Post APWkwNMve2BO99ITLM by fishidwardrobe@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by fishidwardrobe@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #APQc2H5FjyBeKnXRMu by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T09:01:30Z
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Kia ora toot friends. (Hello in Māori language)Tonight I am bringing some #transport, #bikes, #cycling, #urbanism and #antiCar #memes.I hope you enjoy them and are radicalised like I am. Once you start seeing how we've been trapped by #carDependency you cannot unsee it again.Let's fight for space for people, cities that are walkable, accesible, clean, green and safe.Of course, please contribute your own memes to the thread and also radicalise your family, workmates and friends!
(DIR) Post #APQc2Hl5EReCQX6qZM by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T09:10:23Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
Probably my personal favourite one is this extremely text heavy Simpsons #meme.I love it because it suddenly questions our assumptions of how normal it is to move about our cities, and it also highlights how wasteful and inefficient #cars are.Our cities can be very quiet and clean if we move in our feet, or bikes or scooters.Cars are noisy dangerous and dirty. We should make cities where we need to use them as little as possible.
(DIR) Post #APQc2IQClYXaU4LgfI by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T09:16:53Z
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In our unquestioning worship of the #automobile, we have built cities that are hostile to people!Cities OF people that are hostile TO people! How ridiculous is that?This image is a classic and it illustrates how most of our #carCentric spaces feel for humans on their feet, for kids wanting to play, for our disabled whānau trying to live a normal life.We can do better! We have done better for our whole history. It's really the last century or so where we allowed cars to take over everything.
(DIR) Post #APQc2Isv2nVdv7mcQC by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T09:25:37Z
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And yet we've bought into this idea that a car is indispensable. A basic need for our lives. A big metal box that spends over 90% of its existence just sitting there, waiting for us. Using up valuable space in our streets, gardens, parks, houses.Spaces we could use to play, plant, socialise, exercise or really anything else is devoted to the storage of a box that most of us use for an hour or two.
(DIR) Post #APQc2JI5XDdtBBYieW by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T09:41:53Z
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But we've adopted #CarCulture so deeply that for many, an attack on cars in general feels like a personal attack. Any attempt to reclaim space in our cities for #bicyles, #people, #parks or children feels like a loss that needs to be stopped and defended against.Often ignoring the reality that our urban built environment (and much of the rural building too) is completely car centric.
(DIR) Post #APQc2JtJIpPt2cyRfc by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T09:53:19Z
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Cars take up unnecessary space when they are moving too! In a cruel reflection of the class hierarchies we've created for society we prioritise space in our roads for the single most inefficient users. Effectively devoting a limited resource (#transit capacity) in who uses it in the most wasteful way possible, a privilege of owning a car. We struggle with city councils to get scraps of sometimes temporary space for buses or bikes. And yet this space is not enough. It will never be enough.
(DIR) Post #APQc2OBtJgekNPhLBg by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T10:01:57Z
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Space for cars can never be enough because of the natural rules of geometry and maths.You cannot move that many people in their individual boxes. It is inefficient, wasteful and really at some point just plain impossible.The #car is quite unique in the way that it is a mode of #transport that really quickly becomes worse the more people use it.
(DIR) Post #APQc2Px4ljzfq2mXNA by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T10:09:43Z
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But true to form, we have refused to learn from the last few decades of #motorway development.#InducedDemand is the phenomenon that explains that the more lanes we build, the more cars will be out driving on them. That's why widening #roads, adding more lanes ends up being a temporary relief, if anything, and quickly reverts to traffic jams, potentially worse than the ones we had to start with.
(DIR) Post #APQc2RtxWIglsxL4nA by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T10:18:39Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
City governments, urban developers, fossil fuel companies, #road builders and car manufacturers have created a self reinforcing ecosystem, where they all get wealthier by depending on each other. Convincing us of the lie that we do need one more lane. This is the one that will fix everything. This bypass, this new road, this expansion, once we get it done #traffic will be solved. For good.But it is never true and yet we try again, hoping for the silver bullet in the next lane we build.
(DIR) Post #APQc2TydnrceK3XqMq by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T10:26:09Z
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It is a well known and tested fact that a city where everybody drives is a city where nobody moves.But we still have a really bad case of #CarBrain in our societies.
