Chapter 12 What to Do? I sometimes think drivers don’t know what grass is, or flowers, because they never see them slowly … My uncle drove slowly on a highway once … they jailed him for two days. … Have you seen the two hundred-foot-long billboards in the country beyond town? Did you know that once billboards were only twenty feet long? But cars started rushing by so quickly they had to stretch the advertising out so it would last. Ray฀Bradbury,฀Fahrenheit฀451º฀ Abstract Most citizens/consumers currently give priority to issues such as (a) saving energy, (b) reducing pollution which brings serious effects on human health, (c) contrasting the decay of both natural and constructed environments. A series of projects is described in this chapter. They are introduced by a reasoning about the political content of the solutions proposed. Some of them have already been applied, some are being designed, other are ideas to be developed. Keywords Traffic฀ and฀ environment฀ •฀ Citizens฀ preferences฀ •฀ New฀ professions฀ •฀ Political฀ support฀ of฀ new฀ economy฀ •฀ Barriers฀ to฀ change฀ •฀ Retail฀ policy฀ •฀ Urban฀ design฀•฀Housing฀policy฀•฀Public฀transportation฀•฀Telecommunications The Political Issue In affluent countries, road construction encounters more and more opposition. Eventually, most of the new construction proposals are realized since the construction industry exploits the atmosphere of emergency and panic they themselves are able to create.฀High-impact฀public฀transportation฀facilities฀are฀also฀controversial,฀although฀to฀ C. Poli, Mobility and Environment: Humanists versus Engineers in Urban Policy and Professional Education, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1220-1_12, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 171 172 12 What to Do? a lesser extent. These days, governments are more inclined to finance a mobility policy and a traffic infrastructure if it can also be justified by the necessity to reduce environmental impact. An infrastructure is less likely to win popular consensus and be financed if it is proposed merely in the name of economic growth. At the top of the policy priority list, a growing number of citizens/consumers place issues such as (a) saving energy, (b) reducing pollution which brings serious effects on human health, (c) contrasting the decay of both natural and constructed environments. Governments should create the market conditions to allow the economy to respond to citizens’ new needs. There is plenty of evidence in social research that a growing number of citizens are currently dissatisfied with urban livability. They would be ready to buy alternative solutions to their mobility patterns such as trading fewer transportation facilities with more livable areas which do not require driving many miles in order to฀go฀shopping,฀to฀school,฀to฀work฀and/or฀to฀use฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀services.฀Unfortunately,฀ there is little and (therefore) expensive supply for this demand, which, on the other hand, is not yet well defined. If this new potential alternative demand really exists, it might be satisfied by the market.1 If the market does not work, because too many subsidies are assigned to the traditional transportation and infrastructure constructions, governments should recreate the conditions to make it work again and fulfill the existing demand. If we want a dynamic economy, we must favor innovative sectors instead of going on sustaining a mature industry such as construction. From฀a฀procedural฀point฀of฀view,฀we฀can฀assume฀that฀there฀are฀both฀political฀and฀ economic stakeholders who have an interest in change. There are those who (a) politically support decision-making methods based on citizen participation, and (b) technically propose the adoption of new solutions. These parties might find valuable allies and powerful sponsors in those investors who have an interest in a shift from the traditional appropriation of public money from physical infrastructure to developing economic sectors. Among these parties, we have both investors and professionals who look forward to applying new skills in newly created job markets. Politically, all these stakeholders are on the verge of initiating a change process. They will succeed if they would support the grassroots movements and the neighborhood advocacy groups who give voice to the new demands and highlight new needs. Citizens who already live in well established high-density communities are more keen to propose innovative and environment-friendly solution to traffic congestion and pollution than people who move frequently and/or live in single family units with little contact with others, like in suburbs. Other citizens will remain more favorable to road constructions and to the standard solutions. In fact, lack of community life and interpersonal communication makes it difficult to explain more complex projects and people tend to rely on simplified solutions. To a certain extent, this process of change is already taking place. 1 Besides the usual market of goods and services, we mean also the so-called political market, i.e. the existence of a political demand by the citizens that politicians are interested in fulfilling. This approach to politics was inaugurated by the celebrated Anthony Downs’ “An Economic Theory of Democracy”฀(1957)฀and฀still฀inspires฀an฀abundant฀literature.