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Bristol, UK introduces 20mph speed limit
by Beth McKechnie 09 Mar '12

09 Mar '12

[On the heels of America Walks releasing their two papers on slowing down speeds comes this article from the UK...] Bristol's residential roads to have blanket 20mph speed limit <http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/people/Bristol%20Evening%20Post/profile.html> Bristol Evening Post<http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/people/Bristol%20Evening%20Post/profile.html> Thursday, March 08, 2012 http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-s-residential-roads-blanket-20mph-sp… <http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-s-residential-roads-blanket-20mph-sp…> A BLANKET 20mph speed limit is set to be introduced on Bristol's residential roads. The city will be one of the first in the country to bring in the reduced limit on all but the busiest main roads. The £2million scheme, which is expected to be phased in over three years from the autumn, is aimed at making roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Bristol transport chief Tim Kent said: "Even a reduction in speed of 5mph can make the difference between life and death. "This is not about putting a police officer on every corner and making sure people drive at 19-and-a-half miles per hour. This is about improving the quality of people's lives by making roads safer for children to use, encouraging them to walk to school and for people of all ages to walk and cycle." The ruling Liberal Democrats are committed to a citywide 20mph speed limit and set aside £150,000 towards the project in this year's budget, despite the worst cuts in the council's history. Mr Kent, the cabinet councillor in charge of transport, said he was confident that a 20mph speed limit would mean that it would become the norm for people to drive more slowly. He said if people felt safer to walk or cycle, then it would help to relieve congestion and reduce carbon emissions because they would be using their cars less frequently. "We would obviously not introduce 20mph on the city's busiest roads but where there are borderline cases, we would want this considered by the Neighbourhood Partnerships," he said. The council is keen to go ahead with the new limit following positive results from two pilot 20mph zones in the east and south of the city. They covered a total of 500 roads and 30,000 homes and although they relied mostly on 20mph signs and no police enforcement or expensive traffic-calming measures, the council says there is evidence to show that drivers have been slowing down. A council monitoring report on the pilot schemes said: "The overall results show that 'signs only' 20mph has been accompanied by a small but important reduction in daytime vehicle speeds, an increase in walking and cycling counts, especially at weekends, a strengthening of public support for 20mph, maintenance of bus journey times and reliability, and no measurable impact on air quality or noise." It goes on to say that during the first 12-month period of the trial zones, the number of road casualties went down by five in Bristol East but actually went up by eight in Bristol South. The council's highway experts say it was too early to draw any conclusions about the impact on casualty figures. But according to national research, the chances of a pedestrian being killed in a road accident drop four-fold if they are hit by a vehicle travelling at 20mph, compared to one at 40mph. The report says: "As a general principle, the 20mph programme is a means of creating a culture where driving too fast in residential streets is seen as unacceptable. There is already strong evidence that speeding in residential streets is viewed as the number one antisocial behaviour." The feedback from residents shows that 89 per cent of them are in favour of a 20mph speed limit on residential streets, the report said. And more than two-thirds (70 per cent) of them are in a favour of a citywide ban. But the figure drops to just over half (56 per cent) for a 20mph limit on main roads. The report goes on to say that residents are frustrated about the level of speed enforcement on busy streets. It says: "This is encouraging as it reflects the enthusiasm among residents for lower speed limits on their streets but it is something that must be discussed with Avon and Somerset Police if we are to move forward with a citywide roll-out of a scheme that is fully supported by residents." National guidelines from the Department for Transport say that 20mph speed limits should be self-enforcing and there should be no expectation on the police to provide extra enforcement beyond their normal routines, unless specifically agreed. In South Gloucestershire, there are a handful of 20mph speed limits – mostly in areas close to schools – but the general view is to consider them only when they have been urged by residents who are prepared to monitor them. Over the past ten years 20mph zones were introduced in 16 areas but it is understood that these were brought in where traffic-calming measures were already in place. A citywide ban would mean that many main roads would be exempt because it would be impractical to enforce a 20mph speed restriction on the likes of the A4 Bath Road or the M32. Some busy roads such as West Street in Bedminster and Whiteladies Road are already so jammed with traffic at peak times that drivers could not travel at more than 20mph even if they wanted to. The Bristol South pilot scheme covers about 200 roads in Bedminster, Lawrence Hill, Southville and Windmill Hill, was introduced in May 2010 while the Bristol East scheme, which covers 300 roads in Ashley, Easton, Eastville, Lawrence Hill and St George West, was brought in five months later. Road safety charity Brake has been campaigning for 20mph zones to increase the chances of drivers being able to stop in time to avert accidents, and Portsmouth is believed to be the only other city in the country to have introduced a citywide 20mph speed limit.

