Accordingly, on Thursday, Ralph Buehler, a guest speaker from Virginia Tech's Alexandria campus, spoke to us about sustainable transport in Germany (comparing it to America); he constituted sustainable transport as walking, biking, and public transportation. First, he started off by comparing Germany to America (this was about the only time he went easy on America... but we deserve it): Both countries have federal systems of government
with a tradition of local self-government, strong economy, important auto
industry, highest levels of car ownership, most adults have driver’s license,
extensive road network, and lots of urban and suburban redevelopment. Problem number 1: Most German residents will walk distances less than one mile, where as American's tend to drive these short distances. Problem number 2: USA
has about 16% sustainable transportation, where as Germany has about 43%. Problem number 3: There is 3 times more C02 emission and energy per capita usage in the USA. Travel in the USA is more dangerous - you have 2.2 times more traffic fatalities per capita in
USA. It is 5 times more dangerous for bikers and walkers. US households spend more for transport, and governments
spend more on transport than Germany per capita. Problem number 4 (caused by 3 partially): Obesity rates are more than twice as high in USA.
After revealing the problems with America, he went on to stressing why Germany is successful with limiting car use. Taxes and regulation make car use more expensive
in Germany, and there is more funding for walking, cycling, and public transport. Land use planning is stricter and requires
cooperation among multiple levels of government. There is strategic leadership through national transport
and land use plans at the federal level. There are taxes on gasoline which increase every year, but come back in the form of social security later on. So you pay at the pump, but you get the money back through social security. USA takes in less
money than they spend in subsidies for roadways, but Germany takes in way more money than they spend (2.2x more). The German AAA gets off to the graph that displays the previous facts. Then, Buehler moved to a case study of an incredibly sustainable city in Germany by the name of Freiburg.
Freiburg has many traffic cam areas where
you go 4mph or below in a heavy pedestrian zone, or 20mph/ below in a lighter pedestrian zone. And then there are pedestrian only areas –
there are highways where they try to channel all the traffic going around the outside of the city. They built a
ring-shaped road around the companies where there are many above ground and below
ground parking garages. They tell drivers how many parking spots are available
in each parking garage at a time. The most expensive parking is in downtown areas. There are annual parking passes for some areas in and around Freidburg which are incredibly beneficial. Also, there are public transportation options covering everything from buses to trolleys: 75 towns, 187 operators, and over 3050km of routes are all integrated together after paying one flat rate of around 600 dollars (at most). These are especially convenient because 80% of all residents in Freidburg live within .km of light rail (and most of Germany follows suit).
Multi-modal coordination is another interesting perk alongside bicycle
infrastructure: lanes, streets and paths are offered – most German cities feature safe and attractive bike paths. They have stoplights specifically for bicycles (meaning cars stop and wait for bicycles to pass). German children takes cycling lessons and must pass a police administered cycling test. German drivers ed. favors pedestrians and cyclists over motorists. There is a specific law stating children and elderly people are not fully rational – you have to be ready to brake for them.
Finally, transportation and land use planning need to go hand and hand. Policies need to be multi- modal and offer incentives and dis-incentives. Sustainable transport policies must be long term, and have a lasting, significant impact. Controversial policies need to be implemented in stages, and plans should be adoptable over time so they can adapt to changing conditions. Citizen involvement is an integral part of policy development and implementation!!! We need to address all modes of transportation at the same time!
After Professor Buehler's lecture, I felt a decreased sense of nationalism. Hopefully, this link will help you and I overcome this: http://www.apta.com/mediacenter/ptbenefits/Pages/default.aspx. This article contains facts that really do look at the bright side such as public transportation’s overall effects saving the United States 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually, which is more than 3 times the amount of gasoline imported from Kuwait.
I thought Dr. Buehler's lecture introduced some great reasons for why Americans are more auto-dependent than Germans. Many Americans have grown up in families that drive cars everywhere, as a negative result of urban sprawl. This influences their future decisions to either drive or use sustainable forms of transportation. The US needs to implement better infrastructure for people who want to bike and walk, as it can be dangerous if the infrastructure is poorly planned. I also like your link to Public Transportation Benefits. It shows that not only is biking and walking so much better for the environment, but also for our economy. The fact that states "for every $1 invested in public transportation, $4 in economic returns is generated" should provide great incentive for policymakers in the US to consider greener forms of public transportation.
ReplyDeleteI think its just common sense for the government to look into improving transportation methods and our infrastructure. The problem is that unlike Germany, our government is so heavily influenced by wall street and lobbyists, in particular lobbyists representing the oil industry, that I just do not see any changes occurring in the near future.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Berkowitz
Of course Americans are more car dependent than other countries. I can almost guarantee that most people grew up with at least one car in their respective families. We need to improve our transportation, but we are too influenced by big business, particularly the oil industry which needs a car dependent country.
ReplyDelete-Connor Buzzeo