaplab.com/size-comparisons/usa-vs-europe
This is similar for South America, Australia, or Asia: Most of the population is close to the coastal regions.
Yet these continents are not as dependent on cars.
The truth is, US Americans follow an unsustainable life style.
I don’t think you did any research before saying those things.
https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/longest-traffic-jams-world-history/
South American cities have some massive traffic jams as does china. China’s are so bad you can hire someone to take you home on a motorcycle and they leave someone in your car to finish the journey.
Meanwhile Australia is crazy for the ute. And has massive trucks called land trains than move huge amounts of their goods over unpaved roads in the outback