[workbike] Re: [hpv] Transportation Planning is Failing Because it Trys toSolve the Wrong Problem.

RE Haston - or anyone else who might know:

   Just before I left Paris last month I saw on TV a report about the 
fact that cities all around the world who are taking out their 
downtown freeways and highways are cutting traffic are experiencing a 
resurgence of pedestrian and cycle traffic - as well as increased 
business. Here in SLO, the "powers that be" equate more parking and 
more cars downtown as increased business - and a group of us are 
saying that it just ain't so.

   Anyone hear of or about that report? If so, can anyone provide 
citations, a web site, etc.?

   --Jean Seay
   San Luis Obispo, CA

At 6:01 PM -0400 10/10/99, REHaston@aol.com wrote:
>Transportation Planning is Failing Because it Trys to Solve the Wrong Problem.
>
>In all my research, I've found that society at large judges a mode of travel
>almost exclusively on the amount of time one spends traveling, not on how
>productive or enjoyable the time is, or how much time is spent elsewhere
>supporting your choice.
>
>1. People exercising on their bikes, or reading the morning paper in a car
>pool or bus expend virtually no time traveling, yet most perceive these as
>"slow".
>
>2. Solo drivers spend as much time working to drive as they spend driving to
>work.  Figures such as %  US GNP spent on cars, average wage and auto costs,
>average commute time, etc., make this about 1 day a week*, an hour a day, or
>2 minutes/mile.  Add this to the average commute speed of just over 2
>minutes/mile gets you an average of about 15 MPH "true speed".
>
>(*plus 1/2 day supporting a myriad of indirect costs such as defending
>foreign oil, "free" parking, police and fire services, injuries, lost time,
>etc.  While we have an annual bicycle to work day, every Monday, and half of
>Tuesday is "Work to Drive Day".)
>
>3. Expanding cities to accommodate the "convenience" of solo driving has
>doubled city size and trip length.  This drags the average down to 7.5 MPH.
>Add all the time spent searching for parking, traversing vast parking lots
>and single story sprawling malls, and many fall below walking speed.
>
>Obviously, your mileage may vary.  Wealthier people driving cheaper cars,
>carrying passengers spend much less time.
>
>Yet they never approach the "instant and free" travel provided by fitting
>exercise and reading or other idle time into commuting; or anything that
>makes the activity more productive, pleasant.  My ideal transportation system
>would be geared around this.  Neighborhood transit hubs would be great
>"hangouts" so waiting for your bus, train, or carpool would be enjoyable.
>They would have all the fringes that health clubs, coffee (reading) houses
>and cafes have, along with day care, dry cleaning, groceries, etc.  This
>would raise community quality of life far beyond commuting.
>
>Streamlined recumbents with power assist for hills and loads, and crash
>worthy design would safely get everyone up to 20-30 MPH, quick enough for
>trips up to 10 miles.  For a country that is obese, and used to competing
>equally behind the wheel (this is what is really holding cycling back in our
>image obsessed, competitive society) a fairing to hide those huge thighs, and
>a motor to keep up with the hammerheads is mandatory for most.
>
>For longer trips across town, mass transit would have special ramps so you
>could drive on and off.  They would have a set of cords to recharge your
>batteries and refreeze the ice and water in your cooling/hydration system
>reservoir.
>
>In sum, instead of our trying to solve one problem (wasted commute time) with
>one answer (higher road speed with ever more roads, which has backfired
>terribly) we ignore life on the whole, and the more simple and effective
>answer of making our time spent more productive, cheap, and enjoyable.
>
>As usual, we fail to find the answer because we are asking the wrong question.