PotaxNov 16, 2022
David Zipper

Portugal's infrastructure minister gets it:

“If we simply replace all combustion cars with electric cars, we will end up with the same kind of congestion, the same huge amount of lost time in traffic, the same unsustainable levels of road accidents, and the same struggle for public space."

“The car overwhelmed city life and it is something that must change.”

https://www.euractiv.com/section/electric-cars/news/shift-to-electric-vehicles-will-not-solve-urban-transport-woes-says-portuguese-minister/

Electric vehicle shift alone will not solve urban transport woes, says Portuguese minister

A shift to collective transport is needed to reverse the dominance of cars in cities and reach our decarbonisa

EURACTIV
Nov 15, 2022 at 12:59pmWeb
Show threadJohn MierauNov 15, 2022

@davidzipper

The car is a tool that seems to hve been adopted in a horribly inefficient, psychologically and climatologically damaging way.

Can we please NOT redo gridlock in a 'green' (debatable) way?

Show threadAris TeonNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper we need public transport. Public transport is far superior to cars in all sorts of ways. We could boost the economy and improve living standards if we heavily invested in public transport.
Show threadTiakuh SonNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper He said one right thing but to many bad things. People are suffering because he put billions of tax money to save a air company. Out of office.
Show threadTiakuh SonNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper He is still one of the responsibles for the huge portuguese debt and Portugal being a international political management parody.
Show threadO Que A Casa GastaNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper lip service. Our politicians are good at it.
Show threadSam BosbachNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper Good sentiments. Whether he’s a good or bad official in Portugal, this is the sort of thinking we need in our cities.
Show threadpeterbjordanNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper @rgarner Yep plus where do all the precious metals come from for batteries. So frustrating that some politicians arguing that EVS and Escooters make public transit irrelevant.
Show threadDaz….Nov 15, 2022
@davidzipper Hard not to disagree, makes perfect sense really..!
Having always ridden on two wheels, bicycle then motorcycles, I’m back on an ebike (age catches up with you eventually)..
Seeing the damage caused by the car to the environment, the ignorance in delusional car drivers, who seem to want to live up to the advertising hype around cars and speed in the most unhealthy places, housing estates a particular no-no..They detest being asked to slow down and consider others…?
Show threadDaz….Nov 16, 2022
@davidzipper Their are plenty of examples Copenhagen and Amsterdam are 2 that come to mind, where the car comes second..
I recall arriving in Amsterdam by train, taking a tram and then walking through a city centre residential area, stopping to stroke a cat and have a chat on the doorstep..
The peace and tranquillity available in the middle of a city..
It would be available here, if we didn’t have such poor politicians..!
Show threadShanya (Over at BlueSky)Nov 15, 2022
@davidzipper Austerity, but only for those who aren't wealthy enough to satisfy a landlord, greenwashing over the fact that they're trying to remove the poor from public life entirely.
Show threadLoman BrophyNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper; We also seem to be living under the illusion that the resources to transition to EVs are infinite and the environmental impact /carbon footprint to mine them and produce components is inconsequential.
Show threadTed SpenceNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper is there any reason more cities aren’t just closing down streets in active areas to make outdoor arcades?
Show threadMike Stevens Nov 15, 2022
@Tedspence @davidzipper afraid of losing power, right? The next election, etc.
Show threadJesse Souki 📚Nov 15, 2022
@davidzipper exactly. We need to design walkable communities that are not car dependent (e.g. transit-oriented development or #TOD ). This includes having several modes of #PublicTransportation that is clean, safe, and reliable.
Show threadThe ObservantNov 15, 2022
It would be the same level of congestion numerically but the quality (if you could call it that) of congestion improves with fewer emissions and, with the programmability of electric vehicles, more efficient passing, turning, etc… Cars with a broadcasting protocol that can talk to other cars and street signs and emergency beacons would create a different type of traffic.
Show threadDiogo Neves ☕️Nov 15, 2022
@the_observant less noise 😊
Show threadMartin aka Ad TaylorNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper even if we invested more in electric bicycles that'd be a far more efficient use of the lithium, as well as rail travel - reopen the Beeching lines! (where possible)
Show threadDavid SmithNov 15, 2022

@davidzipper
Provide a network of comfortable busses. NOT HIGH CAPACITY Greyhound type busses, but comfortable busses like JetBus, or “cama” three seat across busses used in South America.

Repurpose portions of urban shopping malls to be bus terminals.

Apply Amazon, FedEx, UPS, logistic technology to effectively transport people in comfort

Use GoogleMap data, to establish how people are currently traveling on a day to day basis and apply it to provide effective public trans.

