Download
1 / 31
310 likes | 413 Views
Sustainable urban transport Fred Lee Department of Geography The University of Hong Kong March 15, 2012. Reducing Automobile Dependence. Why reduce automobile dependence? How to reduce automobile dependence? What are automobile-dependent cities?. The walking city. The transit city.
E N D
Sustainable urban transport Fred Lee Department of Geography The University of Hong Kong March 15, 2012
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Why reduce automobile dependence? • How to reduce automobile dependence? • What are automobile-dependent cities?
The walking city The transit city The automobile-dependent city Reducing Automobile Dependence • What are automobile-dependent cities? 8,000 BC - mid 19 C 1,870s - 1,940s -
Reducing Automobile Dependence 20-30 km
Reducing Automobile Dependence 50-80 km
Reducing Automobile Dependence • What are auto-dependent cities? ~ walking cities: 100-200 person/ hectare ~ transit cities: 70-100 person/ hectare ~ auto-dependent cities: 10-20 person/ hectare ~ automobile-dependent city > automobile: priority in urban development & infrastructure investment > assumption: automobile use will predominate
Reducing Automobile Dependence • What are auto-dependent cities? ~ high levels of private auto ownership > wealthy Asian cities: 88 cars per 1,000 person > European cities: 328 > Australian cities: 453 > US cities: 533 ~ all three types can co-exist in one city [examples?]
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Why automobile-dependent cities appear? ~ support from int’l development assistance agencies ~ national development programs (national car project) ~ road agencies more powerful than transit agencies ~ road agencies backed by powerful lobbies ~ no single agency can promote comprehensive solution ~ auto-dependent model: self-reinforcing
Reducing Automobile Dependence • From “transit city” to “auto-dependent city”
Reducing Automobile Dependence • From “cycling city” to “auto-dependent city”
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Why need to reduce automobile dependence? ~ environmental costs ~ health costs ~ economic costs ~ social costs
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Environmental costs ~ air pollution ~ noise ~ greenhouse gases • Health costs ~ road traffic accidents: # 1 cause of young adult death ~ # of people killed in traffic accidents each year? ~ ¾ of traffic accidents occur in LDCs
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Economic costs ~ traffic congestion economic loss (billions of dollars) ~ congestion lose new investments ~ lack public transport high transport costs for poor > 20 % income; 3 – 4 hrs • Social costs ~ “transfer of costs”: from car users to whom? ~ impact of public transport decline: gender biases? ~ freeway construction destroys communities
Reducing Automobile Dependence • How to reduce automobile dependence? ~ invest in public transit infrastructure > encourage “walking cities” around transit stations ~ provide space for walking & cycling > efficient, equitable & human form of transport ~ land-use planning to limit low-density sprawl > encourage high-density urban communities ~ resist auto dependence thru’ planning & control > priority: access to city services for all people
Reducing Automobile Dependence • International Best Practice ~ Bus rapid transit (BRT) (Curitiba, Brazil)
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Challenge for Curitiba’s BRT ~ how to minimize cost of public transit; & ~ make it a viable alternative to private auto use
Reducing Automobile Dependence Express buses on exclusive busways
Reducing Automobile Dependence High-density residential development along axis
Reducing Automobile Dependence “Boarding tubes” cut boarding time
Reducing Automobile Dependence Platform same height as bus floors
Reducing Automobile Dependence Lessons from Curitiba?
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Why automobile-dependent cities persist? ~ automobile dependence: institutionalized > transportation priorities: automobiles > residential development priorities: low-density > cultural priorities: “ideal home” as a separate house
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Why transportation priorities favor automobiles? ~ transportation system: demand-responsive; not demand-management-oriented ~ funding for road: economic, normal & necessary; $ for rail: uneconomic, outdated, unnecessary ~ subsidy to automobiles: hidden; subsidy for transit: fully public ~ funding for road: government grants; $ for transit: special loans, private money ~ transport agencies & planning agencies independent; no transited-oriented land use planning
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Why residential development priorities favor auto? ~ zoning regulations favor greenfield sites/ low density; gov’t planning resources commit to fringe areas ~ infrastructure subsidies favor greenfield sites; redevelopment projects not supported ~ lack of strategic planning to facilitate redevelopment; institutional framework does not integrate land-use planning and transport planning
Reducing Automobile Dependence • Why cultural priorities favor automobiles? ~ public aspire to the “ideal home” other options: second-rate ~ 50s/60s: high-density projects neglect env quality “density”: a bad image ~ building bylaws: “space” = “health” no regard for transport implications ~ some city planners: countryside better than cities they facilitate ex-urban development
Priorities in overcoming automobile-dependence in cities: Reducing Automobile Dependence
Reducing Automobile Dependence • What is the future prospect of auto-dependent cities?
