I'm sold. How do I get my city to depend less on cars?

Raise this issue with your local council. Use this site as your talking points. Raise awareness. Talk to your moms, dads, bosses, neighbors.

Refer to documented cycling design. Do note that these documents only serve as a point of reference. Every city is different.

Cycle infrastructure design (LTN 1/20) - GOV.UK

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycle-infrastructure-design-ltn-120

Urban Street Design Guide | National Association of City Transportation Officials

https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/

I got this from a video but can’t remember which video. Could be useful as well.

I haven’t read this yet.

Apply Market urbanism [referrer]​ where you implement congestion pricing like Singapore. One good city that has done this is Japan. Japan’s railway companies are making a profit. Here is a good text on why they are profitable reddit.com/r/neoliberal - why_are_japanese_railway_companies_incredibly

Some good ideas in here What can we do? : fuckcars like:

  • Some people have started community cargo bike scheme which is an amazing idea Community E-Cargo Bike Hire Scheme - a Community crowdfunding project in Portsmouth by Nicholas Sebley
  • I have seen a few countries where a few parents form walking or cycling buses for school children so they all move safely in one large block.
  • In extremely car dependent places, community car pool systems can be a very first step.
  • Planning your next holiday via train and bike
  • In sprawling suburbs where there is street parking anyway, dig up your driveway and make the front of your house an exceptionally beautiful garden instead. If asked about zoning requirements, just say you have a grass driveway but prefer to park in the street.
  • Grow some food at home (reduces shopping trips for fresh fruit/veg)

Need sources for these though.

Implement modal filters like this Photo of the Day: Modal Filters – Cycling in Christchurch

http://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/2021/12/27/photo-of-the-day-modal-filters/

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/rqsu1r/maybe_we_could_like_fix_it/hqensxx/

How to Fix Traffic Forever - YouTube - Wendover Productions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4PW66_g6XA

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/rqecnu/gotta_love_how_public_transit_wasnt_even/

This video starts off with induced demand. But his main two solutions are to use roundabouts and diverging diamonds. It means that his solutions are still car centric. Not really liking them.

His other solutions are okay. It’s about making more pedestrian friendly zones and congestion pricing.

We’re using our streets all wrong | Hard Reset by Freethink - YouTube - Freethink

https://youtu.be/hK7agOPye6M

When they wanted to make Times Square more pedestrian friendly, they implemented temporary solutions e.g. paint, chairs, tables. Things that can be removed in 48 hours or less. They wanted to find out if that is what the people wanted. Turns out, they do. This led to user-generated urbanism where you listen to the people of the city what kind of city they want to live in.

Here’s a post from a city council on how to get the changes implemented.

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/t208rv/im_on_city_council_heres_how_to_fix_your_city/

Here is a list of solutions provided from USA’s department of transportation. It highlights the main problems with our current roads and the steps needed to fix them.

https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/2022-02/2022_CS_Transformations_Doc_508.pdf

Here’s some steps from a reddit comment

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/tk5b1r/how_can_we_make_actual_change_happen/i1p38lg/

Here is another reddit post that goes really in depth on how to affect change for your local neighborhoods. How to go Car-Free or Reduce Car Reliance in the U.S. - Resource Sharing and Examples! : fuckcars

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/tc5ogx/how_to_go_carfree_or_reduce_car_reliance_in_the/

12 steps to introduce traffic calming from this traffic calming toolbox Traffic Calming 101

https://www.pps.org/article/livememtraffic

Cycle infrastructure design by UK’s department of transport (This is less for you to read but more to discuss with your local council regarding on how to build good bike infrastructure. the referrer has some comments regarding the safety criterias of a bike infrastructure from page 97)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/951074/cycle-infrastructure-design-ltn-1-20.pdf

So You Want To Fuck Cars: How to lobby local politicians to reduce vehicle impact (text post) : fuckcars

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/twzxjj/so_you_want_to_fuck_cars_how_to_lobby_local/

Car free days are also a valid way to get cities to go car free. In this article, majority of the public supports car free days on a weekly basis. You can show this article to your local council as well. Public support car-free days in towns and cities | Latest news

https://www.smarttransport.org.uk/news/latest-news/public-support-car-free-days-in-towns-and-cities

You can also join Strong Town’s local conversations. You can find one nearest to you in this map.

https://actionlab.strongtowns.org/hc/en-us/articles/360054839451-Local-Conversations-Map

You can also persuade businesses to provide discounts for people who cycles e.g. Bicycle Benefits

https://bicyclebenefits.org/

Resources

After lobbying from advocates, CDOT commits to better protection for Clark bike lanes – Streetsblog Chicago

https://chi.streetsblog.org/2021/12/21/after-lobbying-from-advocates-cdot-commits-to-better-protection-for-clark-bike-lanes/

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/rnp7zm/an_idiot_parking_job_chicago/

There is a lot of good suggestions in here when it comes to install proper bicycle infrastructure. There is also mention of this technology called Qwick Kurb where you can install temporary curbs. Not sure about the cost though.

