She will go down in history is she pulls this off!!!!!!
Our supreme & estimable Lord Mayor is contemplating a CBD without cars!!!!!!!
Unimaginable and utterly wonderful - this brilliant initiative will get us out in droves - Sydney will not know itself!!!! Bicycle paradise!!
We've just got to get rid of those pesky helmet laws!
I work in 'traditional' bike advocacy where the '*elme*' debate shall not rear it's head, too left field, too radical. So keep up the good work, there is a large silent majority that support what you are doing.
ReplyDeleteCC ,It is no use being Silent, Scream at your Politicians. Get out and March against City Hall,go to the Capital in Canberra and do some more Screaming at the Politicians. It is the only way to get something done about it.
ReplyDeleteBest of Luck to Doctor Martin and Sue Abbott ,may the Force be with you. Dublin Ireland.
This is excellent news. I hope they can achieve this, even if they start out with a 'trial' area of half a dozen blocks.
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems will be with delivery vehicles but I'm sure they can work something out - most of them deliver in the middle of the night/early morning anyway. Having no cars/taxis about may well make their job easier and safer for everyone.
I say this to any shop owner who is worried about no customers because the cars won't be driving past: Don't Panic! Business will be even better...
Pedestrians & Cyclists are far more likely to, on a whim, just stop and pop into your coffee/clothing/stationery shop than any car driver. They don't need to look for a large parking space and are more aware of their surroundings. We will see a growth in bicycles that allow people to do this as well:
http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2009/01/anatomy-of-reliable-everyday-bicycle.html
They are also more likely to stop and chat to someone they know (try doing that in cars!) and will be in less of a hurry as they won't be waiting for cars at every intersection. They will also spend more as they don't have to fork out money for a car/rego/fuel/parking, etc.
Once we get used to this there will be no going back. This can only be a good thing.
http://hembrow.eu/cycling/assenverandert.html
Cars will still have a place for a while in Australia but I think it is important to start weaning ourselves off them and this is an excellent way to do that.
To cc:
Please raise this issue - that's what bike advocacy groups are for!!!
Cheers from Brisbane
Dr Paul Martin
PS: Thanks for the wishes l'homme au velo. I will update Sue of my progress - watch this space!
I see some interesting comments on that motoring site :)
ReplyDeleteDr Paul Martin
Sue, thanks for this link - I rely on you to keep me up to date on my old home town. When I was there the talk then was of closing George Street to traffic and turning it into a Parisian style boulevard... nothing so far though. They also did a lot of talking about building the new metro and that got canned.
ReplyDeleteThese are the five things that Sydney needs to do to bring itself into the 21st century:
1. Demolish the Cahill Expressway and connect the CBD with Circular Quay again.
2. Build the new old metro system.
3. Introduce a 'one size fits all' smart card ticketing system for public transport and update the bus fleet(!)
4. Build more cycle lanes.
5. Year on year increases in on-street parking prices to subsidise PT.
I hold my breath, but it does seem as though Clover Moore is really getting heavy on some of these issues and that is great. Can't come quickly enough. When we move back for good in a few years time I look forward to coming back to a transformed city!
thanks, everyone, for all the great comments - am currently in egypt with my daughter - have been cycling too - great fun and not alarming - motorists here are on the watch out for 'everything & anything' all the time!!!!!
ReplyDelete