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I’ve spent much of this year learning about car bloat, the process through which smaller vehicles are being replaced by increasingly massive SUVs and trucks.
What I’ve learned: Huge cars are terrible for society, often in ways that are hidden.
A summary 🧵
One way to make traffic enforcement more equitable: Have fines scale with income.
Last weekend one of Finland's wealthiest citizens was caught going 20 mph over the speed limit. His ticket was €121,000.
A group of San Franciscans realized that they can disable Waymo and Cruise robotaxis by placing a traffic cone on the vehicle's hood.
They're now encouraging others to do it: "Hell no, we do not consent to this."
Today's F-150 owners like to describe their vehicle as "powerful" and "rugged" -- while using it mostly for "shopping/errands" and "pleasure driving." (The vast majority don't tow anything all year.)
Well, this is interesting:
In NYC, a new bill would invite residents to submit photos of cars blocking bike lanes, schools, and sidewalks -- and then receive 25% of each $175 ticket.
Good news: Automakers are finally realizing that car touchscreens are a disaster.
Drivers hate them, and they're also dangerously distracting. Buttons and knobs are poised for a comeback.
Me, in
@Slate
On my watch, the great American road trip is going to be fully electrified.
And now, through a tax credit, you can get up to $7,500 on a new electric vehicle.
Today I met with officials in Helsinki, which has had a ~75% drop in road deaths over the last thirty years (including recent years with no ped/cyclist deaths at all).
Me: “How much of a role has IT played in reducing crashes?”
City official: “Zero. We simply slowed down cars.”
NEW!
@USDOT
is seeking your feedback on a critical topic – Intersection Safety. See “Enhancing the Safety of Vulnerable Road Users at Intersections” and see how you can contribute
In Paris, owners of big, heavy cars will have to pay extra to park.
Deputy Mayor: “There are no dirt paths , no mountain roads … SUVs are absolutely useless in Paris. Worse, they are dangerous, cumbersome and use too many resources to manufacture."
What should we do?
🔹 Tax vehicles by weight.
🔹 Test vehicles for pedestrian and cyclist safety (still doesn’t happen in the US)
🔹 Require a CDL for the most gigantic vehicles
Left alone, this problem will only worsen. Governments must step up.
Fifty years ago, William Whyte studied how New Yorkers schmoozed, sat, and relaxed the small open spaces available to them. This 1980 treasure was the result.
Join me as I share a few timeless lessons. 🧵
I like this trend of painting"unauthorized" crosswalks.
Cities almost always rush to erase them. That shows local agencies *can* move quickly to change streetscapes -- they just choose not to when residents request safety improvements. People should know that!
NEW: The District of Columbia will soon charge owners of supersized trucks/SUVs extra for the damage they inflict on society.
It's a groundbreaking model that other cities and states should study.
A 🧵 about my latest in
@CityLab
Something I love about Oslo: This city is incredibly quiet.
Lots of people are walking/biking/scooting. And most vehicles are electric, while speed limits are typically 30 km/hr (19 mph), so engine/tire noise is negligible.
A reminder that cities aren't loud; *cars* are loud.
Here we go again.
The NY Times cannot find anything positive to say about the most healthy and climate-friendly transportation innovation of the last decade.
In 6 days, the NY Times has run 4 articles about e-bikes -- all negative.
A few other stories the paper might consider:
🔹 E-bikes pollute far less than even electric cars
🔹 Compared to autos, e-bikes pose minimal risk to other people
🔹 Unlike cars, e-bikes provide exercise
My comment:
It’s absurd that the federal government offers $7,500 off an electric car, but $0 off an electric bike, cargo bike, golf cart, or Neighborhood Electric Vechicle— all of which have a much smaller carbon footprint.
NEW: Southwest Airlines will launch a new route from Baltimore (BWI) to Richmond (RIC).
At 121 miles, this represents one of the airline’s shortest routes, possibly in the top 5. BWI-RIC will commence on June 4 with 2x daily flights.
Details:
An AV engineer is stuck in a Tesla driven by her boyfriend's dad, who turns on FSD against her wishes:
"AITA for yelling to be let out of the car when my boyfriend's dad turned on the one feature I asked him not to?"
(Answer: No.)
New noise cameras in New York City's Upper West Side will snap a pic of cars and motorcycles exceedig 85 decibels (like being next to a lawnmower).
Fines are $220 for a first citation, and up to $2.625 for repeated offenders.
DOJ announced that it's suing eBay for selling 343,000+ "rolling coal" devices that enable trucks to violate the Clean Air Act. Fines could reach $2 billion.
We love to see it.
This is
@GM
's new Hummer EV.
The car is terrible for both road safety and the environment. The Biden administration needs to regulate it, not praise it.