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You're invited - Creative Commuting Ambassador Training
by Jessie Klassen 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

*Creative Commuting Ambassador Training * You are invited to a FREE, half-day interactive workshop on becoming a Creative Commuting Ambassador at your workplace! Get the tools and guidance to help improve commuter options on-site and support your coworkers to get the most out of their commutes. *Hands-on training and resources you'll get at the workshop:* - Training in bike route planning - Experience with all the latest Winnipeg Transit tools - An evaluation of your workplace's existing commuter options - A folder filled with tools and resources relevant to your workplace - Ideas for a simple project to apply these tools and resources right away *2 dates to choose from!* Tuesday, April 3rd, 8:45 am - 12:00 pm Thursday, April 19th, 12:45 pm - 4:00 pm * Workshop location*: EcoCentre boardroom (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) *Register today by contacting Beth McKechnie or Jessie Klassen at 925-3772 or beth(a)greenactioncentre.ca/ jessie(a)greenactioncentre.ca. *

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Barrel Shopping
by Anders Swanson 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

[Yes . . this article *is *related to active transportation. The author, Bruce Krentz, is the Regional Health Promotion Coordinator for the Burntwood Health Authority up in Thompson. This is also a scoop, not a forward: Bruce kindly gave permission to make this list its first official venue for publication (before it gets published elsewhere up north). Enjoy. - Anders] * * *Barrel Shopping* * * Brothers and Sisters I am sure you are wondering why I called you all here today. You are wondering what sort of demon I need to exorcise, wondering why in particular you were called to assist with the procedure. Wondering why now… why here…what did I do to deserve this? Let me make it all as clear as a chocolate shake. I thought it was crazy too. I knew I wasn’t the first. I knew I wasn’t the only; but that still didn’t make it a good idea. Even if ten other people had gone over the falls in a barrel and lived, was it really wise for me to go barrel shopping… I think not. But, never once having been accused of being smart, I headed out with my credit card in hand and visions of being number eleven. My barrel was a two wheeler, with only one speed, disc brakes, a mountain bike frame and pedals to get me there. My “peddly”, like me, is perched happily in the middle of the quality bell curve it is so far from the top of the line you couldn’t even see it from there but also a step up on Walmart’s deal of the week. In this case, Niagara Falls was four whole seasons of riding. Partly on a dare, partly wanting to walk the talk as a Health Promo guy and partly because I just didn’t know any better, I committed to a year of cycling to work. I need not remind you this little daily jaunt happens to be in the same pin hole on the map as the Ford Extreme Cold Weather Test Facility and the Global Aerospace Center for Icing and Environmental Research (*GLACIER*) . I started in September…how pleasant, cool fall mornings the leaves turning color. With some light gloves and a jacket that could break the wind (not a jacket that could break wind…now that would be something) life was grand. To make an extremely long story pretty short I am safely over the precipice out of the fast water and bobbing along in the run out of the falls, and life is still grand. Now it is August and almost time to bust that jacket back out with no reservations about another date with father winter. Back to my little sermon and the reason we are gathered here today. I won’t even begin to pretend that cycling 365 days a year is for everyone, but it could certainly be for more people. Committing to riding absolutely every day is for only a “special” few, and I almost made it. Four times I used a vehicle to get to work and none because of the weather. Sometimes, as they should, family commitments came before my personal madness. . Consider being the next one over the edge. From my experience, of the five work days each week finding three to comfortably saddle up would be easier than deciding what to have for lunch. As you map your decent, don’t feel like you have to throw away your car keys and shred you bus pass. Don’t hesitate to take the worst days or months off but push beyond the sunniest summer day. The whole winter is not -40 and in fact much of it isn’t even -20. Like doing anything on this spinning little ball of rock, if you want excuses they are never far away, hair, clothes, sweating, cold…they are all out there. None are insurmountable challenges but they don’t come quite as easy as firing up the SUV. I will concede that my serious lack of hair is generally not something I parade out on the front page but it did give me a bit of a leg up in this venture. Someone once said you can’t be mad while riding a bicycle. The stress relief, fresh air, exercise and the happy feeling of helping the environment, all make it worth-while. I know that sounds like some sort of hippy mantra but I didn’t start out looking for that stuff, it found me, so please pass me my tie-dyed t-shirt. For me, that bundle of joy outweighs the hassle of dressing for the seasons and looking like a geek in the eyes of the SUV’ers. My other pleasant discoveries included: - Studded tires, yes you heard me right studded bicycle tires. They make riding on the packed snow and ice feel like a day-off. - It is a commute not a race, you don’t run everywhere you go in a day, and you don’t have to pedal as hard as you can. This is big help with all the sweating concerns. - You don’t need as many warm or expensive specialized clothes as you think, a jacket and pants that break wind (I had to use that one once more) have served me just fine. Once you are moving even -40 is pleasant. O.K. maybe that is a little over the top but it makes for some good bragging to the in-law’s down south. - Snowboard helmet and goggles. I saw it with my own eyes Brothers and Sisters, the falls look pretty big from the top but once you are down at the bottom they aren’t so bad. Give it a try, buy a good helmet, find the right tie dyed duds and keep riding after the leaves are off of the trees. By: Bruce Krentz