(DIR) Post #APQc2VyMNsaOVlQeCu by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T10:34:18Z
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#CarBrain is what happens when we let our #cars become our identities. When we prioritise cars over the lives of the people who surround us, of our own children.Car Brain is the reason why #jaywalking even exists as a concept. Car Brain is a group project that the automobile industry has been working on for decades, and they have successfully installed it in most of us.
(DIR) Post #APQc2XV0hyIVFJiEjo by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T10:59:31Z
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There is a lot to unpack about #CarBrain. But this gif is a decent summary.Mainly its the idea that Cars = Freedom, but in a bad way. If you lose your car you lose your freedom.The idea that your car is your identity, your livelihood. One of your biggest expenses and sources of stress, too. You should get that noise checked, is the engine working properly?Everyone else outside your car is an enemy, they're slowing you down, they'll scratch your paint. Road rage. CW for blinking lights.
(DIR) Post #APQc2ZQpWU8rEvlvV2 by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T11:29:29Z
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#Motorists seem to be angry by default. And that's of course quite bad.They are angry at other drivers, angry at pedestrians, angry at #buses, angry at potholes and traffic jams.But the worst of all their anger is usually directed at #cyclists.We can't seem to get it right. Always in the wrong place, too slow and too fast at the same time.
(DIR) Post #APQc2bJoVXiZ5kVLqC by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T11:36:21Z
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This culture of anger that #CarCulture encourages has a very high cost. Lives are lost everyday inside and out of cars, but we've convinced ourselves that this is the only way to live. There's nothing we can do and these lives must be sacrificed in the altar of the #car.Cars ruin cities. Cars ruin public transport, our health and our very lives.
(DIR) Post #APQc2dFHLNHL4GOl3A by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-08T11:49:52Z
3 likes, 2 repeats
We've built streetscapes that centre and prioritise cars before everything else. And then we wonder why kids don't play outside anymore, why they can't be independent.Entire parks, playgrounds, homes and other amenities have been demolished since the 50s to make space for parking and motorways and service stations.The cult of the #car has robbed us even of childhood.
(DIR) Post #APSMQHeqATsVdR02l6 by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T07:43:49Z
2 likes, 1 repeats
Once you start seeing how much space we sacrifice for #cars, you can't unsee it. They have taken over our cities completely.And they feel entitled and justified to every single space available. Given a chance, anything becomes a parking spot.And if you dare speak up about it or oppose it, #motorists respond immediately with aggression, violent threats, racism and sometimes actual violence.Don't dare advocate for a cycle lane, some space in the footpath for a wheelchair user, or a stroller.
(DIR) Post #APSMQJqc1gU0QWWTNw by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T07:58:15Z
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Now we know that we are in a #ClimateCrisis. We know both that urgent action is crucial and that transport (our cars mainly) are an important source of our emissions.So they sell us an answer: #ElectricCars.But although they are part of the answer. They are nowhere near the silver bullet we're told they will be. And other, more important and effective solutions are ignored meanwhile. Like #bicycles and #publicTransport
(DIR) Post #APSMQLL8TgUd3ToMbI by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T08:10:35Z
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While it's true that #EVs have dramatically lower emissions when compared to combustion engines, that is only part of the problem.EVs do not solve congestion, or road mortality (they might be worse as they tend to be heavier).The production of batteries is very unsustainable and the need for charging infrastructure creates a new set of issues that need to be addressed in our public space. Essentially they need MORE of our cities.EVs are here to save the automobile industry, not the planet.
(DIR) Post #APSrZ08VmLdOTjVz5U by uriel@bbs.keinpfusch.net
2022-11-10T09:42:28.110Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
@pezmico@mastodon.nz when you go with bicycle, just bring a screwdriver with you. When a car is blocking you, just do some art on the car. Cars are ugly, they need art.
(DIR) Post #APUKhTRJnz2VVTfDl2 by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T20:51:29Z
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When measured by energy required to move people around, it's obvious that the real game changer in the EV field is not a Tesla, or even a car (although microcars come closer). The revolution here is the #ebike.It's cheaper, safer, more efficient, more fun and it makes users healthier and happier. Although it also shares the problem of sustainability for battery production, the scale of this issue for ebikes is drastically reduced (close to 100x)And the charging infrastructure already exists.
(DIR) Post #APUKhTuk2aZiyjQicS by fristi@akkos.fritu.re
2022-11-11T08:18:33.434933Z
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@pezmico on places where the infrastructure also permits mopeds, an e-moped would also be a good option if you do need a little bit of extra speed. It's still much better than an LEV with batteries between 2~4 kWh.
