Lee Schipper: There’s no question there’s a place for cars in transportation, but I think in the case of the United States and Europe the place for cars will be smaller.
That’s according to expert Lee Schipper, who describes the way we might move around in cities and mega-cities of the future.
Lee Schipper: You know, there isn’t a best way. It’s a question of more or less balance of how we move. There’s a role for individual private transportation, but too much of it and everybody slows down and stops. There’s a role for large-scale collective transportation, bus rapid transit or metros. There is a role, a very important role, for non-motorized transport, for cycling.
Dr. Schipper is currently a visiting scholar at University of California Berkeley’s Transportation Center. He said the key to sustainable urban transportation is for people to live, work and play closer together.
Lee Schipper: The ownership of cars will probably continue to grow. The use of cars will be less than it has been. And above all we won’t need to move around as much because we discover that we can do all these great things closer to home.
Schipper predicts a 20- to 30-year transition to more sustainable human mobility.
This podcast was made possible in part by Shell – encouraging dialogue on the energy challenge.
Sure there are lots of bikes in Europe and Scandanavia. The distances are so small. We can’t make the US smaller. It’s not going to shrink.
so he’s saying future cities will be like NYC is now, only with more bikes?
As a long-time bicycle commuter, I would really like to see more of these ideas realized — where cycling, walking, and public transport are the norm rather than the exception. It can only happen through planning and willingness to change the patterns in how people get from here to there.
I think it would be a good thing to work and play closer together. We might find new friends that will be supportive, compassionate and everlasting.
It is a very nice podcast! It gives food for thought to a new trend. The need for public transportation and closeness.
When a need arises, humans create an idea in their mind first, followed by an invention and a design to supply that need. Everything that exists starts in the mind. If people have something in their minds, progress comes easier.
USA is behind on public transportation. Western Europe is smaller and more crowded, so they are ahead of us in that aspect. We use cars too much, but this is a big country. 10, 20, 30 years from now there will be more cars, yes, but we will use more public transportation at the same time, and we will work from home, or closer to home.
In Mexico they say: “the best school for your children is the closest from home.”
Recreational trails and public transport provide viable options to the automobile, helping to relieve congestion, and to promote physical health and mental well-being.
Thanks mate. Good article you got here. Got some more websites to point to with more information?