davidzipper

davidzipper, 4 months ago to boston

Me on free fares:

“My question is what problem is [free fares] attempting to solve? If the goal is to reduce emissions from cars, [then] the way to attract people who could otherwise drive ... is to provide service that is fast, frequent, and reliable.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/29/metro/boston-mbta-buses-cost/

#boston #transit

davidzipper, 4 months ago to random

Wow. Carmakers are going to hate this, but I think it's great:

A new California bill would require all new cars to contain speed governors that prevent them from going 10 mph+ over the speed limit.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/car-speed-governors-bill-18624126.php

davidzipper, 4 months ago to Tennessee

What happens when a small Appalachian town builds a lattice of second-story, outdoor sidewalks so pedestrians don't have to compete with cars for street space?

I visited Morristown, TN to find out.

Me, in CityLab

#urbanism #sidewalks #tennessee

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-01-24/morristown-why-a-tennessee-town-built-a-skywalk-to-rescue-downtown

davidzipper, 4 months ago to cars

The Guardian: "As they get bigger, the environmental harm caused by motor vehicles also grows. Setting some limits is the way forward."

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/22/the-guardian-view-on-suvs-the-trend-towards-vast-cars-needs-to-be-reversed

#cars #suvs

davidzipper, 4 months ago to random

Micromobility boosterism in the Financial Times:

"In cities at least, the e-car won’t be the vehicle of the future. I suspect it will keep falling further behind e-bikes, e-mopeds and e-scooters."

https://www.ft.com/content/61adc32b-6ce0-4a25-b010-e205a0e5db44

davidzipper, 5 months ago to Aviation

Amidst all the front-page 737 Max coverage, glad to see Axios note that the US takes aviation safety extremely seriously while basically letting carmakers design whatever they like.

https://www.axios.com/2024/01/13/airline-safety-boeing

#aviation #safety #crash

davidzipper, 5 months ago to scooters

Me in @FastCompany:

We should be rooting for e-scooter companies – not gloating when they go bust.

They may look weird, but e-scooters reduce urban car trips, making cities safer and less polluted. So show them some love.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91005446/e-scooter-companies-are-going-bankrupt-that-should-alarm-you-even-if-you-hate-them

#scooters #cities

davidzipper, 5 months ago to cars

On Marketplace, I explained why those who believe in capitalism should support regulating car bloat:

"For decades, people who buy enormous, heavy cars have been creating societal costs that they aren’t paying for. That’s what’s called a market failure."

https://www.marketplace.org/2024/01/04/the-hefty-costs-of-heavier-cars/

#cars #safety

davidzipper, 5 months ago to cars

Among the topics I discussed on @TheWarOnCars podcast:

🔹 Why golf carts are amazing
🔹 How GM accidentally launched Ralph Nader's career
🔹 Why automakers are addicted to car bloat

Have a listen:
https://thewaroncars.org/2024/01/02/fixing-americas-car-culture-with-david-zipper/

#cars #transportation #safety

davidzipper, 5 months ago to Trains

E. B. White on cars and trains in urban America:

"Already some cities are experiencing death by motorcar; Los Angeles is the most noticeable one."

From "The Railroad" (1960)

#trains #cars #losangeles

davidzipper, 5 months ago to DC

From 1978, an example of how Congress is both a) car-brained and b) hostile to DC:

The Senator who pushed the US to adopt right-on-red "as a gasoline-saving measure" bullied DC into it b/c he didn’t want to wait at traffic lights while driving from Bethesda.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/11/11/right-turn-on-red/d9bca1d5-3aa4-4327-aba0-a774937cd155/

#dc #traffic #history #congress

davidzipper, 5 months ago to delhi

My favorite mobility policy of 2023: Banning right-on-red

Inherently dangerous to pedestrians, ROR was widely adopted in order to conserve gas during the 1970s oil crisis (which, you might notice, ended decades ago).

