“Electric cars are still cars. The focus on electric cars stands in the way of truly transformative change: better public transit and better laid-out cities that encourage active modes of getting around, such as cycling.”

Fewer (& smaller) cars, less driving, more choices, better cities.

#cities #urbanism #cars #EVs #bikes #transit

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-electric-cars-emissions-climate-change/

Never forget, multimodal streets (aka “complete streets”) are simply more efficient, because they move, hold & serve more people within the same space. Whether you think streets are just for moving people, or are for a LOT more, they’re just better.

Via NACTO #citymakingmath #cities #streets #CompleteStreets #cars #bikes #transit

#SFBART from downtown #Berkeley to #SFO is easy, as it should be. #transit > #cars

"The US’s transition to electric vehicles could require three times as much lithium as is currently produced for the entire global market, causing needless water shortages, Indigenous land grabs, and ecosystem destruction inside and outside its borders, new research finds.

It warns that unless the US’s dependence on cars in towns and cities falls drastically, the transition to lithium battery-powered electric vehicles by 2050 will deepen global environmental and social inequalities linked to mining – and may even jeopardize the 1.5C global heating target.

But ambitious policies investing in mass transit, walkable towns and cities, and robust battery recycling in the US would slash the amount of extra lithium required in 2050 by more than 90%." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/us-electric-vehicles-lithium-consequences-research
#degrowth #transit

Just caught #Messi transferring from the 7 to the 1.

#nyc
#nycsubway
#transit
#streetphotography

REMEMBER: “Elon Musk admitted to his biographer that the reason the Hyperloop was announced—even tho he had no intention of pursuing it—was to try to disrupt the California high-speed rail project to get in the way of that actually succeeding.” — @parismarx in #Gizmodo

https://gizmodo.com/silicon-valleys-transportation-failures-tesla-waymo-bir-1849382788

#Hyperloop #ElonMusk #California #Rail #cars #cities #urbanism #transit #transportation

This week's comic on the blind zones of America's gargantuan trucks and SUVs.

#transit #cities #mobility #cars #bikes #pedestrians #transportation #safety

Here’s the thing — If you HAVE to drive, or even just WANT to drive, it’s in your best interest for public transit, walking & biking to be as attractive as possible to EVERYONE else. It means everyone else can take up a lot less space to move.

If everybody drives, nobody moves.

#cities #mobility #cars #bikes #transit #urbanism #transportation #cityplanning

Cars take up unnecessary space when they are moving too!
In a cruel reflection of the class hierarchies we've created for society we prioritise space in our roads for the single most inefficient users. Effectively devoting a limited resource (#transit capacity) in who uses it in the most wasteful way possible, a privilege of owning a car. We struggle with city councils to get scraps of sometimes temporary space for buses or bikes.
And yet this space is not enough. It will never be enough.