{"id":265,"date":"2020-08-17T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T22:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enlightenment-demo.onedesigns.com\/blog\/?p=265"},"modified":"2020-10-07T01:44:02","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T01:44:02","slug":"with-fewer-cars-on-us-streets-now-is-the-time-to-reinvent-roadways-and-how-we-use-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enlightenment-demo.onedesigns.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/17\/with-fewer-cars-on-us-streets-now-is-the-time-to-reinvent-roadways-and-how-we-use-them\/","title":{"rendered":"With fewer cars on US streets, now is the time to reinvent roadways and how we use them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sticking closer to home because of COVID-19 has shown many people what cities can be like with less traffic, noise, congestion and pollution. Roads and parking lots devoted to cars take up a lot of land<\/a>. For example, in Phoenix, Los Angeles<\/a> and New York City<\/a> these spaces account for over one-third of each city\u2019s total area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When stay-at-home orders went into effect in many parts of the U.S. in March, streets and parking lots went dormant seemingly overnight. Within days, municipalities across the U.S. started shifting these spaces<\/a> to other uses that better suit people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As a professor of environmental design and transport, I\u2019ve worked for decades to unravel the many factors<\/a> that keep people reliant on cars, SUVs and trucks. Weather, time constraints, children \u2013 there are many reasons that prevent people from using transportation modes like bicycles. Yet with a simple first step \u2013 starting to reconfigure city streets \u2013 meaningful change can begin to break down traditional transportation barriers and usher in a new culture of getting around town by means other than cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dangerous, expensive automobile<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In large U.S. cities, nearly half of all car trips are less than four miles<\/a>. Using cars to travel such short distances has many costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, consider traffic fatalities. Two pedestrians or cyclists die every hour on U.S. city streets, a national trend that\u2019s been\u00a0worsening<\/a>\u00a0in recent years, even though cycling and walking rates are\u00a0steady or declining<\/a>. Pollution from cars contributes to climate change and worsens air quality. Designing cities around cars\u00a0marginalizes individuals who don\u2019t have them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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