Car makers say autonomous vehicles are imminent. If so, they could dramatically reshape our cities, yet current long-term planning for our biggest cities assumes they’ll never happen
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CARS
Should drivers give up roadspace for cyclists?
The Herald-Sun and the RACV are united in their opposition to plans by Melbourne Cty Council to take roadspace in the CBD away from cars and give it to cyclists. Do they have a case?
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What drives higher public transport use?
The high cost of travelling by car is the main reason why Germany has five times as many public transport users as the US.
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Should cars be subsidised?
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, [...]
READ MOREAre cars the key challenge?
The accompanying map from Charting Transport shows the proportion of journeys to work in Melbourne’s inner city undertaken by car in 2006 — the rest were by public transport, walking and cycling (note that green denotes a low share for cars and red a high share*). There is a clearly defined area — the ‘golden [...]
READ MOREIs the car industry's "Cash for Clunkers" plan better?
The car industry has proposed a revamp of the Gillard Government’s “cash for clunkers” program. They say it will reduce the cost from $400 million to $200 million while still meeting the Government’s target of saving one million tonnes of CO2. The nub of the proposal is that the rebate on new cars should be [...]
READ MOREPublic transport: time for a new paradigm?
Sorry for the hoary cliché but I really do think it’s time for a new way of thinking about public transport. Much of the debate on transport in cities is too simplistic. All too frequently it’s reduced to a simple nostrum: “replace all car travel with public transport”. I think it’s more complex than that [...]
READ MOREWhat should be done about cars?
The Federal election provides our political leaders with the opportunity to take the initiative on making cars more civilised and sustainable
READ MOREWhat if you were the Premier?
Imagine you’ve just been elected Premier. You carried the electorate on a simple but radical two-promise platform: (1) to prohibit alcohol and (2) to shift all travel out of cars and onto public transport. The Party is solidly behind you. Members agree that both alcohol and cars are bad for the individual and bad for [...]
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