฀Although฀in฀general฀I฀am฀not฀a฀follower of an economic approach to politics, I admit that in this case it helps us to understand the current situation. The฀Traffic฀Revolution 173 It proceeds slowly because the people involved often do not have a clear perception of the political implications and the strategies necessary to implement it. It also happens because the potential technicians and investors in new approaches to traffic problems – although innovative from the technological point of view – are often politically฀conservative.฀Namely,฀they฀(think฀to)฀belong฀to฀the฀same฀social฀class฀of฀the฀traditional construction industry who are, at present, their real competitors. This alliance between innovative economics – to which new professionals and soft-industries belong, instead of the “let’s be practical”/material constructors – and the environmentalist movements has not yet happened because we lack a widespread political environmentalist culture. The environmentalist movements remain loaded with technical scientific approaches that prove ineffective in promoting political change. The Traffic Revolution Major barriers to change are: •฀ the structure of public expenditure; •฀ the power of the companies working in the transportation sector; •฀ the competence of the professionals who are in charge of traffic and transportation plans; •฀ consumers’ preferences and their difficulty in knowing about and adopting new possible behaviors. Prima facie, we propose three main actions in the traffic and transportation planning process: •฀ citizen participation that includes: – identification of the citizens’ behaviors and preferences; – public information and communication about new possible solutions to the traffic and transportation problem; – identification of patterns of behavioral change; – future visioning; – legitimization of information and decision-making processes; •฀ design of soft solutions such as: – – – – – – tele-work; logistics; telecommunication and information technology in a broad sense; economic and fiscal tools; a different legal framework; land use; •฀ higher education (university) programs that educate new professionals to deal with the traffic problem in a creative way and with a strong focus on social and philosophical environmental issues 174 12 What to Do? Given that we consider traffic revolution a comprehensive political issue based on theory and political philosophy, we are entitled to suggest some practical strategies and tools available to readdress traffic policy. All the policies listed below are likely to be more cost efficient in traffic reduction than the building of new infrastructures. Some of them have already been applied, some are still projects waiting to be implemented, others are just ideas. Commuting Reduction A flexible housing policy – based on both renting and ownership – can make possible a closer proximity of jobs and housing. This would reduce commuting. Laws and policies – e.g. incentives – should be addressed mainly to the middle class, which includes the majority of population. An overall reduced mobility (commuting, in this case) is in the interest of the most vulnerable sections of the population, such as asthmatic children and elderly people who risk pollution-related diseases. Middle classes are in the position to reduce their mobility since they can afford to spend money to improve฀their฀quality฀of฀life.฀However,฀they฀must฀be฀encouraged฀to฀act฀so฀because฀ nowadays, there is no market where they can easily “buy” the environment-friendly lifestyle they desire. At present, a shared political discourse is not yet available to deal with these kinds of justice problems that have traditionally been focused on income and class inequalities. This proposal is listed first because it represents a complete inversion฀of฀the฀usual฀policies,฀a฀U-turn,฀to฀be฀precise.฀In฀the฀last฀50฀years,฀decisionmakers have often tried to solve everyone’s problems by increasing mobility. This mobility-reduction-addressed housing-project originates in the following question: is it more cost effective to build a new throughway (or a light rail) to increase฀the฀overall฀transportation฀supply฀by฀5%,฀or฀to฀invest฀the฀same฀money฀to฀put฀ residences฀and฀jobs฀closer฀in฀order฀to฀reduce฀commuting฀by฀5%?฀If฀every฀morning฀ 30,000 people go from A to B, and we have another 30,000 who go from B to A for the same reasons, is it possible that, by implementing a reorganization project based on฀information,฀tele-communication฀and฀economic฀incentives,฀5%฀of฀the฀commuters may find a job closer to their house (or a house closer to their job) in order to travel฀less?฀If฀we฀were฀speaking฀about฀a฀20%฀or฀30%฀or฀40%฀quota,฀the฀proposal฀ would฀not฀have฀much฀credibility.฀But฀5%฀is฀a฀realistic฀goal.