A textbook response to an urban planning challenge, that created a utopian city. Luxembourg... Question: How do you curb traffic congestion ? Answer: By providing stellar pedestrian, cycling and public transportation .... Not ripping out cycle lanes !
We were there for 4 1/2 days, and in a city of 650,000 we never saw a single traffic jam, but the eye opening part was how this was achieved. As previously mentioned, it was making public transportation, walking and cycling better. The outcome is that in a very prosperous country, people generally own only one car, because there is no need for a car.
We arrived by train, and my nephew and his children met us and we took a tram back to his home. There are trams, 'bendy-buses' and regular buses everywhere. They are extremely modern, spacious, quiet, with large open areas for prams and bicycles at every entrance door. People jump on and off at every stop, without a care in the world...because they are free ! The driver doesn't have to take tickets so they can concentrate on driving and keeping on schedule, so whether you are going across town, shopping, to school, or out to the airport the buses leave every four to fifteen minutes and with an electronic sign at every stop, you are told such and such bus is three minutes away ... And those times are accurate !
The cycling lanes are two way and some are as wide a Canadian car lane, not compressed to 1.2 to 1.5 metres wide, as they are here.
Also contributing to their efficiency, are how they build schools. They don't build one, but usually in clusters of three separate buildings side by side. A daycare tge size if a 'normal' elementary school, then an elementary school, and a high school. This provides many benefits. Older kids look after younger kids on the bus and no school buses, so parents can go with younger children and return home if they wish, but it appears that the older children get tasked with that responsibility. There are no crowded parking lots of parents driving kids to school, period. No extra kilometres of driving, which result in fewer cars on the road as well.
As we took the tram, well out of the city to the airport, my son quipped 'Dad, this is a utopian city. With the highest per capita wage in the world, it appears few need or want a car.'
As we took the tram out if town to the airport in record time, my son quipped, 'Dad, this is a utopian city isn't it ? I read they have the highest per capita income in the world, but it seems no one drives
A textbook response to an urban planning challenge, that created a utopian city.
Luxembourg...
Question: How do you curb traffic congestion ? Answer: By providing stellar pedestrian, cycling and public transportation .... Not ripping out cycle lanes !
We were there for 4 1/2 days, and in a city of 650,000 we never saw a single traffic jam, but the eye opening part was how this was achieved. As previously mentioned, it was making public transportation, walking and cycling better. The outcome is that in a very prosperous country, people generally own only one car, because there is no need for a car.
We arrived by train, and my nephew and his children met us and we took a tram back to his home. There are trams, 'bendy-buses' and regular buses everywhere. They are extremely modern, spacious, quiet, with large open areas for prams and bicycles at every entrance door. People jump on and off at every stop, without a care in the world...because they are free ! The driver doesn't have to take tickets so they can concentrate on driving and keeping on schedule, so whether you are going across town, shopping, to school, or out to the airport the buses leave every four to fifteen minutes and with an electronic sign at every stop, you are told such and such bus is three minutes away ... And those times are accurate !
The cycling lanes are two way and some are as wide a Canadian car lane, not compressed to 1.2 to 1.5 metres wide, as they are here.
Also contributing to their efficiency, are how they build schools. They don't build one, but usually in clusters of three separate buildings side by side. A daycare tge size if a 'normal' elementary school, then an elementary school, and a high school. This provides many benefits. Older kids look after younger kids on the bus and no school buses, so parents can go with younger children and return home if they wish, but it appears that the older children get tasked with that responsibility. There are no crowded parking lots of parents driving kids to school, period. No extra kilometres of driving, which result in fewer cars on the road as well.
As we took the tram, well out of the city to the airport, my son quipped 'Dad, this is a utopian city. With the highest per capita wage in the world, it appears few need or want a car.'
As we took the tram out if town to the airport in record time, my son quipped, 'Dad, this is a utopian city isn't it ? I read they have the highest per capita income in the world, but it seems no one drives