Ann Arbor ditched ROR this year, and DC is about to. Denver, Chicago, and San Francisco may as well.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90908929/its-time-for-a-nationwide-ban-of-right-on-red

#safety #traffic #cities

davidzipper, 5 months ago to transit

Transit never needed "reinvention." It just needs service that's frequent, reliable, and extensive.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-21/hyperloop-one-to-shut-down-after-raising-millions-to-reinvent-transit

#hyperloop #transit #transportation

davidzipper, 5 months ago to transit

In CityLab, I argued that microtransit's hype is overblown:

🔹 On-demand, door-to-door trips require massive subsidies
🔹 Subsidies are the same for a 2nd, 10th, or 95th rider

Microtransit cannot scale. Fixed-route buses are usually a better option.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-19/the-inflexible-problem-with-flexible-microtransit?re_source=postr_story_1

#transit #bus

davidzipper, 5 months ago to cars

My new article is a deep dive in Slate offering everything you wanted to know about car bloat, from its history to its business rationale to policy fixes.

Make no mistake: The increasing size of SUVs and trucks deepens myriad societal problems from road safety to inequality to climate change. And the problem is only getting worse.

https://slate.com/business/2023/12/cars-trucks-suv-sales-electric-safety-risk.html

#cars #safety #climatecrisis

davidzipper, 6 months ago to random

As I told NBC NEWS, flawed US car regs enabled the Cybertruck.

“Unlike Europe, the US doesn’t require cars be tested for safety before they are allowed to be sold to the public,” [said] Zipper. “We let car companies decide for themselves when it’s safe."

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/pedestrians-already-dying-record-levels-now-face-elon-musks-cybertruck-rcna128603?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=6579df8d1bc5b50001545c09&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

davidzipper, 6 months ago to cars

“We need bolder regulation to redirect the automobile industry towards smaller instead of bigger.”

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/16/paris-us-size-cars-europe-emissions-suvs-france

#paris #cars

davidzipper, 6 months ago to tesla

Me in Slate:

The Cybertruck's design is reckless. Its weight, acceleration, stainless steel panels, and boxy front could worsen the US road safety crisis.

Even so, federal regulators are powerless to halt its launch. That should worry all of us.

https://slate.com/technology/2023/12/cybertruck-safety-elon-musk-tesla-danger.html

#tesla #cars #safety

davidzipper, 6 months ago to random

"Paris intends to triple parking charges for large SUVs in order to push them out of the city and limit emissions and air pollution."

Mayor Anne Hidalgo: “It is a form of social justice."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/08/paris-mayor-plans-to-triple-suv-parking-tariffs-cut-air-pollution

davidzipper, 6 months ago to ebikes

In Fast Company, I reviewed a momentous year for both AVs and e-bikes, two mobility modes now on very different trajectories.

#AVs #ebikes #transportation

https://www.fastcompany.com/90994141/why-2023-was-the-year-of-the-e-bike-and-not-the-self-driving-car

davidzipper, 6 months ago to random

Carsized.com is a great tool for illustrating car bloat.

Here's a Yukon next to a Civic

https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/honda-civic-2016-sedan-vs-gmc-yukon-2020-suv/

davidzipper, 6 months ago to flying

Me in Slate:

CLEAR is under fire for security breaches, as well as a business model based on selling TSA line-cutting privileges to affluent people.

Does the company even belong in airports? Congress is starting to wonder.

https://slate.com/business/2023/12/clear-lines-airports-tsa-congress.html

#flying #airports

davidzipper, 6 months ago to tesla

Wild that this thing is clearly a threat to anyone walking, biking, or inside a smaller car -- and the feds still offer a $7,500 subsidy.

#tesla #musk #elonmusk #cybertruck

davidzipper, 6 months ago to tesla

Elon Musk yesterday: "The US actually has far fewer deaths per capita than the rest of the world."

Actually, the opposite is true. Examples:

🇳🇿~45% fewer crash deaths than the US (per capita)
🇨🇦 ~60%
🇮🇱 ~70%
🇪🇸 ~75%
🇯🇵 ~80%

Musk is either lying or clueless (or both).

Supporting info in this CityLab article I wrote last year: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-03/why-us-traffic-safety-fell-so-far-behind-other-countries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BfMuHDfGJI

#tesla #elonmusk #safety

davidzipper, 6 months ago to transit

Writing for the World Economic Forum, I highlighted a few global transit lessons that the US should follow.

In short: US transit would be vastly improved by providing regionally integrated service that separates buses/streetcars from car traffic

#transit #trains #europe #usa #wef

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/preview/3cf0f977-a1c3-49e5-82cd-3316bce61c11/