IFP members - International Federation of Pedestrians

https://www.pedestrians-int.org/en/members-2

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/ro43de/you_could_help_fuck_cars_in_your_community_by/

Listing directory to cities that have organizations that advocates for more walkable places.

How to prevent rat running [442] - YouTube - BicycleDutch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okb63flApDY

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/rtaccr/you_dont_necessarily_need_onroad_cycleways_in/

How bollards help filter traffic. Only certain cars can pass through the bollards like buses and delivery vehicles. Cars can also pass through but you need a special pass. When you don’t have a special pass, each car has to wait 45 seconds before it can go through. This would deter cars who want to take a shortcut.

Cars only have a single lane both ways so that it makes it more unattractive for them.

De Pijp, Amsterdam 1972 [299] - YouTube - BicycleDutch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY6PQAI4TZE&t=124s

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/rrwyts/for_those_who_say_i_want_to_move_to_netherlands/

Kids being politically engaged. They want the safer streets to play. At 4:17, you can see there are still protesters. Very similar to the one that happened in the UK https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1508714/insulate-britain-protestors-video-range-rover-mother-m25-purfleet-essex.

Why Traffic Is So Bad In Los Angeles - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S76lKWeU_xc

He talked about congestion pricing where you have to pay a certain amount when you want to enter part of a city. You can see it at 10:35.

One-Way Protected Cycle Tracks | National Association of City Transportation Officials

https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/cycle-tracks/one-way-protected-cycle-tracks/

NACTO’s guide on how to make protected bike lanes. You can use this to recommend to your local council.

What’s Wrong With Free Parking at Work? - Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-14/what-s-wrong-with-free-parking-at-work

You can ask your employers to offer “parking cash out”. It’s a scheme where people who don’t drive to work gets some sort of cash incentive of similar value to those who gets free parking.

Commuters can continue to drive and park free, or they can take the cash value of the parking subsidy and use it for anything they want, such as putting it toward the rent of an apartment within walking or biking distance of work

There is a lot of benefits to implementing parking cash out.

From the article,

solo driving to work fell 17%, carpooling increased 64%, transit ridership increased 50%, and walking or biking increased 39%. These changes reduced vehicle travel to work by 12% — equivalent to removing from the road one of every eight cars driven to work. Employers reported that parking cash out was cheap, easy to manage and fair. It also helped them to recruit and retain workers.

Curbing the need to speed

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/04/curbing-speed

Changing the way we design streets make people drive the appropriate speeds. There’s also other ways to slow down speed: road works, public campaigns and smart cars.

The Dutch ‘Woonerf’ - an example of safe road spaces - News and Blogs - articles on road safety and youth - Yours

http://www.youthforroadsafety.org/news-blog/news-blog-item/t/the_dutch_woonerf_an_example_of_safe_road_spaces

Cars should behave as guests on these roads.

League Reports & Resources | League of American Bicyclists

https://bikeleague.org/reports

In order to make the case for cyclable cities, you need statistics to support your argument. You can use this.

HOW TO HOST A “SHOW CONGRESS” EVENT

https://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/show_me_events_web.pdf

A full start to finish how to host an event for politicians. It includes checklists, email templates, etc.

7 principles for building better cities | Peter Calthorpe - YouTube - TED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFjD3NMv6Kw

  1. Preserve - Preserve natural ecologies, agrarian landscapes and cultural heritage sites
  2. Mix - Create mixed-use and mixed-income neighborhoods
  3. Walk - Design walkable streets and human scale neighborhoods
  4. Bike - Prioritize bicycle networks and auto-free streets
  5. Connect - Increase density of road network, limit block size
  6. Ride - Develop high quality transit and affordable BRT
  7. Focus - Match density and mix to transit capacity