What do you want in the place of cars?

[Dogtrousers]

I'd welcome a change in the ownership model. Less need for private ownership and all the cost involved. Fewer cars sitting idle. More journey sharing. Something like a cross between Uber and Zipcar with knobs on.

Plus, of course, reliable public/shared transport. There's a lot that could be done to make it flex in response to demand rather than always just running to a fixed timetable.

Let's face it, we've sleepwalked into a car dependent society. We can't just get rid of cars, even we wanted to.

 

[Drago]

I think we largely could, but people simply do not want to.

 

[Cathryn]

I've just been asked by a motorist on Twitter.

So far, off the top of my head I've got:

• Public transport that isn't more expensive and less convenient
• Low traffic networks that encourage walking and cycling
• An end to subsidies for cars
• Communities that don't force people into car use unnecessarily
• Car sharing schemes
• Practical bike space on buses & trains
• End regressive car pricing by converting fixed costs to variable costs (see also car sharing above)

I agree with these.

I'd say more public transport, which is affordable. Trains, buses. Particularly (personally) to rural villages. Investment in cycling infrastructure to make it safer and more appealing. Car sharing schemes (again in villages). Make it MUCH easier to take bikes on trains and buses.

 

[All uphill]

In place of everyone owning their personal mobile living room?

I'd like to see self driving cars that we summon by phone when we need them. They'd be parked out of town when not needed.

There'd be no need for on street parking. Imagine!

 

[Cycleops]

But we could have the world's best public transport and the self entitled bone idle lazy masses will still find an excuse to drive a car.

This is really the heart of the problem and almost impossible to eradicate.
Maybe the UK should follow Singapore in its attitude to car ownership. You have to buy a permit for a car before you purchase which is £88,000 before you even buy the car. The cost of all including a hybrid Toyota with taxes is £151,000.
This might sit well even with many on here though.

https://news.sky.com/story/drivers-...on-to-own-a-car-vehicle-not-included-12977276

 

[Ming the Merciless]

public transport
Cycling
Walking

Roads returned to the hard working British people to move about and not given over as a massive country wide car park.

 

[All uphill]

This is really the heart of the problem and almost impossible to eradicate.

I agree, but, but, but..

I think the addiction to individual car ownership is for several reasons other than transport.

A way of displaying one's success.
Expressing one's personality.
Because its the norm - it's what you do.
Because the alternatives are very poorly developed.

All of those are fine, but cumulatively they cause huge problems. Each of them could be tackled if there was the political will.

 

[cyberknight]

In place of everyone owning their personal mobile living room?

I'd like to see self driving cars that we summon by phone when we need them. They'd be parked out of town when not needed.

There'd be no need for on street parking. Imagine!

This is pretty much my employers vision of car future along with the multi modal transport,car sharing etc posted elsewhere on this thread

 

[Andy in Germany]

In place of everyone owning their personal mobile living room?

I'd like to see self driving cars that we summon by phone when we need them. They'd be parked out of town when not needed.

There'd be no need for on street parking. Imagine!

So an almighty big carpark outside of every town? I'm not sure that would fly; everyone would be fine if it was the other side of the town, and then you'd have double the congestion with people calling and sending cars to the out of town car park, which itself would need security and no-one would want to live there.

This is the trouble; you either make life easier for cars, or you make life easier for everyone else; by definition doing one causes detriment to the other. It's a rare exanmple of a genuine zero sum game.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I think we largely could, but people simply do not want to.

One of the problems is that through decades of car reliance things have got too spread out, theres a lot of places that its impossible or nearly impossible to get to without a car, we need to start to move away from putting stuff on the outskirts of town.

 

[mjr]

One of the problems is that through decades of car reliance things have got too spread out, theres a lot of places that its impossible or nearly impossible to get to without a car, we need to start to move away from putting stuff on the outskirts of town.

or we connect them by direct cycleways with signal priority. Not the indirect shoot with beg buttons and obstacle courses we currently usually get in retail parks.

 

[Dogtrousers]

One of the problems is that through decades of car reliance things have got too spread out, theres a lot of places that its impossible or nearly impossible to get to without a car, we need to start to move away from putting stuff on the outskirts of town.

True

In some places local services have withered away. People we dog sit for (or did, when the dog was alive) live in a small village. No shops, no pub. Life without a car would be very difficult. So it wouldn't be a case of just waving a wand and making the cars disappear. There's about 50+ years of societal change to compensate for.

 

[All uphill]

So an almighty big carpark outside of every town? I'm not sure that would fly; everyone would be fine if it was the other side of the town, and then you'd have double the congestion with people calling and sending cars to the out of town car park, which itself would need security and no-one would want to live there.

This is the trouble; you either make life easier for cars, or you make life easier for everyone else; by definition doing one causes detriment to the other. It's a rare exanmple of a genuine zero sum game.

But if the cars are shared there will be far fewer. Most cars currently spend the vast majority of their existence parked. If cars were on call usage rates might go from (I'm guessing) 5% on average to 40%. So only 1/8th as many cars needed in total.

I'd rather replace cars entirely, but, as others have said, the UK's retail and public services are built around the idea of everyone having a car.

 

[Joffey]

I've just been asked by a motorist on Twitter.

So far, off the top of my head I've got:

• Public transport that isn't more expensive and less convenient
• Low traffic networks that encourage walking and cycling
• An end to subsidies for cars
• Communities that don't force people into car use unnecessarily
• Car sharing schemes
• Practical bike space on buses & trains
• End regressive car pricing by converting fixed costs to variable costs (see also car sharing above)

Flying car helicopter jobbies

 

[Deleted member 1258]

or we connect them by direct cycleways with signal priority. Not the indirect shoot with beg buttons and obstacle courses we currently usually get in retail parks.

Its not just cycle access we need, its public transport as well, but first of all we've got to stop building these places on the outskirts, and we need those that have been built made accessible by public transport without it taking twice as long as getting there by car, and there are other places to look at as well, our local hospital is on the outskirts and takes less than half an hour to get to by car from where we are, on the bus its almost an hour each way.