I don’t know how you could train people to get out of their cars. The whole situation is bus-ted. Perhaps there’s subway to do it, but I’m at a loss as to how.
We need some action from the bike-ameral legal system. Currently, supporters of public transit are underground, but they need to expose car-centric planning as the utter tram it is.
Many people have their choices made for them because there are no practical alternatives.
Yup. Shit, one time I DID take the train up to the city to see a concert. Bit me in the ass hard when I got back to the train station JUST in time to see the last train of the night literally pulling away before my eyes. That was an expensive Uber…
And that’s when you have a train at all. My state has two professional football teams and no internal commuter rail
I dunno Chicago is pretty great. We have both kinds of trans and it’s so kinds of awesome generally speaking
My experience was in Chicago. The train system is pretty good, but it still closes at the end of the night. The concert was at wrigley and I booked it straight to the Metra station afterwards, still missed it.
Yeah the Metra is a commuter rail - it runs to and from the city and suburbs. It doesn’t run all night long - few, if any, commuter rail lines would waste enormous amounts of cash to run that way.
The suburbs are shit. If you want reliable transportation day and night, you need population density to support it. Ergo - you need to live in an actual city - not suburban sprawl.
I mean, most of the L doesn’t run all night, either. Only the Red Line and Blue Line do.
I just came up with a thought the other day! This would be a decades long approach and I have no idea if it would work. The idea is for generic American cities, that have a few sky scrapers in a downtown and then the burbs.
Start with 3-5 square blocks in the heart of downtown and close the roads. Make them permanently pedestrian only. These roads are typically very wide, so allow food trucks/vendors to occupy a portion of the center. Add bike lanes, and add really good reliable public transit around this area. Let that marinate for a few years, then add another chunk of the same size.
I think you would see this portion of the city become a very popular residential area. Businesses will figure out how to provide amenities where people gather. By starting small you are not requireing people to get rid of their cars, just not use them in certain areas. As this expands you will have a larger and larger portion of the population that finds it inconvenient and expensive to own a car once their needs are met in this ever expanding bubble.
I doubt you could ever get this done, but it’s an idea!
This sounds incredibly similar to Barcelona’s superblocks. Definitely do-able if you get city government on board, there is a proven roadmap to follow.
Step 1: make transit usable.
We’ll re-examine America after that.
Why is the stadium going through carcenization? 🦀
My city bought out some succesful busniesses downtown to demolish their buildings and build a new stadium with surface level parking for all the people who live outside of the city to drive to. Can we at least get a parking garage instead of surface level so we dont have to demolish businesses and homes for the benefits of suburban and rural sports fans?
Unfortunately the reality often is that it’s cheaper to buy more land and demolish buildings that get in the way than it is to build tall to solve for that. And that prestige project has to be cheap so that it can get out the door in this local politicians election cycle. Now if people could be held accountable for really bad choices they made a long time ago…
Perth stadium has entered the chatjust don’t have parking
Yep - that’s something we tend to do well:
Melbourne Cricket ground (100,000 capacity)
Adelaide oval (53,000 capacity)
Brisbane Gabba (42,000 capacity)
Sydney Olympic stadium (83,000 capacity) (there are some carparks just out of view, but not many)
Of course there is, London has multiple massive stadiums that do not require this sort of parking.
Australia has this too and we don’t have as good public transport as you. You can’t even drop off nearby. Basically, everyone is on buses to car parks away (schools and other places are used) or train stations. It’s a pain in the butt, but a way of life if you want to watch a game. Tickets at these stadiums include free public transport for the afternoon, so it’s included in the price.
Imagine having a giant, concrete skillet heating up your city at all hours or the day.
now imagine absolutely obliterating it with solar panels, so many that you not only have cheap electricity for your city, but you can even sell it to nearby cities too for a profit
Why don’t stadiums have their parking in large parking garages? The traffic for exiting the stadium already sucks as it is, why not a multiple entrance/exit garage system?
Why do you ask this as if it’s not a thing?
Look up Santiago Bernabéu or Camp Nou, two of the largest stadiums in Europe, and you find no over ground parking lots. Same applies to most stadiums, with many actually being very well articulated with mass transit, to the point that it’s much quicker to just take the subway/train/bus on match day than to be stuck in traffic for hours.
Sorry, for the pedants out there, ‘why don’t all stadiums have parking garage systems instead of flat parking lots?’
If the stadium is anywhere near an urban setting only bad design warrants the building of (massive) car parks - and everybody using cars to get there. Shopping centres warrant large car parks because people load up with items. Sports grounds need to get people in and out in tight windows - there’s no contest in car v rail in this respect.
Every IKEA I can think of has the garage in the building and they have many spots as well as people loading large items, so it’s possible. For normal shopping centers I think it’s also mostly indoor/underground stuff (Europe).
Yeah - between you and me - the real reason is like the castles, fortresses, monasteries and cathedrals of the past a stadium is built as a statement building. Uniquely identifiable as the cultural home of that tribe. I don’t think there’s ever been a trainee architect who wants to design parking garages when they grow up. Some stadiums are a triumph of form over function. Also the large empty surrounding flat areas enforce the impact of the architectural qualities by removing any outside context or reference… but you didn’t hear any of that from me.
I know this is only one example but the Tampa Bay Lighting have a parking garage right across from the main entrance and use the wall facing the entrance as a viewing screen so even if you cant/don’t get tickets you can still warch along out front and hear the roar of the stadium. There’s a bar and everything out there
I’m genuinely quite impressed with that whole idea… good on them. Thanks for letting me know.
Parking garages costs a lot more than surface parking. And the amount of traffic which can leave is limited by the surrounding roads, not by the exits.
Edit: I’m not saying this is a good thing. I’m saying it’s the reasoning of the people who build stadiums.
Are you factoring in the opportunity cost of the wasted (poor optimized) space? Of all the extra fuel people have to burn to get around said wasted space? What about the long term environmental impacts?
Wasting land is only cheaper because the real costs get put on the rest of society and future generations.
I agree 100%. Public transport is the only sensible approach to getting people to stadiums. If it were my choice I wouldn’t provide parking at the venue at all.
If it were just to watch a game, many might have taken a form of transit system to get there.
That said, I hear Americans have a tradition of a tail gate party(and at the far right of the picture that might be the case here) so in that particular country it’s probably not likely any of them took transit.
This photo though, it’s Dodger Stadium, tailgating is not allowed.
I am tired of anti-car people pretending that removing cars from roads isn’t going to replace the empty space with shipping trucks. America is not Europe, it’s not a robust welfare state.
The other side of this is the fact that many people don’t want to use public transport. I’ve used excellent public transport in the EU, I still hate other people and don’t want to travel with them.
Why would less cars mean more shipping trucks? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here.
Is this your first day under capitalism?
Maybe it is, care to explain?
That’s why anti-car people also advocate for better urban planning that still include cars but don’t make them the only viable option. And why can’t it be? America has the money.
The other side of this is the fact that many people do want to use public transport. I’ve driven in some excellent cars, I hate other drivers and don’t want to drive with them and I hate how ugly my city/ suburb is due to needing to have wide roads everywhere.
The other side of this is the fact that many people do want to use public transport. I’ve driven in some excellent cars, I hate other drivers and don’t want to drive with them and I hate how ugly my city/ suburb is due to needing to have wide roads everywhere
Great, just please don’t force your preferences on someone else.
Mah dude, car people has been and always will be forcing their preferences on everyone. That’s the reason why a shit tons of place is so car dependent. This isn’t forcing preferences, this is regaining control.
