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Health gains of low-traffic schemes up to 100 times greater than costs, study finds
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2024
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LTNs make life easier for everyone who doesn't use a car which, in inner city London, where many of these studies were conducted, means the majority. So, it's not about maliciously targeting people with cars but benevolently targeting the majority who don't have them.
I didn't personally find the tone of this article smug, but again: it's not about making life harder for people who want to drive or preventing them from doing what they want (because after all everyone can still drive if they choose to), but enabling people to safely do what they want when they want to walk and cycle. LTNs make walking more pleasant and safer; there's even some evidence they reduce crime! So, as you're someone who walks a lot but doesn't particularly enjoy it (sorry about that), LTNs ought to make things a bit better for you.
Finally, LTNs are about as likely to reduce journey times for motorists as they are to increase them, so the net effect on motorists way well be neutral. Again, this doesn't strike me as the kind of outcome I'd want if I were maliciously targeting motorists.
I agree that compromises between the interests of drivers and pedestrians are necessary, and in a big city with more pedestrians than drivers, it is reasonable for these compromises to favor pedestrians. I don't agree with the frequently expressed view that reducing the number of drivers and increasing the number of pedestrians is in itself a good thing, and that's what this article sounds like to me. The emphasis on the health benefits for people who stop driving feels like being told "eat your vegetables, they're good for you" which, as an adult, I'm offended by, but this is an emotionally charged issue for me so maybe I'm overreacting.
I'm interested in the claim that LTNs do not, on average, increase motorist travel times. That could change my mind about this issue.
I'm not entirely clear why you feel (re)designing cities around walking/cycling is a patronising policy, but designing cities around cars isn't. If the answer is, 'because cars aren't good for you', it seems like your stance would have to be 'cities should be designed around what's bad for you, otherwise it's patronising', and I don't think that can be what you believe!