On the whole carrot and stick approach as far as active transport goes.
It amazes me the number of people who drive their kids to primary school when they live less than 3km from it.
I wish their was a feasible way to ban child squisher mobiles from within 500m of primary schools.
The biggest safety risk kids face on the footpath is being flattened by some fuck wit who thinks their jacked up, bull barred, emission control deleted, selfishcuntmobile is appropriate in urban areas.
It amazes me the number of people who drive their kids to primary school when they live less than 3km from it.
Yeah it’s incredible. But for so many, it’s a rational choice, because the footpaths are so dangerous or uncomfortable, and the roads are so dangerous.
Ironically of course, this becomes so because of all the cars, and the infrastructure designed for cars. And so more people driving leads to more people finding it uncomfortable to walk or ride, which leads to more people driving, in a horrible feedback loop.
Anecdotal story, my ex wifes friend had two first year high school kids, lived 800m in a straight line with a footpath, to their door, the kids refused to walk and she drove them everyday. They’d literally wait longer then walking home
Nearly everything we do makes Australia worse, so I don’t see that changing.
my ex wifes friend had two first year high school kids, lived 800m in a straight line with a footpath, to their door, the kids refused to walk and she drove them everyday. They’d literally wait longer then walking home
There are multiple possible issues here. Partly, it very much could just be teenagers being teenagers. Lazy and difficult for the sake of it. And parents should man (or woman) up and just make them walk. Walk with them, if you have to.
Which brings me to the second possibility. Habit. If they’re not in the habit of walking places, for example they never walked to primary school and they’re being expected to suddenly start walking as of their first day of high school, that’s a pretty big leap. Not easy to deal with now, but the parent should have been walking with them more often earlier.
At 800 m, it’s unlikely that the infrastructure even could be so bad that I’d find it reasonable to drive, but even for a short distance like that, a nice walk would make it so much more pleasant. Nice wide footpaths where you can walk side-by-side without needing to squeeze up to let someone past. Having priority at minor intersections (made clear via wombat crossings) is ideal, but at least having smooth, wide kerb drops. Nice shade cover. It’s a lot easier to get people to walk if the walk is pleasant.
I mean, it’s not that difficult to understand. Drive kids to school then need to drive to work ? Drive multiple kids to different schools. There’s no meaningful way to take public transport. Where I live it takes 8-12 minutes to drive, or over an hour by bus.
On the whole carrot and stick approach as far as active transport goes. It amazes me the number of people who drive their kids to primary school when they live less than 3km from it.
I wish their was a feasible way to ban child squisher mobiles from within 500m of primary schools. The biggest safety risk kids face on the footpath is being flattened by some fuck wit who thinks their jacked up, bull barred, emission control deleted, selfishcuntmobile is appropriate in urban areas.
Yeah it’s incredible. But for so many, it’s a rational choice, because the footpaths are so dangerous or uncomfortable, and the roads are so dangerous.
Ironically of course, this becomes so because of all the cars, and the infrastructure designed for cars. And so more people driving leads to more people finding it uncomfortable to walk or ride, which leads to more people driving, in a horrible feedback loop.
It’s a vicious circle.
Explaining this to the car brained feels insurmountable.
Anecdotal story, my ex wifes friend had two first year high school kids, lived 800m in a straight line with a footpath, to their door, the kids refused to walk and she drove them everyday. They’d literally wait longer then walking home
Nearly everything we do makes Australia worse, so I don’t see that changing.
There are multiple possible issues here. Partly, it very much could just be teenagers being teenagers. Lazy and difficult for the sake of it. And parents should man (or woman) up and just make them walk. Walk with them, if you have to.
Which brings me to the second possibility. Habit. If they’re not in the habit of walking places, for example they never walked to primary school and they’re being expected to suddenly start walking as of their first day of high school, that’s a pretty big leap. Not easy to deal with now, but the parent should have been walking with them more often earlier.
At 800 m, it’s unlikely that the infrastructure even could be so bad that I’d find it reasonable to drive, but even for a short distance like that, a nice walk would make it so much more pleasant. Nice wide footpaths where you can walk side-by-side without needing to squeeze up to let someone past. Having priority at minor intersections (made clear via wombat crossings) is ideal, but at least having smooth, wide kerb drops. Nice shade cover. It’s a lot easier to get people to walk if the walk is pleasant.
I mean, it’s not that difficult to understand. Drive kids to school then need to drive to work ? Drive multiple kids to different schools. There’s no meaningful way to take public transport. Where I live it takes 8-12 minutes to drive, or over an hour by bus.