Bicycle as an alternative
The Responsible Mobility Laboratory (LVM), a collective of Master’s students from all over the Netherlands, believes that short car journeys should be discouraged because of ‘the climate challenge’. It proposes various ways to do this, especially for the bicycle there are still opportunities.
The car is often pushed into the roadside on the way to a good future for our planet. A new call to partially restrict car use comes from the student collective LVM. Through Traffic network a publication from the LVM comes to our attention, which calls for the car to no longer be used for short journeys. In concrete terms, this concerns journeys of up to 15 kilometers. These could easily be covered by bicycle (whether or not electrically assisted), the LVM thinks.
In order to encourage people to use the bicycle more often as an alternative to the car, according to the LVM, car use must be discouraged, among other things. “In terms of infrastructure, this means that cars will have less space, especially in the city. Employers must also ensure that employees only use their cars if this is really necessary. They can do this by removing parking spaces or introducing a mobility budget. Furthermore, the pricing of fossil fuels must also become fairer,” the students say.
Bet on bicycles
Nevertheless, the LVM sees that the bicycle is not yet a perfect alternative to the car. To begin with, there are groups of people and regions where acceptance of the bicycle is low. “These are certain target groups, such as people with a migration background and the low-skilled, but also regions such as South Limburg and the Metropolitan Region Rotterdam The Hague. And there are laggards in terms of bicycle transport needs, such as commuting. For all these laggards, targeted and appropriate solutions that enable them to catch up.” The LVM also sees room for improvement in the area of infrastructure. “This needs to be addressed both in an active way with direct action, but also with redesign.” The LVM also sees benefits in ‘promoting cycling infrastructure in housing’. Then you logically have to think of new residential areas that are mainly designed for cyclists and to a lesser extent for motorists.
What do you think, should short car journeys be discouraged? Let me know in the comments.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl