After reading this article I must admit that every group with too radical views can by harmful. City activists with their ideas to close cities for cars and trucks is just stupid. If they think that they will buy goods in shop as they can now then they are wrong. In the other hand, "car lovers" that can only travel by car aren't 100% right. Usually I travel using trains or trams, but sometimes the situation causes me to choose a car and then I waste time, because every street is crowded and every parking spot is occupied. So, when I read that someone avoid public transport because he or she "don't want to travel with people" or "public transport is for poor" I feel really annoyed. Sometimes even traveling by bus is impossible because of traffic jam.
Very interesting topic. I had no idea how cruel London authorities used to be. I believe both activists and antiactivists are right in some cases. We should work together to minimize traffic and carbon emission but no one should be forced to do so because of some minor group. It's fine to educate, encourage and change people's habits peacefully but doing it by orders and bans would cause more harm than good. I think the first step we should take is to show everyone, both rich and poor, that public transport is actually quite comfortable and much more affordable than car.
The ideas presented in the article are really interesting, but some of them seemed to be extreme, e.g. “all vehicles apart from bicycles are a pure evil and should be banned”. As your image illustrates the reality is not always so bright. As with any change, there would be people who like it and who don’t. Unfortunately, I don’t have a bicycle in Warsaw because I left it in my family town. Currently, I don’t have a car either so I use only public transport in Warsaw. I think for now it’s fine. The biggest thing that discourages me is the lack of parking spots in the city center.
I do not support activist behaving so radically. I think that most of such behaviour will have bad influence on people and only make more reasons to hate activists. There are a lot of better ideas such as better city transport, investing in electric vehicles or even improving car sharing experience what would reduce amount of car users in cities. I ride bicycle from time to time. Most of the time I'm using electric scooter and I'm trying to use only bicycle lanes. I would love to use public transport if it was improved but for now it's almost impossible to move from one part of the city to other for shopping for example and make this experience a quick one.
I think that such activists' ideas are usually not the smartest. Out of curiosity, I wonder what activists are doing to make a living, because they always have a lot of spare time and attend all the demonstrations. So, maybe their ideas are good from their point of view and for people similar to them. I don't have a bicycle but I'd like to buy one next year. I intend to use only during trips and not as a daily mode of transport. When I use Veturilo I always use bike lines if it's available. There is nothing worse than cyclists on the road if there is a bicycle path next to it. Public transport should not be free. They should be fast and efficient and if they do, people will give up using their own cars every day.
Surely the issue of urban activists and the means of urban transport is one of the most heated ones today. The global polution and climate change has forced authorities to rethink the way of how the transport should look like in modern cities - I am actually interested in the issue and I do believe that The Lewis–Mogridge position mentioned in the article is true, but it should be considered in future planning rather than in redesigning existing roads and traffic; Being an avid cyclist, my views may be biased, but I firmly believe that the bicycle is one of the most convenient means of transportation in urban areas; The bike lane infrastructure in Warsaw keeps on improving and apart from some certain areas within the city centre it is safe to commute by bike. Public transport is also an essential part of decluttering our streets and I do believe that we should follow certain western European cities that had to tackle the same issue - e.g. London's Thameslink railway service and London Rail in general provide service that is both fast and convenient - statistics do show that throughout the years more and more people have been gradually dropping cars in favour of public transport and this action has had its reflection in reduced air pollution levels.
Personally I'm not an activist but I suposse it might be a way of living that some people choose. In my opinion all types of street protest are a so so idea's becouse they hit other people not elits who have power but still decide to do nothing. I have an image of angry child that try to gain attention by getting offended. I'm not sure if I could support their ideas I never studied them but I totally agree that good public transport should be the only wehicle on the streets of big city but I cannot imagine drivers adjusting to such idea. I'm not a bike person so I'm not riding them very often but there should be some regulations about bicicle lines. I definitely prefer to walk instead losing my valuable time.
