A great short video by ITDP-Mexico that attempts to highlight the hidden costs of car use on society and their effect on our cities.
Posts tagged "transportation"
Streets for People - Amsterdam!
Some shots of local Amsterdam street life from a selection I captured over a 15 minute period in one location!
When it comes to liveable cities, Amsterdam has it down to a fine art. What’s more, the city and it citizens, have made a conscious effort to make space for everyone - pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trams and buses.
The comprehensive network of fixed infrastructure for cycling (both in terms of provision of cycle lanes/paths on busy roads and on-street cycle parking) and public transport, coupled with reasonable speed limits on roads, are a visible commitment to creating a credible, comfortable and convenient alternative to car use.
It can be like this in every city. Declaring war on the motorist, cyclist or public transport user is unhelpful and unnecessary. Amsterdam’s approach demonstrates that a city with narrow streets and constrained by historical patterns of development (not dissimilar to London), can successfully accommodate many modes of transport. What is more important is the result that arises from the modal shift made possible by such commitment - a city that is humane, happy, economically robust, socially inclusive, accessible, equal, balanced, quieter, cleaner, safer, healthier…
UCL Report: Reducing car use is the key to better health
Another report about the damaging effects of cars with unsurprising conclusions and recommendations. Its been a while since I read a “cars are good for you” report….oh…wait…
Read the report “Transport, Physical Activity and Health: Present knowledge and the way ahead” here.
With just 39 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women reaching the Department of Health’s recommended level of health-enhancing physical activity, the answer to the UK’s growing obesity problem could depend on people choosing to swap car journeys for walking and cycling, according to a new study by researchers at UCL.
The report, commissioned by the Department for Transport, highlights the fact that physical inactivity costs the nation upwards of £6.5 billion per year through its impact on overweight and obesity, while also directly costing the NHS an additional £1.08 billion per annum.
The report, compiled by Professor Roger Mackett and Belinda Brown of UCL’s Centre for Transport Studies, concludes that:
- increasing physical activity through more walking and cycling is the key to improving health
- the only way to increase walking and cycling significantly is through reducing car use
- car ownership is entrenched in the lifestyles of many households and reduction is only feasible if households can maintain access to cars when they really need them and make rational, economic decisions about the most appropriate mode of travel for each individual journey (on foot, by car, bicycle, bus, train etc); this will lead to less car use
- the recent growth of car clubs, neighbourhood car rental schemes, car sharing and pay-as-you-go insurance helps to make this possible .
“Everyone knows that walking and cycling can provide valuable physical activity, but how we actually get people out of their cars is not so obvious,” says lead author, Professor Roger Mackett.
“The key lies in reducing overall car use, but enabling people to maintain their current lifestyles by ensuring access to a car when necessary. By shifting away from the current situation where most households own cars, to one where people can have the benefits of access to a car when they need it while using other forms of travel when it’s convenient we can empower people to make decisions which benefit their health, their household finances and the environment.
“We need to shift the emphasis from households spending thousands of pounds on a new car every few years and then experiencing a relatively low cost per trip, to a situation where people pay for each individual trip but don’t invest the initial lump sum. By doing this, we will all think much more carefully about the best way to make a journey – sometimes it will be by car, at other times it will be by train, bus, walking or bicycle. Some households will find that they no longer need to keep a car for their personal use and will save money.”
Cool video shot by a visitor to Amsterdam that captures the normalness of cycling there…also made me think of Kasey Klimes brilliant article The Real Reason Why Bicycles are the Key to Better Cities. Bicycles really do help you see the city in a different light!
On a trip I took to attend a conference with some of my colleagues in the spring of 2011, armed only with my small Canon VIXIA HF camera, I shot as much as I could while we were on the move. I had always heard how much Amsterdam loves and utilizes the bicycle as a way of life but it wasn’t until I arrived when it truly sunk in. If I ever have the opportunity to go back, I will not be leaving my real cameras behind:) What an amazing place for anyone who loves bicycles! Enjoy.
Amsterdam loves bicycles.
Great idea! We have something similar here in London too, the bicycle library (albeit smaller and less publicised)! Places like this help in a soft, informal way to market cycling as a convenient, reliable and cheap way to get around!
Bicycle Innovation Lab is the first cultural centre in Denmark for and about cycling, born with the objective of rising the awareness of the Danish cycling culture. Since its opening last November it has been organizing speeches, lectures, events, guided tours and exhibitions, focusing on the themes of bike and bicycle traffic. Moreover it has a well-stocked bicycle library, where people can borrow new experimental types of bikes and can create their own prototypes during specific workshops held by experts.
