The Best Country in the World for Drivers

Kind of weird article. If you want cars to stay out of bike lanes, make them protected like in here in the Netherlands. But also why do people expect to be taken to a bike lane rather than a parking space? Also seeing a lot of ignorance about cycling here in the comments. Would recommend some people to watch some Not Just Bikes videos. Building better cycle infrastructure is better for everyone, cars and cyclists included. Less people die, and cars don't have to deal with cyclists on the road. Ex ▶ this video

Firstly, I think you are mistaken about heat. It is objectively true that cities are hotter places to live in general, disregarding climate change. This is partly due to the large amount of materials which absorb heat from the sun, such as black asphalt in massive parking lots. It makes cities less pleasant, for sure. I also don’t think you understand the “war on driving”… the point is that you have less freedom in a car dependent world. You can’t conveniently choose to walk to the grocery store a few blocks away when there are 6 lane roads which pay no respect to pedestrians. You can’t choose to take a train to a concert, since passenger trains are rarer and rarer. You have fewer choices and less freedom if the only convenient choice is a car. And what if you don’t have or can’t get a car? Your mobility is extremely limited. The “war on driving” is all about creating more choices and freedom for transit. It’s not saying all cars should be outlawed. It’s saying that the bus or train should be just as convenient as driving in a city, and that biking and cycling within a mile or two of home should be even more convenient than driving. And, most importantly for you, in a city where everyone has many transit choices, driving is much more pleasant. With fewer people driving cars for trips that don’t really need them, there will be less traffic and less need for massive roads which are dangerous even for drivers. This video is very illuminating: ▶ this video In fact, I’d recommend watching even more videos on that channel to really understand why having more alternatives to cars is a good thing.

I think it’s still related! Here’s a good video on the subject: ▶ this video Amsterdam is similarly regarded as excellent for biking and walking, but it’s also great for driving. This is hugely different from America, where basically every transit mode sucks (in dense areas) because dense areas are designed for cars at the local level. The solution that Amsterdam (and seemingly Tokyo) have used is to separate the two. You have roads which are excellent for high-speed cars, and local streets which are excellent for people to walk and bike. But you shouldn’t mix the two with local streets designed for high speed driving. (These are sometimes called “stroads”, and are one of the most common road designs used in North America for local access to shops.) The reality is that if you follow the advice of walking/biking infrastructure advocates, you also get a city which is nicer and safer for driving, because cars are much more separated from the most dangerous and stressful elements of city driving!

I think this is due to how car dependent North America is. There are so many aspects that are missed in these pictures or what you are for example experiencing. It's not that you're situation is improving, it's most likely not. But that's not due to car independent cities being bad, it's because changing from being car dependent to car independent is hard and takes time. I would recommend you have a look at Not Just Bikes on YouTube, a Canadian that moved to the Netherlands. He talks about car independent cities in Europe, more specifically The Netherlands and compares it to car dependent North America. Here is a video that talks about how these "car independent" countries are still the best to drive in compared to others: ▶ this video Regardless, I would recommend you check out a few other of his videos, most importantly his series on the US non profit organisation "Strong Towns": link It think it's about sharing the message that placing public transport, cyclists, and pedestrians in the forefront is better for almost everyone involved, including drivers, and especially people who live in cities and towns.

Did you know, that the Netherlands is rated higher than the US for car friendliness? Making biking, public transport and walking more attractive also improves the experience for the few that still need to use a car. Cars have a really low capacity. If you reserve the fastest route for biking or public transport and force cars to take a longer route then you will still be faster by car over the longer route than you would over the shorter route if cars where allowed there. Not just bikes did a video on just that and explains it much better than I have: ▶ this video

Eh, that's a pretty big vehicle. Does that still actually count as a _car_? ;-) It's fine for regular European or Japanese vehicles, of course. But... people do drive American trucks like that out in the countryside as utility vehicles. Where there's a bit of room to maneuver, it can be done. And of course, outside Amsterdam city center: you've got all-paved-roads even in the countryside (well maintained with few potholes), reasonable speed limits, highways that stay dry even when it rains, traffic lights that let you through the moment they see you coming (at an empty intersection at least), traffic jam detector systems, highway entrances and exits that you can take on cruise control -as opposed to trying to kill you- (I'm looking at you, Germany ;-) ), and much much more! * ( ▶ this video "The Best Country in the World for Drivers" ) * link (business parks... people in the comments were kind of riled up about this particular traffic light. Would work fine with an F150 ;-) )

Besides having world class water infrastructure and great cycling infrastructure and great public transport -- would it surprise you that the Netherlands is also one of the better countries in the world to drive in? To steal a famous youtube channel's title: it's Not Just Bikes.[1] [1] ▶ this video "The Best Country In The World For Drivers" (This might be a slight exaggeration to get more youtube clicks? Who knows! But it tells the story ok)

> I kind of like his ideas (I know the channel), but he’s heavily biased against cars. He’s the “everything could be done on a bike” type of guy. It's kind of hard to over emphasize the the damage they've done, specifically as forms of personal transportation (versus more commercial transport). He does have a video called "The Best Country in the World for Drivers", in which he shows that by reducing the need for cars for most people, actually helps the optimize things for operating a car: * ▶ this video And until the ~1920s, societies managed to function pretty well without the streets being taken over by cars: * link I don't see why they need to have total priority with-in cities to the extant they currently do.

> […] mismanaged and filled with graft, death and delays. So no different than highway construction then? The seventh annual report of Highway Boondoggles: * link And let's not forget that it's been empirically measured for decades that building more roads/highways doesn't decrease congestion: * link And that car-oriented 'improvements' makes things worse for drivers and worse for those for those taking public transit (often due to not being able to afford a car): > It is a paradox in that improvements in the road network will not reduce traffic congestion. Improvements in the road network can make congestion worse if the improvements make public transport more inconvenient or if they shift investment, causing disinvestment in the public transport system. * link And that improving things for non-car users can actually make things better for drivers: * ▶ this video * link * link In no instantiation of the multiverse does the data show that focusing on car-centric development and private automobile transportation is more efficient, from a fiscal or energy point of view, or better for individuals' health and things like climate change. Certainly roads are useful for commerce and trade, but personal transportation? Not so much.