California is fighting to keep car & truck emission standards on a downward trajectory. This is important, but missing a more powerful opportunity to shift transportation to a mode that isn’t regulated at the federal level - Bikes.
Instead of continuing the status quo on transport, we need to induce demand for lighter, safer, active transportation which is better for the health and safety of our people and our planet.
We need to allocate space and build infrastructure to accommodate the riders we want to have, not the ones who currently bike against all odds. By building protected bike routes within and between our cities, we can increase adoption of zero-emission, Vision Zero transportation.
We need to transition daytime city deliveries to bike/cargo bike
We need plentiful, reliable, affordable ebikeshare EVERYWHERE - via public-private partnerships.
We need a variety of form factors available - ebikes, ecargobikes, adaptive cycles, escooters
We need to give rebates/incentives for the purchase of ebikes.
We need California to start turning away from automotive and towards bikes.
We need a network of protected bike ways in, through, around and between cities. If a car can drive it, why can’t a bike?
Sharing the road is a myth. When one party can kill the other in an instant, there is only one that has responsibility. Remove this inequity by building protected lanes so that no driver can unintentionally kill a cyclist.
Cargo bike delivery delivery should be adopted in all dense urban environments. It’s silly to think that deliveries can only be done via heavy, motor vehicles.
Freight, packages, takeout...it can all happen via ecargobike. TfL trialled cargo bike deliveries instead of a vans in London - the bikes were twice as quick
Impossible? Then let the heavy trucks have access overnight when they don’t have to contend with other vehicles or dodge people.
Cities should implement delivery co pays - a fee for every delivery…unless it’s via bike. And I mean ALLLL deliveries - Amazon, Doordash, FedEx, UPS, UberEats, Postmates, Instacart, etc... Fees paid would go to the “bike fund” for the gig delivery bike subsidies, training programs, cargo bike share, adaptive cycles, ebike subsidies & loan programs, bikes for kids...we could start looking like Amsterdam fast.
Then imagine what our cities could save if they transitioned their vehicles to ebikes/ecargobikes:
• vehicle cost
• maintenance
• insurance
• training
• wrongful death settlements
• employee health care costs
• greenhouse gas emissions
• air pollution
We must start doing things differently.
Even before COVID19 struck, the future of mobility was looking bleak. Autonomous Vehicles, even in fleet form, seem stalled. The Mercedes + BMW urban car share venture had shuttered after GM’s Maven contracted dramatically. P2P carshare Getaround is seeking a buyer while on fumes and Turo cannot be far behind given that most of the world is sheltering in place.
Uber & Lyft were reducing corporate teams before COVID19. Shared rides are eliminated and virtually no one is needing a ride as there is nowhere to go save for our essential workforce.
Micromobility has contracted as well with Lime cutting workforce and markets BEFORE COVID19 and has now removed virtually all scooters from operation. Bird and Lyft have also reduced scooter operations and Skip had to close in its hometown of San Francisco after its permit was not renewed.
And frankly, I don’t know who is riding a scooter that often except for the wealthy who can afford the pricy rides or poor who are given cut-rate prices of $5/month.
Our cities and the planet are desperate for shared mobility. But it is never going to scale/survive unless all parties come to the table and work together. Operators can’t get rich on this, but they can survive/make a modest income. And if cities want these options to improve their city then they should act like it by partnering rather than establishing an adversarial relationship.
How can these products be improved to reduce CAPEX? How can cities collaborate to reduce OPEX?
The air is crystal clear. Vehicle crashes, injuries, deaths have plummeted. Heart attacks and strokes are down as well. For all of the uncertainty and stress of our current situation, people and the planet are healing from the ravages of motor vehicle traffic.
We should take advantage of our forced hibernation and emerge into a society where 🚗🚕🚙🚛🚚 are used only when NEEDED, and 🛴🚲🚎🚌🚃🚈🚂 are prioritized by funding and right of way.
Work to reprioritize our streets and roads to move more people via active and mass transit should continue so the least amount of disruption happens when normalcy returns. And perhaps we won’t spoil the pristine air quality immediately.
