It may have taken a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to direct the general public’s attention to automobile use and how it affects everything from the environment to obesity. But some people study it—and how to change that habit and its impacts on energy consumption, air quality, climate, physical activity and more—every day.
A study featured in the summer issue of the Journal of the American Planning Association, and released in advance this week, aims to make decisions easier for those charged with designing and building cities that use less carbon in the future.
“There has been more research on the effect of community design on the amount people drive, walk, and use transit than any other subject in urban planning,” said Reid Ewing, professor of city and metropolitan planning at the University of Utah, and co-author of the analysis. “We have attempted to make sense out of the varied findings, and arm planners and policy makers with numbers they can use to justify compact development, mixed use, interconnected streets, accessible transit, and other smart growth measures.”
Research Overview
The researchers performed a meta-analysis of some 200 built environment and travel studies conducted since 1996, in order to measure the magnitude of relationships that influence a person’s travel choices. The statistical technique is a systematic way of combining data from many studies on a given topic to allow common threads to emerge, and also to calculate meaningful averages. The conclusions can then be applied with confidence by planners, policy makers and other professionals working to enhance physical, social and mental health of America’s communities.
Results and Conclusions
Travel variables are generally inelastic with respect to change in measures of the built environment. Of the environmental variables considered here, none has a weighted average travel elasticity of absolute magnitude greater than 0.39, and most are much less. Still, the combined effect of several such variables on travel could be quite large. Consistent with prior work, we find that vehicle miles traveled is most strongly related to measures of accessibility to destinations and secondarily to street network design variables.
Walking is most strongly related to measures of land use diversity, intersection density, and the number of destinations within walking distance. Bus and train use are equally related to proximity to transit and street network design variables, with land use diversity a secondary factor. Surprisingly, it found the find population and job densities to be only weakly associated with travel behavior once these other variables are controlled.
Soapbox Suggestions
- Make all drive-thru illegal
- All automobile GPS gadgets must have an option to eliminate left turns.
- All Employees must offer incentive for car pooling or taking public transportation.
- Make it illegal for parents to drive their children to school when public or school transportation is available.
- Make it illegal for student to drive to school when public or school transportation is available.
- Those who must have fast food should be able to call ahead and pre-pay an order for pick up. You can do that with any restaurant, why not fast food?
- The United States has to use railways as a way of transporting. No trucks can transport over 150 miles.
- Reopen all the freight only train tracks to passenger trains. It is time for bring back the train. The United States has limited passenger tracks but the reality is there is more than triple tracks available for more passenger routes.
- Make it illegal for deliveries between 8:00 am and 20:00 (8:00 pm), irrelevant of the time zone.
- Anyone working a five-day work week must either take public transportation for the 5th day or carpool.
- Start a four-day work week (10 hours days).
- All schools must offer extended hours. (this will allow for the four-day work week for parents)
- Commuter lots must be mandatory for all public transportation. In Ashland, WI there is public transportation, but no commuter lots.
- Put a “miles traveled” on any item in a store. This includes food, clothing, electronics and so on . . . If the product is manufactured in the US but parts are not . . . this must all be included detailed information.
- Put the speed limit back to 55 mph on all highways throughout the US with stricter fines for those going 60+ mph, doubled for any truck or automobile with a hitched item.
- Instead of police sitting on the side of the highway, use speeding cameras. Leave the police to actual emergencies.
- All US automobiles must have a 55 mpg rating by 2012. All other countries have at least that much, why not the US?
- Have a state car tax . . . the less mpg the higher the tax. Any automobile with 45+ mpg doesn’t have to pay the tax.
- Internet surcharge for all online purchases.
- Retail purchases locally (under 100 miles) get a 1% discount.
If you can’t get it locally do you really need it? The process of a lifestyle change has to start with a simple question . . . what is important to you? What kind of life do you want? If you have children the only investment should be shoes while the rest of the clothes should be from thrift stores.
If you want to invest and build a portfolio invest in local mutual funds, state funds or even your local city funds. You invest where you live, the returns are more consistent and not relying on any national interest rate.
Stop going to the Mall.
Carpool, public transportation, walk, or bike. Those in less milder weather (rain, snow, sleet) think about a four day work week, telecommuting, going to one income (take this quiz) or even taking a job close to home (walking distance preferred) or telecommuting position.
The United States has to get out of the “just because I can” attitude. Just because you can buy a huge truck doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can drive yourself to school, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you it is easier to sit your fat ass in your car and order a hamburger with a diet coke doesn’t mean you should.
The reason the United States has economic problems is due to laziness, greed and unwillingness to see the big picture. Just because you are told you can afford a home — doesn’t mean you should own a home. There are more homes for sale than there are qualified buyers . . . that says something. It is a reflection of the American people are so isolated to their own community that entitlement is more important than the community itself.
Just because you see it on Amazon for $10.00 cheaper than the main street retail shop doesn’t mean you should buy it online. Buying online doesn’t make a community – it makes you irrelevant to those around you. The United States has lost the true American spirit.
The American spirit is not patriotism or chanting USA! at the Olympics. The American spirit has always been about the “I want a better life”. Better is not bigger, more expensive or hiding behind a keyboard. The”better life” is about being part of a community, family, and actually being more than just an individual.
Until the United States changes its attitude about what is really important . . . it will never overcome the greed, corrupt politician or death of main street. The United States needs to not reinvent itself but get back to the big picture.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of you teaming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The United States is no longer free but a slave to commercialism, capitalistic politics and their automobile. The best form of economy is self sustaining and the most powerful is a strong local economy.