BellingenNSW1d ago

Suburban sprawl and public transport deserts

"From the 1950s, sprawling low-density suburbs have been built on the assumption that households would own cars and that public transport was unnecessary."

“It’s really too late to do much in the short term, because we’ve spent 70 years planning in the other direction...The hole has been dug.”

“If we’re interested in equity and justice in our cities, then we need to be providing people, no matter where they live, with a good quality level of public transport access that allows them to get jobs, services and education that are available to people in inner-city areas." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/10/fuel-crisis-australia-public-transport-not-an-option
#FossilFuel #petrol #CarDependency #Suburbia #sprawl #biodiversity #extinction #PublicTransportDeserts #MobilityDesign #inequality #war #ClimateDisruption #CarMinds #malls #parking #obesity #walking #infrastructure #SmallShops #TyrannyOfDistance

What happens in a fuel crisis if public transport isn’t a real option? ‘It’s pushing people to tipping point’

‘The kids are missing out’: when fuel is expensive and public transport hard to access

The Guardian
Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘
@Bellingen Re: " Since the 1950s ..." Not that early. I was a kid in the 1950s. in Adelaide. Around 50% of households had a car, that dad drove to work. There was a housing shortage due to returned soldiers and a baby boom, so there was a lot of suburban expansion and it was serviced by buses. Housewives walked to the local shops. Kids walked or rode bikes to school. The City of Elizabeth was a planned "satellite city" well served by buses. It was assumed people would get work locally.
2:02amWeb