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City planners do make estimates on how much traffic is reduced by introducing more and new public transit. They also make estimates on reduced traffic accidents

by belorn 5y ago

City planners do make estimates on how much traffic is reduced by introducing more and new public transit. They also make estimates on reduced traffic accidents when building news roads and redirect traffic away from more dangerous paths and those close to high risk areas like schools. We can also compare similar sized locations and compare outcomes. How many lives dies to traffic accidents in cities prioritizing bike lanes and mass transit compared to same sized cities that prioritize car travel? We can also count how many people that die to air pollution related illness in countries with a lot of coal power and compare that to cities with a lot of nuclear power. We can also look at countries like Island or Norway, through countries that can exclusively depend on hydro/geothermal power has a fairly low sample size. With coal we can get a fairly massive sample size just looking at the scope of a city.

runarberg 5y ago
Indeed. The logic goes: Vehicular traffic kills so-and-so many people. We can significantly lower that number by reducing vehicular miles traveled. Options include better bike infrastructure, better public transit, mixed zoning, lower speed limits, etc. If a city engineer would invert the logic and start with “Bicycle lanes have saved so-and-so many lives”. That would be rather odd wouldn’t it?
- belorn 5y ago
  If I search for "Bicycle lanes lives saved" (and alternative version of the search string) I find plenty of articles and even studies with those words in the title. Here is one: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2022/03/09/bicycle-infrastructure-saves-lives-in-more-ways-than-one/?sh=4fb615817942 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2022/03/09/bicycle-... In the United States, just under 1 percent of commuters travel by bicycle, Patz said. Increasing that slice to 6 percent—the level in Madison, WI—would avoid 20,000 premature deaths per year, he said > That would be rather odd wouldn’t it? Maybe I read too much news but No, I don't find it odd. Building safer roads, reducing traffic, improving traffic safety, does save lives. Reducing air pollution saves lives too.
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by belorn 5y ago

runarberg 5y ago

Indeed. The logic goes: Vehicular traffic kills so-and-so many people. We can significantly lower that number by reducing vehicular miles traveled. Options include better bike infrastructure, better public transit, mixed zoning, lower speed limits, etc. If a city engineer would invert the logic and start with “Bicycle lanes have saved so-and-so many lives”. That would be rather odd wouldn’t it?

belorn 5y ago
If I search for "Bicycle lanes lives saved" (and alternative version of the search string) I find plenty of articles and even studies with those words in the title. Here is one: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2022/03/09/bicycle-infrastructure-saves-lives-in-more-ways-than-one/?sh=4fb615817942 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2022/03/09/bicycle-... In the United States, just under 1 percent of commuters travel by bicycle, Patz said. Increasing that slice to 6 percent—the level in Madison, WI—would avoid 20,000 premature deaths per year, he said > That would be rather odd wouldn’t it? Maybe I read too much news but No, I don't find it odd. Building safer roads, reducing traffic, improving traffic safety, does save lives. Reducing air pollution saves lives too.
- deleted 5y ago
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