… more public transport. The speed, interconnectivity, frequency, and price of public transport is inversely proportional to the number of cars. This especially affects rural areas, where the trains which connected villages have been reduced to a minimum in the last decades. In the United States, the great paradigm of planning in the service of the private automobile, public transport has diminished between the years 1900 and 2000.
… more shared cars. Privately owned cars spend 97% of the time parked. This means that we could have one car for every 33 people. A network of shared cars and vans that you can use when necessary would save on space in cities, the energy expenditure of their production, and the economic cost of buying and maintaining a vehicle.
… another urban model. Urban planning which is centred on the automobile makes workplaces, leisure spaces and residential areas far removed from each other. If the kind of city in which we live makes a car necessary for our day to day, this becomes a tax on our lives. We’d prefer a city that invites you to stroll, to discover nooks and crannies, to meet with others, and to stop at the neighbourhood shop.
… more space. 50% of urban space is dedicated to cars. Multilane roadways are the makers of urban scars. With fewer cars, the city would gain space for other kinds of transport, so we could walk while maintaining our distance to be safe from covid, and for other uses such as festivals, fairs, stalls, and all kinds of recreational activities for the public.
… better efficiency. Moving a car that weighs a ton in order to transport a person of 70 kilos isn’t very efficient in energetic terms. This wouldn’t matter so much if we didn’t find ourselves in a situation which demands the minimization of CO2 emissions, and in which it is important to reduce energy demands.
… have those that are left over, electric. Electric cars are only a part of the solution. They eliminate urban noise and pollution, but still occupy space and produce accidents, and their production still has a high energetic cost. Moreover, they increase the pressure on the electrical system, and until this can be 100% renewable it will still be a pollutant. They also present a new problem, that of the high toxicity of batteries.
These changes will only be possible when advertising disappears. Only freeing ourselves of their spell will we be able to make sure that more people stop using cars. Until this is achieved, we’ll continue to highlight the debate and ‘detour’ adverts as a collective.