I think it is unrealistic to believe that we can create cities without cars, at least the way we live our lives today. We can reduce the use af cars, and decide to ban cars from some parts of cities, for example the city centre, but a total ban in cities seems farfetched.
I think it would be easy for people to use public transportation to get to scools and work, especially if workplaces and schools had a positive approach towards it. This requires of course good public transportation, and/or good networks of cycle paths.
One big problem, the way I see it, is to do things like grocery shopping. If you have two or three children (or more) it is hard to go by bike or public transportation twice a week to the grocery shop, especially the way supermarkets are built today. It seems like there is a trend towards building supermarkets outside the city centres so you are supposed to go there by car.
A way to reduce the use of car is to try to change peoples behavior and the way we think. For many parents it is natural to take turns in getting children to their activities, so instead of one parent driving one child they try to fill the car with three or four children. Maybe we could think the same way about grocery shopping, go two or three together in one car instead of one in every car.
I also believe in subsidies for "green" cars to get a large amount of cars with lower emissions and smaller environmental footprint in the car fleet.
Hello Gertrud!
SvaraRaderaI think it's really great to see a reflection from someone that either has kids or at least thinks about families that have them!
I also think it's great that you mention the use of greener cars and the fact that you count in people per car trip when mentioning going places like training.
Hello Gertrud!
SvaraRaderaI enjoyed reading your reflection on how we can reduce the use of cars. I agree that to not use cars at all will become very difficult, especially of how much we depend on cars today.
I liked how you've really taken into account various aspects in the discussion, and I think this is good. I also liked how you mentioned the possible solutions and suggestions on how we can reduce the use of cars.
A good review!
SvaraRaderaYou mentioned that it might be possible to ban cars in city centers but not in a whole city, which is exactly my point of view! You also refer to interesting aspects about the need of a car for a family with children. As I’m not in a position to think about having children I also never thought about problems that might occur when cars are banned in an area in which you have to drive with your children. These problems are definitely further reasons why a banning in whole cities is not possible!
The idea of a shopping-group is an interesting thought but it might comes to problems because the group members don’t want to go shopping at the same time and they don’t want to spend the same time in a shopping center. I think that shopping is a quite individual thing so that it might be complicated to combine the shopping interests of different people.