In this video, we will explore how lethal cars came to dominate social space, through examining what Ivan Illich called the 'radical monopoly' of the motor car.

0:00 Intro

0:10 The Social Ideology of the Motor Car

0:42 Car Harm: deaths and injuries

1:22 Ecological Cost

1:44 Why is the car treated like a sacred cow

3:50 Radical Monopoly

5:24 Illich Calculations

6:20 Sufficiency and Degrowth Solutions

8:22 Conclusion

I can’t help but think that cars (EV included) just aren’t the answer. I feel like bikes aren’t the answer either. I feel like the metro and high speed rail are.

Most people don’t drive because they like driving (US), most people drive because they have to. And that sucks. You shouldn’t feel like you’re forced to drive. Because that’s auto insurance and auto registration that you have to pay.

You can’t eliminate roads altogether. You need at least one or two lanes for fire trucks, ambulances, garbage trucks, etc. but you can create pockets of no car zones.

People like me who like cars, should be able to have places we store our cars. We should have places where we can explore the limits of our cars instead of driving through traffic. But that should be a strictly extracurricular activity.

In the no car pockets, you should be able to walk to a grocery store, hardware store, that has what you need. You should be able to have mixed zoning. Single family units shouldn’t be the norm. If I own a car but it’s not my dedicated form of transportation, I can buy a cooler car and I don’t need a garage next to where I live to store it. I can store it outside no car pockets so that I can take public transport to my car and then take my car to the track.

Yes, it’ll take awhile to get there but why aren’t we doing more to that end? Am I too idealistic?

Last fall, the city completed Phase 1 of the council approved Bloor Street West Complete Street project, which included nearly 4 km of protected bikeways from Runnymede Road to Aberfolyle Crescent in Etobicoke. Phase 2, which will add another 1 km of bikeways west to Resurrection Road and Six Points at Kipling Avenue, is planned for 2024. This project will contribute to giving folks in Etobicoke safer streets, more vibrant communities, a boost to local businesses, and more transportation options.

Ward 3 Etobicoke Lakeshore Councillor Morley is holding a virtual info session on the project on Monday, February 5th. Community members are encouraged to submit questions in advance for the Councillor and the City of Toronto staff that will be present at the meeting.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10502562

The vision of a future with driverless cars has caught the public’s attention but may be distracting us from investing in better ways to get around that we can implement now.

Peter Norton, a historian of technology at of the University of Virginia, joined the Smart Growth Network in a session that outlined how innovations in urban mobility are made by providing travelers with choices, and how investments in in proven and humane mobility choices will improve people’s lives and the communities they live in.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/12830614

Parks Canada is warning drivers not to stop while on highways to let moose lick their cars this winter.

The peculiar message comes as moose have been trekking onto highways to lick salt off of roads and passing vehicles, says Tracy McKay with Parks Canada.

"It does sound very funny … It's okay to laugh at it, as long as people drive responsibly and do what's best for the wildlife," she said.

McKay says Parks Canada puts out a warning every winter as moose venture down to highways to fuel their salt intake.

"Unfortunately, this kind of puts [moose] at risk of being injured or killed if they get hit by a vehicle," she said.

"Parks Canada understands that seeing those wildlife is a real highlight for a lot of people, but we ask people not to stop … so that the moose can't get used to licking salt off of the cars."

cross-posted from: https://mastodon.uno/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/111686535373919059

"Big Clearance! 12 in place of 1!"

"Grande offerta! 12 per 1!"

ENFB cyclists' union, Woerden, 1993; poster by Theo van den Boogaard

@fuck_cars

Hi everybody.

I'm sorry if my question is really weirdly specific. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time.

You ever see those movies, where people live in this techno-future dystopia, skyscrapers and traffic clogged freeways, car - centric urban planning with no greenery, no trees, think of like Times Square NYC, hyper capitalist neolib dystopia kind of thing.

You see in those movies, the main character (a socially detached loner) depressed, part of the reason is not just a horribly atomized and superficial Society, but the other reason is the wretched urban planning and brutalist architecture.

I think there's been a few articles already on the importance of good architecture for creating a more "communal" mental effect for the people in the town.

I'm wondering if you guys found any articles or essays on the importance of specifically good urban planning (I already read about architecture). Stuff about how car centric urban planning atomizes the individual, ruins the social fabric, ruins the communal mentality, etc.. Sociological stuff.

If you do, please comment. I'd love to read.

I know the report is for the US but it also applies to Canada because we have an almost identical car market, regulations, and truck culture.

Submitted a post to r/usa advocating for more public transportation, bikability, walkability, and urbanity in general.

What irony be this, that in my earnest endeavor to illuminate the virtues of civility, my words were misconstrued as mere jest, my wit mistaken for malice. How swiftly the great reddit mods strike, casting me into the shadows of banishment. My intent was pure, my purpose noble, yet my words lost their essence, I was reduced to but a troll. They called me a troll! Oh, the indignity! A troll they called me!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/6978371

Non-Paywall Article

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/5701064

Sudip Bhattacharya talks about his article at HardCrackers.com, "Socialism or Suburbia." Sudip is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at Rutgers University. He is also a writer, organizer, and you can find his other work at outlets like Protean Magazine, CounterPunch and Reappropriate, and the Aerogram.