One of the best articles I have read on the subject of car addiction for a long time. The HUGE problem is that the built environment was designed and planned around people using cars (instead of public transport). Impossible (almost) to disentangle that relationship. What city councils can do, is curb car traffic by having a policy (city entrance, road pricing, parking tariffs) that differentiates vehicles according to their emission profile and footprint (use of space). Look, people will always value the use of a car for practical, comfort, range and safety reasons — all ‘ingredients’ for instance cycling cannot offer. A lot can be won by reducing our passenger car footprint. Average occupancy is 1.1 person anyway. Tackles another thing in the process; problem is that the huge battery packs EVs are using, only cause the car to gain weight and girth, which is killing for traffic throughput, the condition of roads and bridges, and for our living environment. And the car already had an obesity problem in the form of the SUV...

Above: cars are wider than the driver (often the car’s only occupant) is tall, the lanes twice as wide as the car. Reduce vehicle footprint and mass, and smaller battery packs suffice, more kWh can be squeezed out of 1 kWh, etc. Even infrastructure could be utilized more efficiently. Here’s a recipe.

Cheers, Ralph