It’s a truth universally acknowledged that private cars are massively subsidised. Indeed, cars are an object lesson in the consequences of under-pricing. Because we don’t take account of the social costs of driving when we get behind the wheel, we drive too often, too far and in vehicles that are too large. Our cities sprawl, [...]
The Washington Post and DC.Streetsblog both report on a new study which estimates the potential savings in carbon emissions from car-sharing are relatively modest (see exhibit). The study was prepared by Rand Corporation for the US Department of Energy. Car-sharing differs from car rental in a number of respects. With sharing, rentals are short term, fees [...]
Every time Governments contemplate massive investments in urban road infrastructure, it’s instructive to bear in mind there’s a much better alternative. Instead of building something gargantuan like a road tunnel, they could instead elect to implement congestion charging across the metropolitan area. This involves charging motorists for the use of road space. Ideally, the charge [...]
I saw a driver scare the bejeezus out of two cyclists this morning by driving up close and giving them a long, loud blast with his car’s horn. This wasn’t a toot; it was a sustained, high-power burst at pointblank range. What probably provoked the ‘attack’ is the cyclists were riding in tandem side-by-side. The [...]
What’s John Howard’s 2001 decision to abolish automatic indexation of the petrol excise costing the nation? According to ABC journalist Annabel Crabb, the then-PM’s “state of electoral existential panic” more than ten years ago is now costing the Federal budget a massive $5 billion per year. That’s a huge amount. It’s more than Gonski says [...]
January 30, 2012 – 10:23 pm
ABC Science reported new research earlier this month, Pedestrians wearing headphones at risk, indicating the number of pedestrians in the US killed while wearing earphones trebled between 2004 and 2011. A report by Ninemsn said the majority of victims were male with an average age of 21 years. The authors of the study highlighted two [...]
By Alan Davies
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Tagged ABC Science, deaths, earbuds, earphones, fatalities, iPhone, iPod, Ninemsn, pedestrian, Pedestrian Council of Australia, Richard Lichenstein, Transportation for America, walking
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November 30, 2011 – 8:33 pm
A common observation by many historians I’ve read goes like this: “they failed to understand just how important such-and-such was going to be in the future”. In many cases, “such-and-such” is a decisive technology that went unrecognized until it ended up completely changing the game. Well, I think one technology that’s being grossly under-estimated today [...]
November 29, 2011 – 5:55 pm
I take an agnostic view of freeway proposals – I don’t assume apriori that they’re all bad or all good. I prefer to look at the evidence first before deciding if a proposal has merit or is a poor idea. But it seems there are some who will overlook evidence to the contrary if it [...]
November 14, 2011 – 8:51 pm
The exhibit shows that in terms of weekly household cash outlays, commuting by public transport is vastly cheaper than commuting by car, irrespective of where the commuter lives (see first three rows). Both fixed and variable costs are much higher for cars than for public transport. For example, outer suburban households where the workers drive [...]
November 13, 2011 – 6:32 pm
On average, workers who live in the outer suburbs commute 2.5 times further to get to work one-way than their counterparts who live in the inner city. That’s in terms of distance – probably no surprises there. However what’s not always appreciated is the extra time they spend commuting isn’t that much more – only [...]