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Resources: Why We're Stuck at High Speed and How Communities are Slowing Down
by Beth McKechnie 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

[Two excellent new resources from America Walks <http://americawalks.org/>that were just released yesterday...] We know that speed impacts safety and livability; but there are very few resources available to help local communities navigate the challenging process to reduce auto speeds in their neighborhoods. These two papers will provide support in helping communities reclaim their streets, allowing children, families and aging adults to walk safely. Find our press release here<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109476185779&s=8067&e=0011A7bH6Mt5N0TKZs3HANZ…>. - *Why We're Stuck at High Speed, and What We're Going to Do About It<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109476185779&s=8067&e=0011A7bH6Mt5N3n70Xnpr-6…> * - How Communities are Slowing Down<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109476185779&s=8067&e=0011A7bH6Mt5N1hy3BvD_L5…> Sincerely, Scott Bricker, Executive Director America Walks

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Two webinars Wed, March 28th - Maintenance Programs & Empowering Women to Bicycle
by Beth McKechnie 07 Mar '12

07 Mar '12

Green Action Centre and Bike to the Future invite you to join us on Wednesday, March 28th for a local viewing of two APBP webinars:* "*Best Practices in Maintenance Programs*" *and *"Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation"*. Both take place at the EcoCentre (3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave) and will be followed by group discussion. Come for one or both of the webinars. Please note: The Maintenance Programs webinar was originally scheduled for March 21st but will be presented as a recording on March 28th instead. Come out to the PACM conference <http://pacm.ca/> on March 21st! As always, RSVPs appreciated but not necessary. Hope to see you then. cheers, Beth 925-3772 * * * * * Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) presents: Best Practices for Maintenance Programs Wednesday, March 28th • 12:45 to 1:45 pm CST Efficient and cost-effective maintenance of pedestrian facilities is an important safety measure. Attend this webinar to learn why maintenance programs are important, and how to make the case for maintenance at budget time; how to overcome the barriers to implementing a good maintenance program; and how to develop the elements of a program that includes both routine maintenance and responding to hazards. Best practices for inspection, replacement and snow removal will be discussed, as well as findings from recent research into pedestrian facility maintenance. The session will include a preview of the new FHWA publication, "A Guide for Maintaining Pedestrian Facilities for Enhanced Safety," due to be published by the end of 2012. The webinar will also include information related to maintenance of bicycle facilities. Presenters: Tom Huber, Senior Planner, Toole Design Group; Arthur Ross, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, City of Madison, Wisconsin. Empowering Women to Bicycle for Transportation Wednesday, March 28th • 2:00 to 3:30 pm CST Take in APBP's annual Women Cycling webinar and learn what it will take to empower women to bicycle for transportation at the same level that men do. Visit APBP's Women Cycling Project <http://www.womencyclingproject.info/>website where you can read the final reports on the Women Cycling Survey, view the 2010 and 2011 webinars on the Women Cycling phenomenon, and enjoy the winning photos from the Women Cycling photo contest.