฀To฀be฀achieved,฀we฀do฀ not even have to invest the tens or hundreds of millions necessary for the construction of roads and rails, as well as for their maintenance, nor waste millions in the environmental (ignored) costs their construction and operation imply. In Europe, a significant part of traffic is generated by school and university students and by some huge bureaucratic organizations whose reorganization has never been considered vis-à-vis the traffic problem. The personnel of large factories and bureaucracies (including schools and hospitals) are heavily unionized. There are many activist organizations, and sometimes they are politically influential because of the specificity of their requests. The students, too, have their organizations to advance their requests฀to฀the฀authorities.฀However,฀most฀requests฀focus฀on฀better฀transportation฀ Accessory฀Uses฀of฀Cars 175 rather than on other possible solutions, leading to an inefficiency of jobs and services฀location.฀Research฀and฀communication฀should฀be฀advanced฀to฀inform฀people฀ on alternative means to solve their problems. Every฀ 5฀ or฀ 10฀ years,฀ municipalities฀ should฀ encourage฀ a฀ reshuffling฀ of฀ jobs฀ in฀ order to bring jobs closer to homes. There are several possible means to pursue this goal.฀Helping฀match฀demand฀and฀supply฀on฀a฀limited฀territorial฀basis฀would฀help฀a฀ significant quota of the people to find a job closer to their residence. City and Neighborhood Design Urban฀design฀and฀regulation฀should฀ease฀the฀creation฀of฀urban฀villages฀and฀communities. The success of the Starbucks-like coffee shops proves that many contemporary urbanites (most of them singles) look for places of aggregation and consider the coffee shop around the corner an extra living room of their small (or smaller) apartment. This need of physical proximity is an asset on which traffic policies may be able to rely on. This current movement-averse people attitude should be taken into serious consideration. Accessory Uses of Cars Related฀to฀urban฀design฀there฀are฀other฀interesting฀projects฀about฀traffic฀and฀car฀use฀ reduction that originate in a simple consideration: in traffic policies, the car is considered only as a means of transportation, but it is also and often used for other side-฀purposes.฀For฀example,฀many฀use฀their฀cars฀to฀store฀items฀they฀do฀not฀or฀cannot฀ carry – like shopping bags, exercise and sport equipment, extra clothes and shoes. A car is also a benefit when it rains, and sometimes we find ourselves driving a few 100 ft merely in order not to get wet. Cars are a relaxing place to sit in, a wandering living-room equipped with stereo, air conditioning, heat, and comfortable seats. Sometimes being in the car is really a good experience: who hasn’t had great conversations while driving through distressed urban areas oblivious of the external world while outside it was raining hard, or was icy cold, or so humid that it would have hampered your breathing if you were outside? Thus the question becomes: How฀can฀we฀(partly)฀substitute฀these฀uses฀of฀polluting฀cars?฀In฀order฀to฀avoid฀people฀ using cars for secondary, non-transportation highly-polluting uses, we should endow the city with a series of minor structures including covered paths, luggage deposits, toilets, comfortable rest and meeting places which can compete with cars. If we design cities’ public spaces more properly and make them livable, people would reduce their car use and would appreciate walking, biking or just sitting in fine cafes. How฀difficult฀is฀to฀make฀this฀kind฀of฀city฀design฀really฀effective?฀It฀is฀very฀difficult because we are not used to investing money in research, education and development฀ of฀ the฀ skills฀ required.฀ How฀ effective฀ would฀ these฀ projects฀ be฀ in฀ reducing฀ 176 12 What to Do? traffic?฀Very฀little,฀for฀sure!฀Let’s฀say฀something฀like฀1%฀or฀2%฀each?฀Hopefully,฀in฀ the course of time a little more, once the skills have developed. But this is not the question worth raising. We should rather consider the following three matters: •฀ How฀much฀do฀all฀these฀projects฀cost฀compared฀to฀other฀projects฀implemented฀to฀ reduce traffic? It is likely they cost almost nothing if compared to a new lightrail, or a new road. The cost effectiveness of the dollar invested in reducing traffic is likely much higher •฀ If฀these฀projects฀all฀together฀succeed฀in฀reducing฀traffic฀by฀5%฀overall,฀how฀much฀ will฀congestion฀be฀reduced?฀It฀will฀be฀reduced฀by฀more฀than฀the฀5%฀of฀traffic฀ reduction because it will eliminate cumulative effects •฀ What are the cumulative effects and the virtuous sequences begun by these projects? They would be in place of the traditional “macho” and muscular way of thinking, which sees the only solution in attacking the congestion problem with heavy, material and expensive constructions that set in motion vicious circles instead. More Local Information Reduces Traffic A community newsletter and/or a web site with proper local information about all the services offered in the neighborhood can reduce traffic more than a new road. Local information, including business advertising, festivals, group meetings, sport events, and so on, helps to congregate a community and fulfills more needs locally. Once started, this approach generates cumulative effects and starts virtuous circles. It is likely to promote local investments. The General Contest of the Urban Design and Traffic Reduction Policies Favoring฀bicycle฀use฀is,฀of฀course,฀a฀positive฀step฀toward฀reducing฀car฀circulation.