How do we even fix car-dependency in the US? It's almost like a <i>mind virus</i>, in that people are so utterly convinced on the need for cars, they cannot even <i>conceive</i> of a world in which they're not necessary.
Anecdotally among friends working in NYC, people don't walk as frequently as they used to because they're not commuting into the office 5 days per week (which generally involves 10-20m of walking). Some are working totally remote out of their apartments, others hybrid 3 days per week.<p>But on the flip side, some are spending that saved commuting time on exercising more, and are healthier for the change.
I read the article and it didn't sound like any point they were making couldn't be explained as 'well we were in a pandemic during that time, and also people shifted to working from home more, so they weren't forced to move as much'.<p>Even the uptick in 2022 can be explained with 'well we were coming out of a pandemic, and there was an RTO push, but still bad habits are from before are hard to break'.
I'm curious as to _how_ the data was collected for this report. Did they use camera feed data? Walk-button push counts? HR rideshare incentive data? Sending out surveys?<p>The article talked about trips -- but I didn't see any differentiation between commutes to work and walking in the park, for example.
It reminded me of studies on walking and cognitive function <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15383516/" rel="nofollow">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15383516/</a>
This seems timely with trends in pedestrian deaths rising: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/podcasts/the-daily/pedestrian-deaths.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/podcasts/the-daily/pedest...</a><p>As a driver and pedestrian, I swear I see people staring at their phones while driving.<p>Probably need phone cupholders — phone locks up unless it’s mounted in its slot and enters CarPlay mode. Have to do it for passengers too, since can’t differentiate
I honestly wouldn't walk around in most U.S. cities, with all the street violence and homelessness plaguing the nation. Drug needles everywhere, trash, human feces. Why take the risk?
I’m sure it’s totally unrelated to the increase of street junkies and urban crime resulting from the post 2020 “reimagined” policing in many major cities.
....so after all of that effort to create walkable cities, remove car lanes for bike lanes etc. this is where we end up? Not sure if trying to create more walkways, removing traffic lanes for bike etc. are the answer if this is the net result.