At the top of my list for San Francisco:
1) BRT + Bike Lane on the Bay Bridge
2) Convert the Eastern lanes of the Embarcadero from street to a linear park much like what exists along the Seine. Start by closing Embarcadero entirely, and return the Western lanes as bi-directional traffic when normalcy returns.
3) Remove all motor vehicle traffic from Valencia Street and make it a Promenade for the People
4) Create a bike/pedestrian circuit by closing all perimeter roadways around San Francisco to motor vehicles
5) Limit 🚗🚕🚙🚛🚚 access in Golden Gate Park to the Museum garage and parking for the sports fields. Eliminate ALL through traffic.
We need to reduce reliance on personally owned automobiles. Solving for car ownership and usage won’t happen by wishing it, but by offering attractive alternatives. We can do this by 1) boosting transit funding so more people may be served well, 2) subsidizing shared vehicle utilization, 3) offering excellent transportation options for those not served by mass transit, 4) making bike/scooter transport safe and accessible.
Boosting Transit - Transit should be available everywhere there is sufficient population density. Our governments should be funding transit better so that excellent service is affordable. This has always been true, but now that COVID19 has slashed ridership and budgets, it will need to be underwritten to survive and renewed to attract the ridership we need.
Subsidizing Shared Vehicles - Cars should be avoided in cities, but until our housing is sufficiently dense, they will be needed. But we do not need so many of them. The ones we have should be shared. In fact personally owned cars that are not shared/sufficiently utilized should have a higher registration rate, parking price, etc… Sharing could be carpooling, Peer-to-peer sharing, or used for ride sharing. Independent electric fleets should have operations subsidized so that they can sustain operations and that the price to consumers is reasonable. All subsidies and incentives should be for fully electric and high mpg vs. performance hybrid vehicles.
Excellent Alternative Transit - There are groups of people that mass transit does not serve well - children, disabled, elderly, workers with atypical shifts (dawn, late night, graveyard), building a subscription system underwritten by a variety of funding sources in fully electric vehicles could take a tremendous number of cars off the road every day. Further examination below.
Making Bike/Scooter Transport Work - Choosing to ride a bike shouldn’t be just for those who are in peak fitness or willing to take risks. Cycling for transport should be safe and easy for people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds. Government should be investing in the infrastructure, shared systems, ebike purchases, and rider education. Especially in a state like California, we should be encouraging zero emission, Vision Zero transport in every possible way.
BRT’s are Bus Rapid Transit. They are a way of speeding buses through traffic. They can be cordoned off on freeways or painted red on city streets. By clearing traffic out of the way of the buses, they function more like trains making mass transit work for riders.
We need to prioritize the many over the few by creating transit exclusive lanes wherever possible. We cannot expect people to get out of their cars if they beat transit on cost, comfort, and timing. BRT’s help bridge the time.
At this writing, amid COVID19 Shelter In Place orders, SFMTA has reduced service to a few core lines. These remaining lines should ALL have BRT lanes when service is restored.
The San Francisco Bay Bridge should have BRT lane paint being poured at this very moment. There should already be a BRT lane on the bridge. And to further increase transbay travel options, one of the upper deck lanes should be repurposed as a bi-directional bike lane.
There are groups of people that mass transit does not serve well - children, disabled, elderly, workers with atypical shifts (dawn, late night, graveyard), building a subscription system underwritten by a variety of funding sources in fully electric vehicles could take a tremendous number of cars off the road every day.
• Kid Transit (below)
• Paratransit
• Off-hours workers
Micro transit has struggled in the past because of underutilization to justify the vehicle and/or the full-time driver. By creating partnerships and subscriptions at a rate that “can’t be refused”, the system has a stability to ensure that there is sufficient utilization.
A typical day would be spent transporting:
• “dawn shift” bakers, baristas, and childcare workers who need to be places before transit is running **
• morning school runs
• mid-day: half of the vehicles would serve field trips, half would serve paratransit. The goal is not to replace the paratransit providers, but to eliminate their dirty vehicles. We would want to recruit their drivers, many of who are part-time and not fully utilized, into full-time employees.