฀ However,฀ local฀ authorities,฀ besides฀ providing฀ bike฀ routes,฀ bike฀ renting,฀ and฀ the฀ proper design of urban and suburban streets, need also to address apparently indirect issues like safety and security, facilities for a more widespread use of the bikes (dressing rooms at work places, convenient storage, bike-parking, rentals and repairing services). The general context in which bikes are supposed to be used is more important than merely providing a basic bike route. Even though there are plenty of implemented projects that favor biking in the cities, I do not know any place where the government has intervened with a significant investment comparable to one usually assigned to road or transit construction. Even when bike routes are abundantly provided, most of the funding regards construction and little or nothing operation. Retail฀Policies 177 The Neighborhood Designed by the Citizens In some cities, municipalities promote the so-called “charette” design for the neighborhood. People cooperate in designing the area in which they live. Many possible experiments can stem from this approach and creative solutions can be tested. Favor Short Distance Public Transportation Public transportation policies should focus on the neighborhood level more than on the฀ metropolitan฀ region.฀ For฀ instance,฀ a฀ transportation฀ service฀ supplied฀ by฀ 5–10฀ vans฀ (12–15฀ seats฀ each)฀ available฀ on฀ call฀ and฀ serving฀ an฀ area฀ of฀ approximately฀ 10฀ha฀(approximately฀2,500฀acres)฀and฀20,000฀people฀can฀fulfill฀most฀of฀the฀local฀ mobility needs without fostering long distance commuting. On long distances, public transportation is not so effective in reducing car use for two main reasons: (a) users need to drive to get to the bus or railway stations; (b) being too far away from their own car reduces flexibility and the possibility to use the car for uses other than personal mobility. Retail Policies Other projects, that would significantly help to reduce traffic, regard retail distribution. Local governments should invest in research, design and money to favor the establishment of neighborhood shops able to provide services required by the local population. For฀ example:฀ cafes,฀ organized฀ spaces,฀ civility฀ places฀ (comfortable฀ meeting฀ points฀ attended by polite people), or home services delivering food and cooked meals. The question is, how much would it cost to develop marketing research and, subsequently, a฀project?฀How฀much฀could฀it฀reduce฀traffic?฀We฀do฀not฀know,฀but฀“no฀investigation,฀ no right to speak” (Mao Dze Dong). The lobbies of large scale distribution will not be very happy with this policy. They may even boycott research about what proves helpful to favor neighborhood retail distribution and related services. Indeed, incentives to small businesses in retail distribution should be deducted from the money given to finance road construction which is an implicit incentive to large scale wholesale distribution฀companies.฀Free฀market฀supporters฀should฀not฀be฀scandalized฀if฀the฀local฀or฀ central government helps small business start-ups with some minor tax relief. They should instead protest against the heavy support given to large scale distribution via infrastructure building. Such a policy is very revolutionary because it endangers big companies and big politics. It is even more “dangerous” because it would challenge some social class rooted biases. Small business people would abandon the conservative parties dominated by real capitalists and join the supporters of mass democracy. We should never forget that large retail organizations and the constructors of huge shopping malls are intertwined with, and heavily impact, the financial market. 178 12 What to Do? Shop in the Neighborhood Card Years ago, as a member of an Italian middle-size city administration, I tried to implement a project called “shop in the neighborhood card”. The local government provided know-how (the idea and a feasibility project) and involved the associations of local retailers in the project. The associations were interested since they were supported by many small retailers who were fighting daily against large wholesale companies endangering their family-owned shops. On behalf of the local government I negotiated some incentives to be exchanged with some civic services directly or indirectly provided by the retailers in the neighborhood. There was a possible market in most of the neighborhoods into which the city was organized. The growing number of elderly people, who cannot have easy access to suburban stores, was one good public policy reason to promote the project. The project was quite comprehensive, but the most interesting aspect was the “shop in the neighborhood card”: a discount card given to those who lived in the neighborhood and decided to choose the local shops instead of driving far away to the shopping center. Re-colonization of the Suburbs In the suburbs – where local shops and everyday services are not available within a reasonable distance – municipalities should buy (or favor the purchase by small business investors) a few scattered lots and promote the establishment of “villages” by encouraging the settlement of new