Notices by modacitylife (modacitylife@mastodon.world)

Here’s what Mayor Anne Hidalgo knew when she took office in 2014:

It wasn’t the hills, weather or culture that was preventing Parisians from cycling; it was a lack of safe infrastructure.

With that revelation—and some immense courage—she has unleashed a revolution in the city.

Here’s why politicians around the world should be watching Paris:

When she first started challenging car dominance, Mayor Anne Hidalgo was ridiculed, threatened and sued.

But these measures are working, and proving incredibly popular, as she was comfortably re-elected in 2020.

Bikes are a great tool for short journeys, but often overlooked as a way to boost transit for medium ones.

In the Netherlands, 82% of inter-urban trips between 25 and 40 km. are by public transport; enabled by a seamless bike-transit system that consistently outperforms the car.

In ‘Dark PR’, Grant Ennis outlines nine devious frames the automotive industry uses to obscure millions of injuries and deaths caused by its products; influencing how we process and discuss the issue and ultimately preventing meaningful political action.

They are as follows… 🧵

The Netherlands’ high-quality infrastructure means a third of trips by people aged 65 to 75 are cycled; the highest among all adult categories.

For many, the (e-)bike acts as a “rolling walking stick”; a mobility device easier on the joints than walking.

LISTEN: https://eastsidefm.org/episodes/1703746800/

While many assume separation between bikes and cars is best practice in all conditions, the CROW manual takes a more nuanced approach: “Mix where possible, separate where necessary.”

Where feasible, the speed and volume of cars should be reduced—to a maximum of 30 km/h (20 mph) and 2,500 cars per day. Only as a last resort, where traffic calming isn’t possible—where cars exceed 50 km/h (40 mph)—then physical separation isn’t just recommended, it is required.

WATCH: https://youtu.be/rh7g8b-Yk54

The electric train was invented in 1879. The safety bicycle six years later.

Unleashing the potential of these two “obsolete” technologies is our best bet at addressing the converging climate, health, resource, and inequity crises.

Not smarter cars. Not cleaner cars. Fewer cars.

Merry Christmas from the “gezellig” streets of Delft.

We’re not saying cities should ban cars.

We’re arguing they should stop prioritizing them at the expense of every other mode; forcing dependence through design.

With that revolutionary act, they become much better places for everyone, including drivers.

https://youtu.be/5px6L0X_hVg

One of the most notable things about cycling in the Netherlands is that it’s treated as a social rather than solo activity—often done in groups of two, three, four or more.

If your city isn’t planning its infrastructure and policy around this possibility, then it is missing out.

It never ceases to amaze how our work reaches every corner of the globe.

Places like Kosuke Miyata’s newly-published Japanese book "Learning from the World: How to Create a Cycling City", which features a few of our photographs—including the front cover.

https://book.gakugei-pub.co.jp/gakugei-book/9784761528669/

It is often said cities get the traffic they plan for, and there is no better example than evening rush hour outside Utrecht Centraal Station.

Where cars once dominated, a virtuous circle of sustainable mobility induced by great infrastructure, secure parking, and frequent rail.

https://youtube.com/shorts/-jfgdlYpf4M?si=CCRJcihNH7BFvfFQ

Reclaiming our communities from the car is about more than saving the planet. It’s about saving ourselves from the inequitable, unliveable, financially-ruinous places we’ve built.

Ten books we read this year that changed how we think about mobility.

An #urbanismbookclub thread.

By 2040, Dutch railways will operate 700,000 bike parking spaces at 410 stations nationwide.

Every single one is free of charge—at least for the first 24 hours—because they realize their purpose isn’t to create a new source of revenue… it’s to create a new source of passengers.

A quarter of all kilometers cycled in Dutch cities are to/from a train station. Half of all train trips start with a bike ride.

Thanks to the trains, there is more cycling; and thanks to cycling, more train usage. A virtuous circle of sustainable travel.

https://islandpress.org/video/webinar-unlocking-multimodality-n-america

“Cycling has so many advantages; it’s about noise, it’s about clean air, it’s about climate, but also about how friendly it is in a city.

You really have the idea that people are the boss of the street and not machines.” - Utrecht Deputy Mayor Lot van Hooijdonk

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boi0XEm9-4E

Electric micromobility helps level the playing field for more demographics than we often realize, including women, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

For any future to include more equitable transport, it should be a key part of the conversation.

https://womenmobilize.org/how-electric-cycles-and-micro-mobility-are-enabling-more-inclusive-transport-by-melissa-bruntlett/

When a 26-year-old Deputy Mayor proposed a 1977 plan that made the centre of Groningen virtually impenetrable by car, his party was the subject of outrage, protests and death threats.

Decades later, no one regrets the change or remembers the controversy.

Fortune favours the brave.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/how-groningen-gained-and-hopes-to-retain-the-title-of-the-worlds-cycling-city-photos-video

Streets aren’t set in stone, nor are they frozen in time. Just because they’ve looked one way for decades, it doesn't mean they can't change.

Rotterdam is a perfect blueprint of a post-war city designed around the automobile, that took back space for walking, cycling, transit, and public life.

https://issuu.com/islandpress/docs/ch1_optimized

Reducing space for cars is often equated with reducing access for people with disabilities.

This is not only false, it prevents cities from creating enabling environments; where those who can't drive can still move safely, conveniently, and autonomously.

https://mobycon.com/updates/accessible-cities-and-the-myth-of-car-dependence/