(DIR) Post #APWkwMLTRxQOyLbnRA by fishidwardrobe@mastodon.social
2022-11-10T09:22:59Z
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@pezmico I suppose you can argue that layer 5 is there to help prevent collisions, but most roads here (UK) don't have or need it. And no-one should be parking on the pavement like that, surely?Suburban street outside my door, built 1931. just two lanes. Space on the drive for a car if it's small. Wide pavements, so we park with two wheels on them so the busses can get through; there's still room for a pushchair on the pavement.It's not a bad compromise, given we all need cars.
(DIR) Post #APWkwMzt1hkczgW4Qa by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T09:37:48Z
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@fishidwardrobePrecisely my point is that we don't all need cars.It's a manufactured necessity reinforced by decades of propaganda and car centric design.And when you think "there's enough space to get through" I guarantee that there's a user (disabled, moped, bicycle, child) that's being endangered by your private metal cage in public space.It's not compromise, it's entitlement.And medians avoid collisions of speeding cars. Unnecessary at reasonable speeds.
(DIR) Post #APWkwNMve2BO99ITLM by fishidwardrobe@mastodon.social
2022-11-10T09:48:14Z
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@pezmico I'd love to live in a world with much fewer cars, but the first step is enabling people to live in the world without them. If Bob needs his car to get to work, that's not his fault. He needs cycle lanes or better public transport – or teleworking! -- not less parking.(Forgive me if I'm preaching to the converted. It's just I've had this conversation before with other people. Perhaps I'm pre-judging this one.)
(DIR) Post #APWkwNjGJ02zGPkJ9c by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T11:03:21Z
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@fishidwardrobe Yes agreed.I do not blame anyone individually for surviving in the system we have. But I do think that we need to end the idea that this is how it is and oh well. I accept I dislike cars, so... bias. But I recognise (begrudgingly) that some cars will always be needed.All people should be demanding fewer of us need to drive, so that the ones that really need to do it, can do it safely and efficiently.We shouldn't accept that everyone needs a car anymore.
(DIR) Post #APWkwO9UjT1yZm1G2i by fishidwardrobe@mastodon.social
2022-11-10T11:14:34Z
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@pezmico "We shouldn't accept that everyone needs a car any more"But: until the system changes – until we have decent public transport, cycle lanes, and a general acceptance of teleworking – they *do*. I agree our POV are very different. I suspect I'm a *lot* older than you. I'm in poor health, and my wife and daughter are disabled. So I can't imagine a world in which we wouldn't need a car. Me, maybe. But them, no.
(DIR) Post #APWkwOa58cIXuESUU4 by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T11:22:10Z
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@fishidwardrobe I think we are a lot closer than it may seem though. 😊What I'm saying is that step one is stop accepting it needs to be this way (for society in general) so we can demand change. Because for change to happen a lot of us need to put pressure on the powers that be. I accept that in your particular case, it's quite likely that you'll always need a car. And there's many like you.But you'd also be better off if most people could easily choose not to own a car.
(DIR) Post #APWkwOvLrXJOyCPTdY by fishidwardrobe@mastodon.social
2022-11-10T11:33:22Z
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@pezmico Oh I agree it doesn't *have* to be this way. But it *is* this way.We can design a better way. The question is how we get from here to there.
(DIR) Post #APWkwPJSPuauAxgjD6 by pezmico@mastodon.nz
2022-11-10T11:41:40Z
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@fishidwardrobe big question, I wish I knew.I do think that cultural change is at least part of the answer. In my city at least we still have local government members that treat Public Transport as a nice to have, sometimes, if we can be bothered. Not an essential service. Many people still see bike lanes as little more than a toy or a nuisance.We need to stop having to argue for every metre of bike lane, every exclusive bus lane, every time the train is cancelled.
(DIR) Post #APWkwPmseW87eDSE4W by otyugh@pouet.chapril.org
2022-11-12T12:21:53Z
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@pezmico Have you read Ivan Illich about cars ? I know it's a 1970's classic, but I think he has a point. Car's problem are the absence of limit ; if we only put a limit speed of 50km/h everywhere (set gradually) we could make the road more and more "for bike", to the point where car will be the exception without even the need to make special bike lanes.I think that, if we don't do it, it'll still happens considering the inevitable rise of energy prices to come.