business serving local needs and operating as social aggregation hubs. Something in this line was tried in Brisbane, Australia in the nineties. Local Marketing Research We need research about what is available and what is missing in the neighborhoods so as to provide possible investors with a proper market knowledge and favor investments targeted to reduce mobility. Incentives can be associated to this research to assist new and inexperienced possible investor entrepreneurs to prepare business plans to locate loans and funds. Telecommunication and Information Technology Applications to Traffic Reduction Telecommunication and information technology is now normally used to patrol and control access to some traffic limited areas or to collect tolls. It can also be applied to regulate the average speed on roads and highway in order to avoid traffic blockage. It would have a threefold positive effect: eliminating part of the pollution Telecommunication฀and฀Information฀Technology฀Applications฀to฀Traffic฀Reduction฀ 179 by removing the stops and goes; providing a better comfort to travelers; informing drivers about the trip duration. We all know that it is better to know that we will arrive in a longer, but guaranteed time, than being unsure when we will be able to make it. To implement this approach, a cruise control device should be distributed and made mandatory, especially in Europe where it is not yet extensively adopted, so to eliminate jams and stop and go traffic with positive effects also on safety.2 Tele-work projects have been popular for at least 20 years and now they have been effectively implemented by many companies. The problem with tele-work projects is that most of them were not developed with the goal of reducing traffic or environmental impact. Most tele-work projects have been conceived in order to save office space or make life easier for women with children. These projects never took off effectively because no laws and effective policies have been applied. If we approach tele-work from a traffic-reduction point of view, we should not assume that a growth of tele-employment would reduce total commuting in a metropolitan฀area฀by฀more฀than฀10%.฀In฀the฀short฀term,฀the฀effects฀of฀a฀tele-work฀policy฀ cannot฀be฀dramatic.฀However,฀if฀convincingly฀pursued,฀a฀tele-work฀policy฀can฀prime฀ social change sequences in the direction of keeping the people more connected with the neighborhoods in which they live. A population that works more at home and commutes less would have profound effects on the neighborhood’s social and economic organization. We฀ would฀ need฀ at฀ least฀ 5฀ years฀ before฀ seeing฀ effects฀ of฀ a฀ tele-work฀ policy฀ on฀ commuting and social re-organization. The promoters of projects like tele-work and house/job re-location are always urged to prove their immediate effectiveness. People lack faith in the potential of tele-work and relocation to solve their problems, and are not eager to change their lifestyles. The communicators’ goal should be to illustrate the change sequences and thus create “time”: having a clear outlook of the final expected and welcome situation helps people to bear uneasiness during the time needed to adapt to the new situations. Since these are the major problems for implementing a tele-work/traffic reducing project, we cannot leave the implementation of such a project in the hands of engineers, even tele-communication engineers who are, generally speaking, more flexible than civil and transportation ones. In the past, most of these plans were designed by engineers hired by private enterprises eager to sell their technology rather than to solve social and environmental problems. Other professionals (psychologists, urban planners, political scientists, economists, sociologists, whatever, etc.) have played a marginal role in tele-work project-design. Decision-makers – often seduced by the enterprises’ promoters – prefer to commission a project to technicians who promise immediate solutions rather than consider a real policy whose effects will show in the course of time. To a partial justification of decision-makers, I admit that there are few professionals in social sciences effectively trained to design these projects. I myself, when I had local government responsibilities, could not help hiring engineers for a telecommunication project for which 2 In a best-selling book, Tom Vanderbilt (2008) has broadly argued about driving styles that may be changed. Also traffic and mobility psychology scholars have accumulated a lot of information about driving habits, but it has not been applied as much as desirable. 180 12 What to Do? sociologists would have been a better fit. It was not possible for me to hire them because: (a) the council, which was skeptical about my approach, did not trust sociologists and thought it would have wasted money; (b) I was not able to defend my project because I myself did not trust the skill of the sociologists available. Between Public and Private Transportation: Solidarity Transportation Five฀years฀ago฀I฀developed฀a฀project฀in฀order฀to฀extend฀the฀idea฀of฀Public฀Transportation฀ to private cars. This proposal is extensively described in the following chapter.