I was delighted to hear on the TV a few weeks ago that Essex in the UK has realised the folly of trying to reduce the usage of cars simply by reducing the availability of spaces to park them in new residential areas.It has been policy in the UK for many years now to provide inadequate space for cars to be parked.
The result has been a mess in new developments, such as that shown here: "The Quills" in Histon, near Cambridge where we used to live. This seemed also to be pretty much the pattern for other new developments in the area.
I took these three photos a couple of years ago when we lived in Cambridge. This housing development was not yet finished, and not all houses were occupied, yet the pavements (sidewalks) were already covered in cars. The route out of this estate by bicycle is the same as the car route, and rather drag-strip like.I was astonished then that people would buy a house in such an area and I'm still astonished.
By way of contrast, here are three photos of how new Dutch housing areas look, taking as an example the nearest new housing estate to our home in Assen. This isn't an exceptionally cycle friendly design, but rather what is now quite standard in the Netherlands.
Note the wide cycle paths. Also that there is adequate car parking for the cars owned by the population. Drivers are not left "fighting" over an inadequate number of car spaces.No-one parks their car on the pavement or on the cycle path. There's no need to do so. As a result, neighbourhood conflict due to parking is very uncommon and of course cycling or walking through this area is easy.
It's pleasant to cycle through residential areas in the Netherlands because they are not dominated by cars.The design encourages cycling by positive steps, not by trying to make owning a car unpleasant.
That's the difference in attitude:
- Focus on making cycling pleasant, safe and direct as has been done in the Netherlands and it has a chance of becoming popular.
- Focus instead on making conditions bad for driving and you'll simply end up with grumpy drivers.
Carrot or stick ?
There are more posts about this new Dutch housing estate.
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Here in Toronto such cars would be towed away and impounded by the police. It looks like the problem in the UK is a lack of adequate law enforcement.
We don't have this problem here. Numerous caraholics complain about the lack of car parking in Toronto, but they don't park on the sidewalk. The City makes a massive profit on parking enforcement due to enormous fines which must be paid by the offender to get his car back.
In many cases, the fines are higher than the value of the car, so people just walk away from their car forever.
The BART public transit system in the San Francisco area tried a similar approach. They restricted parking near stations in hopes of encouraging alternative means of getting to them. However, since there are few or no viable alternative ways to get to BART stations...well, you know the rest.
Kevin, you're right that there is a lack of enforcement, but that is far from the only problem.
Because conditions for cycling are very often unpleasant, many people see no realistic alternative to driving to make their journeys.
Drivers paying an enormous amount in fines to use the roads in a way which feels to them as the only realistic way of getting about does not make for a happy society.
What is needed is urban design which makes cars optional. Perhaps even undesirable. This is not what Britain is doing.
But better enforcement simply makes life difficult for ordinary people who have nowhere sensible to park their car in a counrty with poor alternatives to the car.
Is it cycnical to wonder if the reason might be that it allows developers to cram more tiny boxes/'houses' on the site = makes more money?
The so-called 'eco-towns' which have nothing ecological about them and the changes in the planning regs to allow central govt quangos to overrule local decisions shows where power lies.
The corruption of democracy in the UK goes far wider than MP's expenses.
Thought provoking, as ever. When I read the title, I thought you were going to be advocating limited car parking spaces.
I'm curious about this whole carrot & stick thing. If you were to write a list of concrete (no pun intended) actions that make for more cycling & lower car use, what would they be? By concrete, I mean actual examples of the infrastructure & stuff, rather than concepts such as "make cycling safe".
i can certainly see how this makes sense, in theory its a good idea but without providing adequate alternative means its little more then an annoyance. true parking on walks is a problem and needs to be enforced. i wonder if there is not a bit of backlash against the cyclists and cycle users that live in these examples, because of their ability to park inside at night properly, it would make sense if everybody is pissed due to the lack of parking anyway...
I have to disagree with you on this David. The BBC article is about the size of the spots, not the number of spots. Secondly I have to question the judgement of those buying cars that won't fit in their parking spots, and those buying houses too small to fit their car. It's up to the car owner to find a suitable spot, and if they don't, they get ticketed and towed. Simple as that.
You're probably right that the councils are not doing the right things to promote cycling, but I assume they have reasonable provisions for public transportation and walking.
I understand Groningen is a hassle to drive in because you can't drive from end to the other, you always have to go around. You can't make it easy to drive everywhere, or you will have so much car traffic that you scare away pedestrians and cyclists.
I don't feel that high car ownership is part of the answer. If the idea is that people seldom drive, why assume that everybody has a car? Modern carpools are a better idea. You book the car over the internet and unlock the car with a smart card.
I agree that parking enforcement is sorely missing throughout the UK. But more serious IMHO has been and is still the complete lack of consideration for cyclists at all stages of the planning, construction and renovation of such areas.
Erik: The size of parking spaces and particularly garages has also been a problem for people in the UK.
It's true that Groningen is split into four so that it's impossible to drive from one side to the other direct through the middle. It's true that it can be difficult to find parking for cars in the centre of the city, and that this is part of what has given the city the highest cycling rate in the world. However, there is plenty of car parking at people's homes.
I agree with you that high car ownership isn't desirable. But that's the point. This is part of a policy which has successfully lead to lower car ownership.
The clever thing is that it has done so without irritating a large part of the population on a daily basis. When you look at the UK you find that policies are irritating motorists without providing any good way of getting about without a car. It's not just cycling, they're not providing well for public transport or walking either. For many people there, driving is felt to be a necessity as it's the least terrible way of getting about.
Anyway, talking of Groningen, I'm working there today and have to get on my bike now. So that's all.
Sexify: The complete lack of regard for cyclists in British planning is exactly the issue.
Oh, and before I go there myself, here's a link showing a modern residential street in Groningen. Plenty of space for neat and tidy car parking. Not many cars.
It may seem a paradox, but people see that they have a choice here. And doesn't it look a lot nicer than the pictures from the new estate in Cambridge ?
There is zero car parking where I live in Toronto. There is zero car parking where I work in Toronto.
To rent off-site parking is about $225 per month. The nearest place to do that is about 300 M from where I live and 200 M from where I work.
So to drive to work, I would have to pay $450 for parking and walk 500 M to and from the car each way.
It is much easier and faster to bike to work.
Kevin: There are a few places like that in the UK too. However, they're not popular with everyone, and they've not done much to make cycling a big part of the transport picture either in Canada or the UK (which have respectively 2% and 1% of trips by bike).
Despite my lack of enthusiasm for driving, living in such a place seems to me a bit like self flagellation. If at some point in the future I should need to drive a car for some reason, I don't want a load of hassle or expense.
That's what is so interesting about how it is here in NL. The policy here is much more successful than anything that's been achieved by "punishing" drivers. Staggering numbers of people choose to use bicycles and they do so not because they've got no parking spaces for cars or because they are being charged money to park, but because it's more convenient and more pleasant to go by bike. Carrot instead of stick.
Besides, garages are jolly useful in order to be able to store lots of bicycles !
But you also have to stop people converting the garage into a room at a later date
Kevin, Toronto concept of zero free parking sounds vary interesting to me. What about these $225 and $450 per month ? Is it market price on some private parkings, or city politics ?
I think people should pay what they use, and that should be a good way to allocate space optimally.
So, what about transport in Toronto ? Do many people pay those prices to use a car in the city ?
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