Policy

Beyond Car Dependency: Seven Strategies for Creating Post-Car Cities

​This research paper examines the benefits, strategies, unintended consequences, and future directions for reducing car dependency.

Key Takeaways

• The paper defines a ‘post-car city’ as a city that has moved beyond car dependence and where citizens can comfortably address their essential needs without a car.
• The benefits of post-car cities are organised into four categories: environmental, health, social equity, and livability.

• In a post-car city, citizens experience a reduced necessity to travel, which can be achieved through proximity-based accessibility and virtual mobility, and are enabled to reach destinations comfortably with active travel and public transport.
• The main strategies for reducing car dependence are:

1. Develop and implement systematic and holistic campaigns to raise awareness of the adverse impacts of car use, to change the dominant car culture, and to co-design policies and interventions.
2. Land use planning that increases proximity through compact city policies.
3. Investment in public transport.
4. Improvements in infrastructure for active mobility.
5. Interventions restricting car use and removing cars from the streets.
6. Support for shared mobility modes that substitute private vehicles.
7. The use of virtual mobility to avoid motorised travel.

• Interventions restricting cars include (but are not limited to):

1. Car-free zones or car-free streets (pedestrianisation)
2. Low-traffic zones
3. Low-emission zones
4. Removing or restricting car parking
5. Increasing car parking prices
6. Street redesign that reduces the space allocated to cars
7. Congestion charging
8. Traffic calming

• Policies and urban models relying on such interventions are found in several cities. These interventions are primarily relevant to cities with a certain degree of density and public transport.
• For low-density environments, strategies such as raising public awareness, densification, mixed land use, investment in public transport, and the development of walking and cycling infrastructure are necessary prerequisites for reducing car dependence.
• Even pioneering cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Oslo are quite car-dependent if you look at their suburbs and peri-urban areas.
• The arrival of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles is often perceived as greener or safer options, and this poses an additional challenge that can slow down or halt post-car urban transitions.
• Car-dependent residents who have no alternatives to car-based mobility are likely to experience transport disadvantage, inaccessibility, and social exclusion in a post-car city.

Comment

Many jurisdictions struggle with raising awareness. Many politicians perceive significant political risks in running a campaign against car culture and instead choose to pick selective battles, such as charging for parking in a limited manner or implementing active transport infrastructure, often encountering significant resistance. More research is likely required to determine what would be effective in a successful awareness campaign.

What next?

Is your transport strategy and transport projects adequately tackling car dependency?

If you want to find out more about tackling car dependency, this wiki from Alex Dyer contains a treasure trove of resources.

Policy

The Forgotten Transit Solution: Why Cities Are Rediscovering Trolleybuses

I must admit that, before researching this newsletter article, I knew very little about trolleybuses, and I suspect that many of my readers are in the same position.

Trolleybuses run on tires and use overhead wires for power. This gives them some key advantages over light rail/trams, as they are more flexible and better at climbing hills and over electric buses, as they do not require re-charging.

Key Takeaways

• Once dismissed as obsolete, the trolley bus, now dramatically transformed by modern In-Motion Charging (IMC) technology, is proving to be an attractive option for cities seeking to decarbonise their transit networks rapidly.
• Trolleybus systems experienced significant growth during the 20th century, with over 800 systems established worldwide at their peak.
• However, the latter half of the century saw a decline in their usage due to the rise of private automobiles and the flexibility offered by diesel buses.
• Despite this, trolleybuses have maintained a presence in many cities, with approximately 300 trolleybus systems still in operation globally.
• Today’s trolleybuses leverage advanced battery systems and come with wifi, device charging, and climate control.
• Traditional trolleybuses were rigidly confined to routes beneath continuous overhead wires. Modern IMC-equipped models now incorporate onboard batteries capable of powering the vehicles off the wire for substantial distances.
• This off-wire capability addresses one of the trolleybus’ historical limitations, allowing for route flexibility around obstructions, reducing visual clutter in sensitive urban areas, and dramatically simplifying infrastructure installation.
• Lifecycle cost analyses have consistently shown trolleybuses to offer competitive total ownership costs, particularly due to longer vehicle lifespans and lower energy consumption.
• A host of global cities are actively reintroducing or significantly expanding trolleybus systems, driven by economic, environmental, and operational rationales.
• Implementing and operating trolleybuses requires careful thinking around the capacity and capability of organisations.

Comment

Too much strategic planning in transport begins by jumping to modal solutions rather than being mode-agnostic until the analysis is undertaken. Many jurisdictions have found that trolleybuses offer the best solution in certain circumstances, emphasising the need to evaluate options before deciding on light rail or electric buses, as they may not be the best solution.

What next?

Do you have transport problems you're trying to tackle where a trolleybus should be considered?

Leadership

Strategy vs. Tactics vs. Operations: Finding the Right Balance in Transport Leadership

Professor David Levinson recently produced a thought-provoking blog about how we are making the "Future" the Enemy of the Present. In his article, Professor Levinson argued that we are spending too much of our time and limited resources on strategic vision and megaprojects and nowhere near enough on much smaller and quicker projects that could deliver significant benefits much sooner, including improving bus services and active transport infrastructure.

I can't help but agree with Professor Levinson. However, as leaders in transport, this raises a critical question: how much time and resources should we be putting into strategy versus tactics versus operations?

There's No Universal Formula

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It very much depends on your context. If your daily operations are a mess and unreliable, then that is where you need to focus the lion's share of your time. However, if your operations are running well, then you have choices to make. So, how do you go about deciding?

A Framework for Deliberate Resource Allocation

First, be deliberate about what you give focus to and how much. You need to avoid the trap of simply reacting to what comes to the top of the pile. Reactive leadership leads to scattered efforts and suboptimal outcomes.

Second, get clear on your destination. To decide on your allocation, you need to be clear about the vision you want to achieve for transport and the objectives you have. Without this clarity, you're essentially flying blind.

Third, test different scenarios. Run some different scenarios of packages of projects and ask yourself: how well do they help you reach your objectives, and how quickly? This scenario planning helps you see the trade-offs more clearly.

Finally, optimise and refine. You can then decide and refine an option to get to the best balance for your goals. Remember, this isn't a one-time decision but an ongoing process of adjustment.

What Next?

Are you being reactive or deliberate about how you are spending your time and resources?

Professor Levinson's insights remind us that sometimes the most impactful investments aren't the grandest ones, but the practical improvements that can transform people's daily journeys today. The challenge lies in finding the right balance between building for tomorrow while delivering for today.

Quick Adventures in Transport Wonderland

Interesting articles, podcasts and papers that sent me down the transport rabbit hole this week:

• ​How France Saved Its Public Transit from Catastrophe​
• ​The Mobility-Productivity Paradox: Understanding the Negative Relationship Between Mobility and Economic Productivity​
• ​EV charging and fairness​

Blog

Why Is It So Hard to Fix Freight Rail?

This week, my blog looked at why we are finding it so hard to increase freight rail mode share and what can be done about it. I did not blame the usual suspects.

Innovation

​Japan's first 'calm' spaces offer sensory solace​

At Yumeshima Station in Osaka, Tokyo, visitors with sensitivities to things such as light and sound can take a moment to cool down and calm down away from sensory overload in Japan's first in-station spaces built for this purpose.

Tool

Road Damage Calculator

There is a lot of discussion about what we should do about car bloat, specifically the issue of vehicles becoming increasingly larger, which impacts safety and increases road damage. See here for a recent example. This tool enables you to compare the damage done to the roads by different vehicles.