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Public Forum - Keep Winnipeg Greenspace Ours March 19
by Beth McKechnie 29 Feb '12

29 Feb '12

[Given the connection between AT and greenspace, thought this might be of interest. -cheers, Beth] You are invited to the following public forum about keeping Winnipeg’s greenspace’s green including the Windsor Park and St. Boniface golf courses along the Seine River. Save Our Seine is a founding member of OURS, one of the event sponsors. If you know someone who might be interested, please forward this invitation to them. * Public Forum – Keep Winnipeg Greenspace Ours **When: *Monday, March 19, 2012 *Where: *St Mary’s Road United Church at 613 St. Mary’s Road. Winnipeg, MB (map < http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=613+St+Marys+Road,+Winnipeg,+MB&hl=en&ll=49.86…'s+Rd,+Winnipeg,+Division+No.+11,+Manitoba&t=m&z=15<http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=613+St+Marys+Road,+Winnipeg,+MB&hl=en&ll=49.86…>> ) *Time: 7:00 to 9:30 pm Description: Public forum on Winnipeg greenspace. Panelists and audience participation. Discussion regarding the potential sale and development of city owned golf courses. Co-sponsored by OURS-Winnipeg and Council of Women of Winnipeg. *For info, visit www.ours-winnipeg.com <http://www.ours-winnipeg.com> and www.councilofwomen-winnipeg.ca <http://www.councilofwomen-winnipeg.ca> Denis De Pape Volunteer Vice President – Save Our Seine

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YOUR input on Active Transportation plans accessing the new football stadium at U of M
by Janice Lukes 29 Feb '12

29 Feb '12

I encourage you to attend an upcoming open house and comment on the ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ASPECT of the 'Event Day Management Plan' being presented over the next few days by the City of Winnipeg, U of M and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and BBB Stadium Incorporated. The City of Winnipeg, Province of Manitoba and Government of Canada have invested $10's of Millions into Active Transportation (AT) infrastructure in south Winnipeg enabling some of the City's best cycling and walking connectivity. This is an unprecedented opportunity to showcase AT investment's as a viable transportation choice - and to encourage and reap the benefits of active transportation in an environment challenged by limited vehicle parking: - it is important these AT investments be shown as TRANSPORTATION CHOICES in 'The Stadium Event Day Management Plan' - it is important that ENCOURAGEMENT through marketing and promotional plans for AT be incorporated into ' 'The Stadium Event Day Management Plan' ie: similar to the marketing and promotional plans put in place around taking transit to a football game Please take some time to attend one of these open houses - and offer your comments related to the ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ASPECT of the 'Event Day Management Plan' Public engagement for soliciting feedback on the Event Day Management Plan for the new Football Stadium at the UM: http://winnipeg.ca/cao/media/news/nr_2012/nr_20120228.stm#2 February 29, 2012 Dalhousie School, 262 Dalhousie - Library, 400 pm - 8:30 pm March 3, 2012 CANAD INN Fort Garry, 1824 Pembina Highway - Ambassador A, 1000 am - 300 pm March 5, 2012 CANAD INN Garden City, 2100 McPhillips Street - Ambassador A, 430 pm - 800 pm March 6, 2012 Access Transcona, 845 Regent - Room 163, 430 pm - 800 pm March 7, 2012 Sturgeon Heights Community Centre, 210 Rita Street, 430 pm - 800 pm March 8, 2012 Bronx Park Community Centre, 720 Henderson - HobNobs Cafe, 430 pm - 800 pm thank you Janice Lukes Manager, Special Projects Winnipeg Trails Association c/o Rivers West - Red River Corridor Inc 235-614 Des Meurons Street Winnipeg, MB R2H 2P9 Cell (204) 952-4222 Fax (204) 943-7915 <mailto:jlukes@shaw.ca> jlukes(a)shaw.ca winnipegtrails.com Member of City of Winnipeg Active Transportation Advisory Committee Past Chair, Province of Manitoba Active Transportation Advisory Group

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Active Transportation Plans Up and Down the Red River Corridor?
by Anders Swanson 28 Feb '12

