Transport and urban development policies in European cities are recognized as being more balanced than those of the rest of the world, resulting in competitive, attractive, denser and high quality urban environments. There are plenty of best practices, and in an energy- and carbon-constrained world, they show great examples on how to retrofit American cities and how to evolve developing cities.
A new Brookings report points to policies in Germany that encourage compact, mixed-use development, suitable for walking or cycling, like this space in Freiburg. Photo by redskunk.
This report examines the key differences and determinants of travel behavior in Germany and the United States. Americans travel by car twice as much per year as Germans and use transit only a sixth as much. Differences in car reliance between the United States and Germany are not solely due to income or residential density. Germans in the highest income quartile make a lower share of their trips by car than Americans in the lowest income quartile. And Germans living in low density areas travel by car about as much as Americans living at population densities five times higher.
The result is a transportation system in the United States that is less sustainable than in Germany. Read the rest of this entry »
The Eierlegendewollmilchsau is a most unique creature. In addition to having a very long German name, it is capable of providing an amazing amount of bounty for one animal. It can lay eggs, grow wool, provide milk, and even bacon - all from one animal. Literally translated, Eierlegendewollmilchsau means “Egg Laying Wool Milk Sow”.
But there is a catch. Sadly, the Eierlegendewollmilchsau doesn’t really exist. It is a mythical creature that has come to symbolize the concept of “all-in-one” and is mythical because nothing exists that can combine so many useful and beneficial features in one place. There is, however, a city in northwestern Germany that has come close.
Bremen, Germany has succeeded in creating a completely integrated transportation network that is entirely accessible with a single card called - you guessed it - the Eierlegendewollmilchsau. A passenger can easily ride their bike on one of Bremen’s well maintained bike lanes, catch a light rail train, take a bus across town, rent a car from a convenient car-sharing kiosk, and even do some banking at an ATM, all with this one card. It’s a great example of planning a system that puts a priority on user convenience and treats many different types of transportation as seamless, purposefully linked and overlapping. By keeping the ease of use of the passenger in mind more people are more inclined to use it, ultimately making for a healthier environment and higher quality of life.
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