After reading this article I must admit that every group with too radical views can by harmful. City activists with their ideas to close cities for cars and trucks is just stupid. If they think that they will buy goods in shop as they can now then they are wrong. In the other hand, "car lovers" that can only travel by car aren't 100% right. Usually I travel using trains or trams, but sometimes the situation causes me to choose a car and then I waste time, because every street is crowded and every parking spot is occupied. So, when I read that someone avoid public transport because he or she "don't want to travel with people" or "public transport is for poor" I feel really annoyed. Sometimes even traveling by bus is impossible because of traffic jam.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic. I had no idea how cruel London authorities used to be.
ReplyDeleteI believe both activists and antiactivists are right in some cases. We should work together to minimize traffic and carbon emission but no one should be forced to do so because of some minor group. It's fine to educate, encourage and change people's habits peacefully but doing it by orders and bans would cause more harm than good.
I think the first step we should take is to show everyone, both rich and poor, that public transport is actually quite comfortable and much more affordable than car.
The ideas presented in the article are really interesting, but some of them seemed to be extreme, e.g. “all vehicles apart from bicycles are a pure evil and should be banned”. As your image illustrates the reality is not always so bright. As with any change, there would be people who like it and who don’t. Unfortunately, I don’t have a bicycle in Warsaw because I left it in my family town. Currently, I don’t have a car either so I use only public transport in Warsaw. I think for now it’s fine. The biggest thing that discourages me is the lack of parking spots in the city center.
ReplyDeleteI do not support activist behaving so radically. I think that most of such behaviour will have bad influence on people and only make more reasons to hate activists. There are a lot of better ideas such as better city transport, investing in electric vehicles or even improving car sharing experience what would reduce amount of car users in cities.
ReplyDeleteI ride bicycle from time to time. Most of the time I'm using electric scooter and I'm trying to use only bicycle lanes. I would love to use public transport if it was improved but for now it's almost impossible to move from one part of the city to other for shopping for example and make this experience a quick one.
I think that such activists' ideas are usually not the smartest. Out of curiosity, I wonder what activists are doing to make a living, because they always have a lot of spare time and attend all the demonstrations. So, maybe their ideas are good from their point of view and for people similar to them. I don't have a bicycle but I'd like to buy one next year. I intend to use only during trips and not as a daily mode of transport. When I use Veturilo I always use bike lines if it's available. There is nothing worse than cyclists on the road if there is a bicycle path next to it. Public transport should not be free. They should be fast and efficient and if they do, people will give up using their own cars every day.
ReplyDeleteSurely the issue of urban activists and the means of urban transport is one of the most heated ones today. The global polution and climate change has forced authorities to rethink the way of how the transport should look like in modern cities - I am actually interested in the issue and I do believe that The Lewis–Mogridge position mentioned in the article is true, but it should be considered in future planning rather than in redesigning existing roads and traffic; Being an avid cyclist, my views may be biased, but I firmly believe that the bicycle is one of the most convenient means of transportation in urban areas; The bike lane infrastructure in Warsaw keeps on improving and apart from some certain areas within the city centre it is safe to commute by bike. Public transport is also an essential part of decluttering our streets and I do believe that we should follow certain western European cities that had to tackle the same issue - e.g. London's Thameslink railway service and London Rail in general provide service that is both fast and convenient - statistics do show that throughout the years more and more people have been gradually dropping cars in favour of public transport and this action has had its reflection in reduced air pollution levels.
ReplyDeletePersonally I'm not an activist but I suposse it might be a way of living that some people choose. In my opinion all types of street protest are a so so idea's becouse they hit other people not elits who have power but still decide to do nothing. I have an image of angry child that try to gain attention by getting offended. I'm not sure if I could support their ideas I never studied them but I totally agree that good public transport should be the only wehicle on the streets of big city but I cannot imagine drivers adjusting to such idea. I'm not a bike person so I'm not riding them very often but there should be some regulations about bicicle lines. I definitely prefer to walk instead losing my valuable time.
ReplyDelete