28 Feb '12

*[In the lead-up to an exciting conference <http://pacm.ca/> in Portage la Prairie in March, I thought it worth circulating just a few examples of how active transportation is indeed "gaining ground" outside Winnipeg, be it under the auspices of health, tourism, recreation or anything else. I will limit myself to a few divergent posts between now and March 21st, but I encourage everyone to share any stories they might come across. Below is a message from Rivers West in an excerpt from the Manitoba Recreational Trails Association's brand new newsletter<http://www.mrta.mb.ca/documents/winter2012.pdf>. Text in bold is my emphasis. - Anders] * "Vision 2030 - Master Development Plan for Red River Corridor Submitted by Julie Turenne-Maynard Rivers West concentrates its efforts along the length of the Red River corridor in Manitoba, from Emerson at the international border north to Netley Marsh at Lake Winnipeg. Rivers West's vision is to make Manitoba's Red River corridor a destination. The mandate of Rivers West is to develop and implement a long-term strategy focusing on the development, promotion and management of the natural, tourism, cultural/heritage and recreational resources of the Red River from Emerson to Lake Winnipeg.Rivers West will work with stakeholders to create and promote a corridor along Manitoba's Red River that connects people with communities and attractions as well as the conservation, recreation, economic and tourism resources of the corridor. Master Plan The Master Plan is intended to accommodate and integrate the local plans and enhancements of each of the various stakeholders, creating a clear picture of what the destination would offer in 20 years. This could include incremental greenway and natural environment enhancements, *comprehensive active transportation and recreational plan*, culture and heritage product, hospitality facilities, as well as infrastructure. It is also critically important that the Master Plan consider and incorporate the Canadian Heritage Rivers System document A Management Approach for the Red River in Manitoba. Overall, the intent is to:  evoke images of a specific unified destination;  ensure that incremental projects are consistent with the long term vision;  strengthen support and commitment among stakeholders;  provide a lens through which priorities can be set and resources allocated;  clarify the Red River Corridor’s position in the marketplace while establishing a focus for marketing and promotion. This is a significant undertaking that will require the assistance of consultants to identify all current plans and expectations among stakeholders and to develop a unifying plan that has the support of all stakeholders. Rivers West is engaging consultants to execute the work. Stakeholders will be approached in Spring 2012 to provide input in the process. Public Consultation meetings will be organized. Please check the www.riverswest.ca website for updates." -- Anders Swanson Active Transportation Project Coordinator Physical Activity Coalition of Manitoba | www.pacm.ca activetransportation(a)pacm.ca

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Good for Business - benefits of making streets more bike & ped friendly (2011, AU)
by Beth McKechnie 27 Feb '12

27 Feb '12

[snipped from the Executive Summary...] Good for Busine$$ is a discussion paper for built environment professionals and business people to show the positive financial benefits of making streets more walking and cycling friendly. This report asserts that a well-designed, quality street environment that promotes walking, cycling and public transport is good for business. “… it would be advantageous to local businesses to support measures aimed at attracting more pedestrians and bus passengers to the local shopping centre rather than car users … wider pavements (sidewalks) and traffic restraint measures should result in attracting more regular, dedicated custom to the area and have a positive impact on retailers and customers alike.” The Heart Foundation (SA) commissioned this discussion paper to bring together the evidence around the financial benefits to retailers and residents in making commercial streets morewalking and cycling friendly. Walking and cycling to local shops is good for business and good for the local economy and is essential to the success of revitalisation strategies. Streetscape enhancements add value to an area and are associated with higher rents and the attraction of new businesses. In addition there is good evidence to show that improving walking and cycling environments raises private property values by significant amounts. http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/GoodforBusinessFI… [Thanks to Susanne Dewey Povoledo for sharing this resource. -Beth]

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The end of the road for motormania
by Beth McKechnie 21 Feb '12

