Brilliant Stuff Other Cities Have Done with Transport and Public Space, Public Beauty

Street Trams in Vienna - light, quiet, fast - where it costs 1 Euro to go anywhere in the city, all day.

This is a consequence of the Vienna / Austrian government's "relentless approach towards modal shift."

 In Stockholm, Sweden, 93% of people walk, bike or take public transport to work. (Source)

So, the city is not all concrete and highways.

Madrid, in Spain, has created a car-free square mile in the city. Shalom. (Source)

In Bordeaux, the 7th largest city in France, they closed parking lots, narrowed the roads, installed a great tram network, and planted a bunch of trees. My Dad, a British retired urban planner, told me all about it.

Public space can be So Much More Beautiful. Cities can be so much quieter, safer, and peaceful. 

We can be happy and healthier.

Good for the drought, fires, carbon and climate change, too.

Peace.

Amsterdam has more bicycles than people. (Source)

In Curitiba, Brazil, 85% of people use the Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT). They're proud; it transports 2 million people a day (London's moves 3 million people a day). Then, they could pedestrianise many parts of the city.

Bogota, Colombia. "You have a human right to water. You do not have a human right to parking," said former mayor Enrique Penalosa. So he removed parking lots, installed extensive walk-bike ways, and a BRT (Bus Rapid Transport System.) "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars," he said. "It’s where the rich use public transport." (Source). 

San Francisco Bay Area, center of innovation and ingenuity; listed as one of the "Greenest Cities in the World" has... highways! And this famous "Bay Area Traffic."

And a rising population. And massive drought and fires.

What's possible for our motion? Let's Do This :)

Just sayin': today I'm having my car serviced. It's costing $400. Last month I changed the battery. It cost $325. I paid $7200 for the car. I pay $100 a month for insurance, maybe $60 a month for gas.

There are about 8 million of us living here, with many / most of us paying something like this for our cars.

What if all that money were pooled.

We could do something f*****g amazing