• late afternoon: afterschool and home runs
• evening: older kids who have late sports & activities that might be facing an hour-long Muni ride home
• “the graveyard shift” -- bartenders, waitstaff, and security guards who can take transit to work, but need a way home after hours. **
• overnight - healthcare workers, biotech employees, and others who are in operations working 24/7 **
** adults who can take transit at one side of their day, but not the other
In 2019 I attempted to launch “Kid Transit”. The vision is to provide a safe, convenient travel option for all school aged kids in San Francisco to get to school, to after-school activities, and home again. That by combining transportation dollars from the school district along with fees for parents who had the ability to pay, we could operate a fleet of electric vans to transport our kids (mainly K-8) instead of just transporting a handful of them in dirty, diesel buses. It was meant to be a bridge to Muni & bikes, not replace them. It’s rooted in the thought that a kid should not be limited to the school or activities to which their parents can transport them. (note: SFUSD is a “school choice” district, most kids do NOT get their neighborhood school).
This was the proposal I submitted.
Listen to a special Kid Transit episode of The Flying Car Show.
We desperately need to eliminate ICE vehicles. The cost of operation & maintenance put an undue burden on people who must have cars. And meanwhile, their noise, pollution, and climate changing emissions are killing people and the planet.
Studies have shown that people who live or work in loud environments are particularly susceptible to many alarming problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, low birth weight, obesity, diabetes, sleep disturbance, and cognitive impairment. City dwellers can lose “more than three healthy life-years,” in the course of a lifetime, to some combination of ailments caused or exacerbated by the din of motor vehicles.
Particulate matter is singlehandedly responsible for up to 30,000 premature deaths each year
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation account for about 29 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making it the largest contributor of U.S. GHG emissions.
We need to turn all motor vehicles to fully electric, zero emission as soon as possible. It’s about the health and safety of all humans AND to maintain a climate on this planet that humans can not just survive, but thrive.
On our streets, highways, and rails, the movement of goods is often prioritized over people. This makes no sense and it harms the planet.
The shifts required in space and time are small in the grand scheme of things and would result in lower emissions, increased productivity, and a better way of life.
Take Amtrak - BNSF Railway, Union Pacific and others now own the tracks, but they halt the passenger rail so that their trains can move through. And this is despite having the law in place that passenger trains be given preference. It’s the 21st century and there are computers, GPS, digital communication, cameras, and all sorts of things that would allow coordination. But somehow they think that fuel, corn, and whatever else is in those cars is more important than the HUMANS on board the train - and the law. Why?
And don’t get me wrong. More cargo should be on the rails. A well timed system would be beneficial for people AND freight. See how fast rail can be - even here in the US. But we must get people out of planes and onto trains whenever possible. And this will NEVER happen unless our rails are faster for people.
Cities should be shifting cargo to overnight. This practice has been in place in all major Indian cities for years. The cities are simply too dense for the trucks to safely maneuver and the increase in air pollution is deadly. So heavy trucks sit on the outskirts of the city and deliver from 11pm - 7am. Outside of those hours the trucks can be fined and even forfeit their driver’s license.
Paris has eliminated heavy polluting vehicles as well. They are banned entirely. If permitted they can drive in the city between the hours of 8pm and 8am. The restrictions on the types of vehicles will tighten each year.
New York City (pictured) has overnight vehicle deliveries, but I think that is simply because it is easier for the drivers than fighting NYC traffic.
Restricting heavy commercial vehicles makes sense. It reduces air quality, noise, GHG emissions, and road user conflicts. All cities should be moving to “heavy = overnight”.
We dedicate far too much space for the operation of motor vehicles and not nearly enough for people. We need to work with the built environment and make space for people. This could be by repurposing streets and roadways for 🏃🏾♀️🚶🏻♂️🚴🏽🚶🏾♀️🚴🏿🚶🏼🚴🏿♂️🏃🏽♂️🚴🏼♀️🚶🏿♂️ or as in this photo of the Underground at Ink Block, working with the 🚗🚕🚙🚛🚚 infrastructure to make beautiful spaces where people can walk, gather. Read and see more about it on No Cars Go.