©Chandra Prasad/Sustrans
©Chandra Prasad/Sustrans
The American historian, sociologist and urbanist, Lewis Mumford observed that ‘trying to address congestion by building more traffic lanes is like trying to prevent obesity by loosening one’s belt’.
Mumford’s analogy is not only striking in its accuracy, but also in that he made it way back in 1955.
Congestion is a global issue
Nearly 70 years have passed since then and now more than ever his words seem particularly pertinent. We know building more roads invites more cars, more cars means more congestion, and more congestion means less welcoming places to live and work in.
Greater Manchester is just one of the city regions across the globe which is struggling to deal with the impacts of congestion. It has negative impacts on health and the economy but what is often overlooked is the impact it has on people. How does congestion actually make a place feel to those who live, travel, visit, and work?
Starting the congestion conversation in Greater Manchester
Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s recently elected Metro Mayor, has taken the positive step of launching Transport for Greater Manchester’s ‘Congestion Conversation’, a consultation on congestion in the city and how it should be addressed.
The consultation follows on from Mr Burnham’s recent appointment of Chris Boardman as Cycling & Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester. There is a sense that the status quo has to be disrupted.
Opportunity to change transport in Greater Manchester
In the past, politicians and local authorities have attempted to solve the problem of congestion by building new road space. This, however, has not proven to be a solution to the problem. A new approach needs to be taken if we are really to make an impact on the issue of congestion.
Greater Manchester is in an exciting position to embrace a more innovative approach based around people. There are a number of emerging examples of cities changing the way we think and move around our public realm.
Northern European cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam have often been the anomalies of the city transport-scape. Other cities are now beginning to join the transport revolution: New York, Tokyo, Paris, Barcelona and Vienna, to name but a few that are adopting more people-centred ways of moving around shared spaces.
Closer to home, only last month Oxford Council announced that by 2020 parts of the city will be off-limits to petrol and diesel private vehicles, while car use has decreased by 15% in London since 1990.
Get involved in the conversation
It’s far from a done deal that cities will use sustainable transport to tackle congestion. Sheffield City Council recently launched a consultation to convert some of the city centre’s cycle lanes into an extra lane for vehicles. Literally loosening one’s belt to deal with a congestion issue, if we use Mumford’s analogy.
Chris Boardman has made it clear that if we want more people to walk or cycle, it must be attractive, safe and convenient for your average man, woman or child. We know people want more cycling. Our 2015 Bike Life reports showed over 70% of people supported more investment in cycling and we have every reason to expect this trend will continue in the forthcoming 2017 Bike Life results.
To get our cities moving again we need to invest in alternative modes of transport which help the whole city rather than a minority of private vehicle owners.
We all benefit when everyone can move easily across our cities. Air quality improves, the national obesity epidemic can be addressed and economic vitality can hit new highs through the simple creation of places and spaces that people want to live, work, visit and invest in. As Mumford stated over half a century ago: “urban planning should emphasise an organic relationship between people and their living spaces”. Simple.
Have your say: Consultation closes 3 November 2017
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