21 Feb '12

[Thanks to Aaron Russin and Melissa Dupuis at Peg City Car Co-op<http://pegcitycarcoop.ca/>for sharing this article. -Beth] The end of the road for motormania 16 August 2011 by *Fred Pearce*<http://www.newscientist.com/search?rbauthors=Fred+Pearce> *Something unexpected is happening to our car-crazy culture. What are the forces driving us out of motoring?* IS THE west falling out of love with the car? For environmentalists it seems an impossible dream, but it is happening. While baby boomers and those with young families may stick with four wheels, a combination of our ageing societies and a new zeitgeist among the young seems to be breaking our 20th-century car addiction. Somewhere along the road, we reached "peak car" and are now cruising down the other side. Peak car takes several forms. Sales of new cars have almost halved<http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/tab…>in the US, down from nearly 11 million in 1985 to about 5.5 million in 2009. We shouldn't take much notice of that, though. Cars last longer these days, and sales go up and down with the economy. But we have hit peak car ownership, too. And, more to the point, peak per-capita travel. The phenomenon was first recognised in *The Road... Less Traveled*<http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/1216_transportation_tomer_puentes.aspx>, a 2008 report by the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, but had been going on largely unnoticed for years. Japan peaked in the 1990s. They talk there of "demotorisation". The west had its tipping point in 2004. That year the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Sweden all saw the start of a decline in the number of kilometres the average person travelled in a car that continues today. In Australia, car travel peaked in every city in 2004 and has been falling since (*World Transport Policy and Practice*, vol 17, p 31<http://www.eco-logica.co.uk/pdf/wtpp17.2.pdf>). It is a similar picture in the UK, where per-capita car travel is down 5 per cent since 2004. What could be driving us off the road? Fuel costs and rising insurance premiums may be a factor. And urban gridlock, combined with an absence of parking places and congestion charging, makes the car a dumb way to move around in cities where there are public transport alternatives. In the US, however, the decline of the car is most dramatic not in the gridlocked city centres but in the car-dependent suburbs. In sprawling cities like Atlanta and Houston where the automobile is king, driving is down by more than 10 per cent. Of course the end of the love affair with the car may just be a sign of the economic times: the much-discussed "hollowing out" of the middle classes, with jobs available at the top and bottom of society, but less so for the white-collar workers. Still, a study by Lee Schipper of the Global Metropolitan Studies unit at the University of California, Berkeley, found that while rising wealth correlates with more travel up to a per-capita income of $30,000, beyond that the link breaks down (*Transport Reviews*, vol 31, p 357 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2010.518291>). Demographics is a more likely explanation. It is surely no accident that peak car happened first in Japan, which has the world's oldest population. Pensioners do not drive to work, and many don't drive at all. There is also the rise of people like me, "virtual commuters" who work from home via the internet. Besides work habits, leisure lifestyles are also changing. The biggest fall in car use in the US is among people under 35. The fraction of American 17-year-olds with a driver's licence has fallen from about three-quarters to about half since 1998. Twenty-somethings have recently gone from driving more than the average to driving less. Social scientists detect a new "culture of urbanism". The stylish way to live these days is in inner-city apartments. The suburbs suck. Richard Florida<http://www.creativeclass.com/creative_class/2010/06/04/the-great-car-reset/>, an urban studies theorist at the University of Toronto in Canada, points out that the young shop online, telecommute, live in walkable city neighbourhoods near public transport and rely more on social media and less on face-to-face visiting. Given those changes, they can think of better ways to spend their money than buying a car. Phil Goodwin at the University of the West of England in Bristol says the same applies to the UK, where young people are the most prominent in dropping out of the great car society. Maurie Cohen, an environmental scientist at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, says "Gen Y-ers are quite cool to the automobile." The modern James Dean is a rebel without a car. Meanwhile, use of everything else, from bikes and buses to trains and trams, is still going up. But even that trend may reverse. Schipper says we may be approaching a point of "peak travel" of all sorts. People just won't see the need to move around so much. Of course, environmentalists shouldn't get carried away. In the developing world, the car boom is only now getting under way, despite gridlock in cities from Shanghai to São Paulo. That trend makes any claim of an impending global peak car far-fetched. The industrialised world still has plenty of less-green trends too. Falling car occupancy is one. In the US, the average car on the average journey carries 1.7 people, half a person less than in 1970. So even if we individually travel less, our cars may travel just as much. Likewise, the continuing trend for bigger and more powerful cars is wiping out the gains from more fuel-efficient vehicles. And sometimes we simply replace driving with flying. But the good news is that those straight lines on the planners' graphs predicting ever rising car-kilometres and ever-worsening carbon emissions from internal combustion engines are being proved wrong. Planners need to take note. And, if they have any sense, they will start to reinforce these trends with improved public transport, an end to urban sprawl and more investment in inner cities. Some think car use will revive if and when economies recover. But it looks like something more profound is going on. Florida calls it a "great reset" in society that will have profound consequences - not least for the environment. Even our most treasured consumer aspirations can have a peak. Enough can be enough. *Fred Pearce is New Scientist's environment consultant* * http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128255.600-the-end-of-the-road-for-… *

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