Sustainable urban transport
Fred Lee
Department of Geography
The University of Hong Kong
March 15, 2012
Why reduce automobile dependence?
How to reduce automobile dependence?
What are automobile-dependent cities?
What are automobile-dependent cities?
The walking city
8,000 BC - mid 19 C
The transit city
1,870s -
The automobile-dependent city
1,940s -
2.5 km
50-80 km
What are auto-dependent cities?
~ walking cities:
100-200 person/ hectare
~ transit cities:
70-100 person/ hectare
~ auto-dependent cities: 10-20 person/ hectare
~ automobile-dependent city
> automobile: priority in urban development &
infrastructure investment
> assumption: automobile use will predominate
What are auto-dependent cities?
~ high levels of private auto ownership
> wealthy Asian cities: 88 cars per 1,000 person
> European cities: 328
> Australian cities: 453
> US cities: 533
~ all three types can co-exist in one city [examples?]
Why automobile-dependent cities appear?
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support from int’l development assistance agencies
national development programs (national car project)
road agencies more powerful than transit agencies
road agencies backed by powerful lobbies
no single agency can promote comprehensive solution
auto-dependent model: self-reinforcing
From “transit city” to “auto-dependent city”
From “cycling city” to “auto-dependent city”
Why need to reduce automobile dependence?
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environmental costs
health costs
economic costs
social costs
Environmental costs
~ air pollution
~ noise
~ greenhouse gases
Health costs
~ road traffic accidents: # 1 cause of young adult death
~ # of people killed in traffic accidents each year?
~ ¾ of traffic accidents occur in LDCs
Economic costs
~ traffic congestion  economic loss (billions of dollars)
~ congestion  lose new investments
~ lack public transport  high transport costs for poor
> 20 % income; 3 – 4 hrs
Social costs
~ “transfer of costs”: from car users to whom?
~ impact of public transport decline: gender biases?
~ freeway construction destroys communities
How to reduce automobile dependence?
~ invest in public transit infrastructure
> encourage “walking cities” around transit stations
~ provide space for walking & cycling
> efficient, equitable & human form of transport
~ land-use planning to limit low-density sprawl
> encourage high-density urban communities
~ resist auto dependence thru’ planning & control
> priority: access to city services for all people
International Best Practice
~ Bus rapid transit (BRT) (Curitiba, Brazil)
Challenge for Curitiba’s BRT
~ how to minimize cost of public transit; &
~ make it a viable alternative to private auto use
Express buses on exclusive busways
High-density residential development along axis
“Boarding tubes” cut boarding time
Platform same height as bus floors
Lessons from Curitiba?
Why automobile-dependent cities persist?
~ automobile dependence: institutionalized
> transportation priorities: automobiles
> residential development priorities: low-density
> cultural priorities: “ideal home” as a separate house
Why transportation priorities favor automobiles?
~ transportation system: demand-responsive;
not demand-management-oriented
~ funding for road: economic, normal & necessary;
$ for rail: uneconomic, outdated, unnecessary
~ subsidy to automobiles: hidden;
subsidy for transit: fully public
~ funding for road: government grants;
$ for transit: special loans, private money
~ transport agencies & planning agencies independent;
no transited-oriented land use planning
Why residential development priorities favor auto?
~ zoning regulations favor greenfield sites/ low density;
gov’t planning resources commit to fringe areas
~ infrastructure subsidies favor greenfield sites;
redevelopment projects not supported
~ lack of strategic planning to facilitate redevelopment;
institutional framework does not integrate
land-use planning and transport planning
Why cultural priorities favor automobiles?
~ public aspire to the “ideal home”
 other options: second-rate
~ 50s/60s: high-density projects neglect env quality
 “density”: a bad image
~ building bylaws: “space” = “health”
 no regard for transport implications
~ some city planners: countryside better than cities
 they facilitate ex-urban development
Priorities in overcoming automobile-dependence in cities:
What is the future prospect of auto-dependent cities?