A 🧵 explaining why
Problem 1: Car bloat endangers others on the street
Tall vehicles have bigger blind spots and are more likely to strike a person’s torso or head.
Heavier vehicles exert more force crashing into a person, bicycle, or smaller car. They also have longer braking distances.
To those complaining that speed-limiting tech is an attack on their freedom:
You do realize that -- by definition -- speeding is illegal, right? People are not free to do illegal things.
Last week the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that speed-limiting technology be required on all new cars.
It’s an excellent idea.
@USDOT
should do it.
My latest in
@FastCompany
. 🧵 below
Summary: Car bloat is terrible – for road safety, for the planet, for equity, and for road maintenance.
But bigger cars are often more profitable, so automakers like making them.
The only way out: Government action
Problem 2: Car bloat worsens climate change
Heavier cars require more energy to move, which makes them guzzle gas.
When electrified, their huge batteries are so inefficient that the biggest models generate more pollution that some gas-powered sedans.
Last week the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that speed-limiting technology be required on all new cars.
It’s an excellent idea.
@USDOT
should do it.
My latest in
@FastCompany
. 🧵 below
You love to see it:
A new bill in New York State proposes weight-based car fees, forcing owners of oversized SUVs/trucks to pay hundreds of additional dollars to register their vehicles.
*This* is how to push back against car bloat.
Yesterday the Treasury Department clarified that buying a colossal electric pickup truck like the Ford F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T qualifies you for a $7,500 federal tax break.
Meanwhile, buying an e-bike still gets you nothing.
Pontevedra, Spain has seen 20%+ population growth since going car-free in 1999.
Mayor of Pontevedra: "Not only have we not had a single road-related death in over a decade, but air pollution has been reduced by 67%."
BREAKING: The federal e-bike bill is BACK.
A new proposal would give Americans up to $1,500 off a new e-bike.
This bill is similar to its predecessor, which came tantalizingly close to passing last year. BUT there are some key differences.
🧵
Problem 4: Car bloat destroys roadways
Cars have become so heavy that US autohaulers can’t carry a full load w/o exceeding federal weight limits.
Car companies and truckers are asking Congress to raise those limits – but doing so would pulverize asphalt.
Yeesh. Electric SUVs and trucks are so heavy that crash tests don't work for them.
In a collision, these things can pulverize another vehicle -- let alone a cyclist or pedestrian.
Problem 3: Car bloat shreds tires
Heavier cars exert more pressure on tires, eroding them faster.
Tire particles are absorbed into water, where they damage ecosystems. They also float through the air, harming human health when ingested.
Some might say: “But people want big cars!”
Not necessarily. US automakers offer no alternative, and car bloat pushes buyers to upsize – if only to avoid being at a disadvantage on the road b/c *others* have big cars.
I forgot how cool European cities are. More compact, denser, more unique / interesting, cleaner, safer, pedestrian/bike friendly, a lot more pedestrian only plazas with people relaxing / hanging out. A lot more of outside is an outdoor living space, not just transportation space.
A driver going 50-70 mph veers into a bike lane, killing a person riding an e-scooter.
Do city officials respond by protecting the bike lane? Implementing a road diet?
Nope. They banned e-scooter use after 11p.
#victimblaming
Cost of using Stockholm's e-bikeshare:
24 hours: $0.98
7 days: $2.32
1 year: $14
Meanwhile, in San Francisco a four-minute e-bikeshare ride is $6.40.
The absurd expense of US bikeshare is a policy choice.
No federal e-bike rebate in the new Congressional package.
So you can get $7500 for buying an electric SUV, but 0 for buying an e-bike/e-cargo bike that pollutes a fraction as much (and poses virtually no risk of killing someone in a crash).
I do not understand the logic here.
Inflation Reduction Act first read thru: No, ebike credit not included. Yes, huge disappointment.
But looks like Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program has $3b for transportation infrastructure. Good.
"Paris intends to triple parking charges for large SUVs in order to push them out of the city and limit emissions and air pollution."
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo: “It is a form of social justice."
We’re only 13 days into 2023, but this might be the year when we finally realize that oversized, lightning-fast electric SUVs/trucks are a disaster – both for road safety and for the planet.
A 🧵
Oversized SUVs and trucks kill people in crashes, catalyze climate change, and widen inequality. And the problem is getting worse.
A 🧵 about my deep dive on car bloat, in
@Slate
Colorado is considering a weight-base car fee to address car bloat:
🔹 Fee would would apply to cars >3,500 lbs, up to $29.90/yr
🔹 $$ collected would fund bike lanes, road diets, automatic cameras, etc
🔹 Only collected in the 12 most populous counties
First, some basic info:
🔹 >80% of US car sales are now trucks/SUVs. Europe is behind, but catching up.
🔹 Models keep expanding. Ex: The 2023 F-150 is ~800 lbs heavier and 7 in taller than in 1991.
