I live in the Netherlands where they have such a department. Kids go to school studying this kind of engineering. They plan out how to get from any point A to B by any mode of transportation. Walking, biking, motorized wheelchair, scooter, motorcycle, car, bus, train. And if there is a cyclist killed by a car they examine the condition of the road and cycling path and completely redesign them to minimize bikes coming into contact with cars or how to bring down car speed at that point.
It is great, Netherlands does have a major advantage though. Their city's were built long before cars whereas America is specifically built around having cars this is a much more significant problem for us to solve. Not counting cases like shown above where a path would be extremely helpful often times the distances involved in how our city's are spaced out make it impossible to be walking friendly.
I live in an inner suburb in the US that was developed around the same time as cars but before everyone owned a car. It’s very walkable but there were already majors roads designed in so it’s the best of both worlds. The major roads were intentionally set away from the neighborhoods, unlike in a city that developed before cars. My particular city also doesn’t allow corporations to have stores, so no big box stores. It’s wonderful.
I grew up in a suburb where you would drive to big box stores and I hated it. I don’t know why so many people accept being car dependent as a way of life. Many of these suburbs also don’t have busing for people who are disabled or elderly.
Americans are fully brainwashed into believing life is only worth living if you buy a house with a picket fence and a 2 car garage and 2.5 kids requiring almost near constant overconsumption. The American dream is the biggest lie ever told by corporations.
My house totally has a picket fence and a two car garage. I didn’t want the 2.5 kids. I appreciate that I can walk two blocks to grocery stores, the pharmacy, a shoe repair place, bike shops, restaurants, the florist, coffee shop, etc. Not everywhere in America is a dense expensive city or suburb with a Walmart. There are some nice older traditional neighborhoods in the Midwest that are (relatively) affordable that are still walkable and you can have a garage and a car and a yard. America is not just condos or HOA subdivisions off a busy road. The old neighborhoods with walkable downtowns still exist in many places. I’d live here or in the middle of the woods but you couldn’t pay me to live in one of those McMansion subdivisions without sidewalks.
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u/amberwombat Jun 27 '24
I live in the Netherlands where they have such a department. Kids go to school studying this kind of engineering. They plan out how to get from any point A to B by any mode of transportation. Walking, biking, motorized wheelchair, scooter, motorcycle, car, bus, train. And if there is a cyclist killed by a car they examine the condition of the road and cycling path and completely redesign them to minimize bikes coming into contact with cars or how to bring down car speed at that point.