Picture: Gehl Architects - Ways to add quality to the design of town centres
The problems that the Betalingsring is trying to solve originate not in our city centre but in our suburbs, we need to improve the quality of the town centers that comprise Copenhagen metropolitan region ensuring they are walkable, bike-able and provide everyday amenities. We need to improve connections and accessibility between these town centers and into the centre of Copenhagen. We need broad investment in a variety of transit options from car-sharing to public transit to ensure high quality alternatives and most importantly we need to consider the suburbs and promote medium density and quality housing. We want a city that works in the center and at the edges…
.…We aim to shift the discussion from mere political grandstanding to what ought to be the key question; how do we achieve good quality of life for all Copenhageners, a question which we all need to take seriously and responsibility for achieving. Improving quality of life and making a better city for our shared future is about more than charging motorists to drive into the centre. It should be visionary, ambitious and holistic in approach…
….Just as we have made our city centre walkable, bike-able and attractive – this should be applied more widely creating towns that provide everyday amenities. In our experience with working in transit hubs in both Gothenburg and Skåne, improving the quality within 1km of the transit hubs including park and ride schemes, reliable wifi connections that support working while commuting and other initiatives that improve convenience can greatly increase the attractiveness of public transport and really affect people’s transit choices.
Cool inspiring video by the City of Portland. Taking inspiration from some of the best cities in the world, Portland is delivering road space that can be safely used by all road users.
Listen up @MayorOfLondon…Portland is getting bikes and cars where they need to go safely and efficiently!
Bikes in the City: ‘On the Right Track’
From Vimeo:
Catherine Ciarlo, Transportation Policy Director in the Office of Mayor Sam Adams in Portland, Oregon, explains how cycle tracks and buffered bike lanes work.
The Telegraph: London's cycle accident black spots mapped
Interesting reading and graphics in the telegraph today. They have published a map detailing all of the reported bicycle accidents in London between August 2010 and July 2011.
Details of every accident involving a bicycle reported to Transport for London between August 2010 and July 2011 have been released…
Mapping the incidents reveals some of the most dangerous areas for cycling in London.
The junctions north and south of Blackfriar’s Bridge are notable for being the site of seven serious accidents and over a dozen non-serious accidents in the 12 months covered by the reports.
Transport for London recently announced plans to increase the speed limit for cars over Blackfriar’s Bridge, and restructure the northern junction.
Cycling groups staged protests against the changes, claiming the new designs didn’t take cyclist needs into account…
• There were 4,274 reported accidents on London’s roads between August 2010 and July 2011.
• One in ten accidents result in a serious injury (471 out of 4,274).
• 16 cyclists died on London’s roads in 2011, the highest annual figure since 2006.
• Eight accidents involved emergency service vehicles, including five ambulances and a fire engine.
• 36 cyclists involved in collisions had recently consumed alcohol, 11 of which were serious accidents.
Streetsblog report - There is no war on cars
While the DOT under Janette Sadik-Khan has made incredibly important steps to improve safety and mobility for New Yorkers, the truth is that the overwhelming majority of New York City’s streets remain about the same. We did some back-of-the-envelope math to estimate just how much street space has been reallocated from drivers to pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders in recent years. The answer: not a whole lot.
In fact, we estimate that less than one half of one percent of NYC’s street space has changed in the past three and a half years.
Picture: Streetsblog
Towards a fine City for People - Public Spaces and Public Life in London - 2004
My christmas reading - Jan Gehl’s excellent report on London; “Towards a Fine City for People”. Well worth reading! London still has a long way to go. Read the project summary here and the main report here.
Inside Housing: Time to roll back the Green Belt
Oh! So that’s the answer…simples! NOT! Seriously I read things like this and shudder…
Some cool old London Transport posters on Creative Review! This message is still relevant today!
Photo: Heinz Zinram (photographer) via Creative Review/ TFL
Introducing the Dutch Cycling Embassy, the world’s cycling experts sharing experiences.
Interesting stats from their brochure:
As bike use goes up, accident rates go down
The number of cyclists killed per 100 million kilometres cycled and the
bicycle in different countries:
Netherlands 1.1 fatalities 26% bicycle use
Denmark 1.4 fatalities 19% bicycle use
Germany 1.7 fatalities 10% bicycle use
United Kingdom 3.6 fatalities 2% bicycle use
United States 5.8 fatalities < 1% bicycle use
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