🔹 EVs can make the problem worse due to huge batteries.
Problem 5: Car bloat makes cars expensive
Big, heavy cars can be sold for more $. That’s why Stellantis CEO Sergio Marchionne made a famous pivot away from sedans in 2016, a move other carmakers followed.
It’s a key reason cars have become so pricey.
Well, this is spicy:
A bill introduced today in the House would give property owners nationwide "sole discretion" over whether/how much car parking to build on sites within 1/2 mile of a transit stop. In other words: No parking minimums.
There is a simple technology that would prevent this from happening.
It's called the speed governor, and it's been available for over a century. Carmakers have always hated it.
THREAD 🧵
Norway has one of the lowest crash death rates in the world, w/fatalities dropping ~50% in the last decade.
In Oslo, I asked a senior Norwegian transportation official what role car tech has played enhancing safety.
Her answer: "None. We focus on road design and enforcement."
This year 4,726 Denver residents received a $400 rebate off an e-bike or a $900 off an e-cargo bike (low-income residents can get more).
According to a city survey, recipients say their new e-bike/e-cargo bike is replacing 3.4 car trips per week(!).
This is amazing:
Starting next March, all French car ads must include a message promoting other modes, such as "For short journeys, opt for walking or cycling" or "In everyday life, take public transit."
Applies across TV, print, radio, internet, etc.
New study finds that electrifying SUVs could *increase* emissions by gobbling up scarce battery material that could otherwise help electrify smaller cars (not to mention e-bikes, minicars, etc).
Don't laugh: Golf carts could have a bright future as urban mobility vehicles.
- Smaller, slower, and safer than a car
- Ample storage capacity
- Usable by many people unable to ride a bike/cargo bike
If you don't believe me, feel free to search the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for anything related to pedestrian impacts: .
BTW the US is the only rich country with a trend like this. Source:
Pedestrians should wear reflective clothing and lights at night and wear bright colors during the day. Be seen. Stay safe while walking. Learn more pedestrian safety tips at .
Summary of 107 academic studies about e-bikes:
🔷 Use of e-bikes "is associated with lower energy and emissions."
🔷 E-bike riding "is a form of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity."
🔷 E-bikes "can cause a significant modal shift."
From curbing flights to taxing SUVs, France has enacted some of the most creative and climate-friendly transportation policies in the world.
An appreciative 🧵:
GM is killing off the Chevy Bolt and retooling its factory to produce electric trucks.
In one fell swoop, a step backward for road safety, emissions mitigation, and EV affordability.
Replies like this always baffle me.
Is the idea that e-bikes are useless because they can’t tow a horse box?
How often are you running around towing horse boxes?
"No one I spoke to for this piece could name a recent sizable pedestrianization or traffic-reduction scheme that had been reversed once it had been given time to have an effect."
This is a hell of a finding:
"We find [subways] have reduced population-related CO₂ emissions by about 50% for the 192 cities [studied] and about 11% globally." (h/t
@giulio_mattioli
)
In Paris, emergency response times have fallen b/c firefighters can use the city's growing cycle lane network. (H/t
@theoverheadwire
)
Something to share with bike lane opponents who claim to be worried about emergency access.
BREAKING-- Congress just released text of the “EBIKE Act," which would offer a refundable tax credit of up to $1,500 for a new e-bike purchase.
Link:
If it passes, the EBIKE Act would be groundbreaking. A 🧵:
Wow. Carmakers will hate this, but I think it's great:
A new California bill from
@Scott_Wiener
would require all new cars to contain speed governors that prevent them from going 10 mph+ over the speed limit.
In Lyon, residents owning cars >3,800 lbs (4,400 for EVs) will have to pay €540/year for a parking permit, 3x more than those owning small models.
Good move. Weight-based vehicle fees help address the climate and safety risks of car bloat.
Lithium is essential for batteries, and we don't have enough of it.
Look how much goes toward "Passenger EVs". Then consider that a Hummer EV's battery weighs ~3,000 lb, equal to 3 Chevy Bolt batteries or ~380 e-bike batteries.
Folks, what are we doing?
A new NY state bill would require those caught speeding 6+ times to install a device that prevents their car from going 5 mph above the speed limit.
Seems like a no-brainer. Anyone with 6+ speeding tickets is a serious threat to public safety.
I see some people think Norway is reducing EV subsidies bc EVs are already so popular there. Nope.
Norwegian transport minister: “We must make it more attractive to travel by public transport, cycle, and walk.”
Unreal video from Fairfax County Police. Officer was doing a traffic stop near Fairfax when FCPD says a 17 yr old driving a BMW M3 over 120 mph lost control & slammed into the pulled over car. It’s a miracle but no one involved was seriously hurt. Turn the sound up to hear it.