- UQ researchers recruited 10 car-owning Brisbane residents to go without their vehicles for 20 days;
- Participants were asked follow their regular schedules using only public transport, cycling, walking, micro-mobility devices such as scooters, and taxis and ride-share services in an emergency;
- Brisbane’s sprawling urban layout and public transport limitations were identified as the main barriers to permanent car-free life in the city.
It probably depends on how you structure your life in the city. If you start without a car then you build your life and contacts more locally. That’s how people did it in the past before cars. Admittedly there were a lot more local shops and employment opportunities. This is where walkable cities comes in.
It would be difficult to just give up the car as a lot of people have too much distance in their lives and public transport doesn’t go where they need to be in a timely fashion.
ada@piefed.blahaj.zone 19 hours ago
Well shit. I’ve lived here for 30 years without owning a car. Guess I have to buy one now…
Taleya@aussie.zone 18 hours ago
Yeah i have some friends living on NDIS in Brisbane who have never had vehicles or access. Car driving can absolutely be an habitual addiction for some peeps
eureka@aussie.zone 17 hours ago
I also think it influences what their daily schedules were. If someone expects to be able to go to certain places at certain times, that may no longer be possible, but if they were never using cars for primary transport, their obligations may be at different places or different times.
MisterFrog@aussie.zone 10 hours ago
I think it’s more than the city is not well laid out for most people to use public transport.
I live in Melbourne, and it is the same thing here (except that our public transport is better). I can live car free, but don’t begrudge those who choose not to.
What I do begrudge though, are the people voting for more roads and car-centric infrastructure. We should be building zero new car roads.
At most upgrades of intersections to make them work better. We need to be making it convenient enough for most people NOT to get in their car.