In Japan is common for a main street in a shopping district to be closed for vehicular traffic on Weekends.
However it’s pretty much only the main street that gets closed.
Comment on Should Australian cities adopt car-free days? - ABC listen
Zagorath@aussie.zone 11 months agoFrom the programme, it sounds like they mean shutting down most of the CBD to non-essential travel on a regular periodic basis. Like once a week or once a month or something. So deliveries and such would probably still happen, and obviously so would emergency vehicles, but the average person wouldn’t be allowed to drive in.
in a world where many many people struggle with mobility, there needs to be some form of semi-direct access
The thing is, a car-dependent world makes this worse for people, not better. It makes it hard to get places if you can’t drive, whether that’s because of a disability, an inability to afford the high prices, or because you’ve been excluded from driving, or, as a close family friend is currently going through, simply because of age and the physical & mental effects of aging.
Aside from the periodic changes, one of the best things we could do would be to permanently turn our CBDs into pedestrianised zones. Places where drivers are entirely allowed to go if they want, but where they have to expect to be driving very slowly because pedestrians get complete right of way. Here in Brisbane we already have this in a few places, like along Albert St between Adelaide St and Burnett Ln. As well as Burnett Ln itself. Extending that to almost the entire CBD (minus one or two key roads used by public transport—such as Brisbane’s Adelaide St) would be a massive boon for safety and comfort, without impeding the ability for people who still choose to drive to be able to.
Also, be better, ABC
Strong agree. A text transcription would be great, and personally I’d love it if they allowed you to play back audio at 2x speed because their presenters all speak so slowly.
prime_factor@aussie.zone 11 months ago
sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 11 months ago
When I was in Germany, given years and years ago, most towns bigger than a village had a pedestrian only shopping area. Full time no cars.
fiat_lux@kbin.social 11 months ago
As someone who also can't drive, I totally agree. But the only existing infrastructure I can use right now to get somewhat direct access to a location is a taxi. Even if I had a few thousand dollars to casually drop on a mobility scooter... stairs. Fucking stairs everywhere. And reception desks/bars made for 1.8m tall standing humans. And furniture packed so tight that you can't get past it, or just the casual rental bikes scattered in the middle of a footpath that has no curb cuts. Everywhere.
Shutting down the roads before providing viable substitutes and/or appropriate facilities is short-sighted and a terrible idea. And for me and many others, a terrifying prospect.
We're getting more of these in Sydney CBD, and thankfully the council is getting more proactive in providing more public seating, but I can't go there much or for long enough to visit maybe 1 or 2 businesses. From an atmosphere / community standpoint, I really love them. From a medical standpoint, I associate them with a high likelihood of pain and injury, and so I avoid them. I can't even imagine how expensive it would be to try to get a taxi going through multiple streets encountering those few pedestrians who think "fuck your taxi fare, cars must obey me, you should be walking too, so i will block your path intentionally", even though I would much rather be walking like everyone else. I've already copped abuse getting out of a taxi that was dropping me off because it was 'illegally stopping'.
We need ways of allowing people to do much more than just stand and walk in a public space before many people can realistically use those public spaces. Increasing the amount of those before making them accessible will hurt a lot of people, I'm just one of them.
Once a week? Fuck no.
abhibeckert@beehaw.org 11 months ago
This, 100% this.
I’m not disabled, but I was a full time carer for my mother who was disabled for years before she passed away from complications. Cities with pedestrian only areas were, in practice, a nightmare whenever we visited them… which we rarely did because life was so hard there.
And it’s especially bad when it’s a temporary setup, just on the weekend/etc. If you want to have a pedestrian only area then make it pedestrian only 24/7/365. That way whatever issues there are (stairs/etc) will actually be removed instead of just “oh I’ll do that when the market isn’t open”.
fiat_lux@kbin.social 11 months ago
I took the alternate route and put myself in the middle of the city. Can't fuck with me as much when there are fewer metres involved.
Agreed. The pedestrianisation of George St was successful because there were alternate parallel routes to use, public transport was built in, and additional permanent public accommodations built.
The idea of especially King St Newtown shutting down temporarily is horrifying. If for no other reason than emergency services getting stuck in endless one way lanes. That's before we get to the overcrowded public transport and totally fucked paths.
abhibeckert@beehaw.org 11 months ago
Which city though?
For example, in some European cities I’ve visited (and struggled with a wheelchair) the “ground” floor is commonly about waist high off the ground and properties might be too small (e.g. the width of a single bedroom) with no front yard at all so they just can’t have a ramp up to the ground floor at all. And you can’t add an elevator either because it’s a heritage listed area of the city and you can’t modify the 200 year old brick building.
It’s, obviously, easy enough to find a home for yourself in those cities that does work… but all your friends and family won’t live in a wheelchair compatible home and 90% of the businesses won’t be wheelchair compatible either. Shopping, in those cities, means the person in a wheelchair waits out on the footpath while someone else goes into the business to buy stuff for them.