Show threadRobert McQueenNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper Cambridge is being crippled by traffic and the local authorities are consulting on an aggressive road use charging scheme, to fund infrastructure, active transport and public transport improvements and people are utterly incensed. Livid! No concession for EVs as looking 5-10 years ahead the problem is identical, just battery powered... As an EV driver I can't say I disagree either ...!
Show threadFirouz Farman-FarmaianNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper agreed
Show threadChristian FindlayNov 15, 2022
@davidzipper Musk's answer is to dig tunnels everywhere so the electric cars don't get stuck in traffic
Show threadLordPhantom (Mathew)Nov 16, 2022
@davidzipper We've built ourselves a problem with all these big cities. Hard to wind back now, but we should at least stop expanding them and try to decentralise.
Show threadSeanNov 16, 2022
@LordPhantom @davidzipper I moved from Chicago to Milwaukee and the difference in quality of life is astonishing.
Show threadcorrigacNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper Except that rush hour gridlock wouldn't have such a bad impact on the planet, wallets, or localised lung wellbeing.
Show threadAndrew MatthewsNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper I couldn’t agree more
Show threadKoen MartensNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper @reinouts personally, I think city life itself is a problem, cramming too many people on an area that is unable to sustain that amount of people, resulting in exhaustion of resources for thousands of miles around the city - but even that is a symptom of the root cause: overpopulation
Show threadReinout van SchouwenNov 16, 2022
@gmc @davidzipper Depends on how you look at it. Certainly, 8 billion is a lot, but Earth could easily sustain that number and then some if we would just stop eating meat.
Show threadPontusNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper train good, car bad.
Show threadCyber-JohanNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper super! 👍
Show threadMark Dafydd BarryNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper yep, the EV greenwash is depressing...
We need fewer, smaller and better utilised cars before EV can help ... And we need to address the hugely damaging externalities of excessive car dependency..
https://swalesmetroprof.blog/2021/03/23/climate-change-cars-challenges/
Climate Change, Cars & Challenges

Mark Barry
Show threadDude GermoNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper Maar de luchtvervuiling en energie verspilling zal een stuk minder worden
Show threadskywayNov 15, 2022

@davidzipper

Electric cars are good, but they are not the solution to growing problems. It is necessary to radically change the existing infrastructure and remove transport from the surface of the earth, giving it to plants and animals. The solution to the existing transport problem is to move all transport to the second level, above the ground.
#uSkytransport #uSky #UST

Show threadMiss Dee PresserNov 16, 2022
@davidzipper I haven’t had a car for 8;years. It’s so doable
Show threadToon Lowette 🇪🇺 🇪🇸 🇧🇪Nov 16, 2022
Here is a wise man. He indeed gets it. Deserves a boost or two.
Show threadT.WllmsNov 17, 2022

@davidzipper

MASS TRANSIT is the only way to go..

Show threadDavidAH1958Nov 17, 2022
@davidzipper We attended a seminar on potential use of autonomous EVs transforming city life by dropping passengers off at destinations, returning to a staging zone (or accepting another assignment), awaiting the call to retrieve passengers. This would reduce need for parking lots/structures downtown, and should reduce congestion and traffic (allegedly). Pedestrian thoroughfares could be restored as fewer traffic lanes would be necessary. Not sure I believe it, but was intrigued.
Show threadClipperChip Dec 10, 2022
@davidzipper Also I love how nobody ever likes to bring up the topic on where the majority of electricity for those cars is actually coming from.
Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Dec 10, 2022

@clipperchip @davidzipper

The owner's rooftop solar.

Show threadClipperChip Dec 10, 2022
@anne_twain @davidzipper That's actually just an edge case taking into account all electric vehicles.
Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Dec 10, 2022

@clipperchip What are the figures then?

I drive an ev and I talk to a lot of other ev drivers on social media and most of them use their rooftop solar because the cost is neglible.

Show threadClipperChip Dec 10, 2022
@anne_twain None of your friends lives in an urban environment I guess? Other than that, the vast majority of electricity from public recharging stations comes from non-renewable energies. Same goes for rentals and commercial EVs.
Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Dec 10, 2022

@clipperchip Yes they do live in an urban environment. Electric cars are very suited to the kind of short trip driving that city and suburban people do.

The people I'm referring to are not my "friends".

If you're unable to give me figures then I have to assume youre repeating something you heard somewhere.

Show threadanlomedadDec 11, 2022

@anne_twain @clipperchip
The electricity from PV on one's roof doesn't make one's EV sustainable. That's merely a psychological bandaid for the privileged, egotist mind.

No one is an island. Until all of society is running on renewables, driving an EV is stealing renewable electricity from more important services.

NOT driving a car AND pestering one's mayor for public transit so that others also don't have to drive a car – that's sustainable. But it requires letting go of suicidal egotisms

Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Dec 11, 2022

@anlomedad_real

Sorry, you're lecturing me about ego.

Fvck off.

Show threadAerikDec 10, 2022

@davidzipper

Right? And this is yet another thing all the "workers need to return to the office" managers don't get - in addition to benefits to workers, working from home improves the urban congestion and pollution situation.

Show threadPirjaPaaDec 11, 2022
#climatecrisis
#cars
Show threadThe Slow Music MovementDec 11, 2022
@davidzipper Very true, but I live in Portugal and ironically most of the interior is only accessible by car, and even the intermittent bus services pretty much stop on a Sunday.I have to say though the trains are still cheap as they are still nationalised, unlike the UK where the ticket prices are shocking. I haven't had a car for 15 years but now I live outside of Lisbon & Porto I will be buying one next year :(