Expert Eye Time to start building communities near public transport
All new development should be within a 25-minute walk of a train or tram stop
CLEARLY the country needs more and better built, insulated homes which are heated effectively and take climate change into account. Bigger gardens for our children to play in would also be nice!
Most families also want a car, so adequate parking and charging points are needed. Sadly, however, we continue to build desolate apartment blocks and rabbit-hutch housing too far from rail or tram stops so using the car every day is the only option.
We must stop building ‘units of accommodation’ and start building homes and communities where families and single people alike can get to know their neighbours.
I have been saying for four decades that all new medium-to-largescale housing developments should have a train, tram stop or micro transport station at their heart. We should be using incentives to persuade people to use public transport. Free national bus and train travel for the disabled and anyone under 23 or over 65 would be a good start.
Few people offered free travel on public transport would choose a private car, so many would automatically use it less. The word ‘free’ is probably the most powerful word in the English language. Advertising agencies know this only too well, which is why so many companies offer ‘free this and get one free that.’
Without doubt, millions would start using public transport to get to work and school, which would immediately relieve pressure on imported diesel, petrol and electricity and give us time to develop more sustainable home-grown energy sources such as solar, tide, wind and, of course, nuclear.
The closer we build homes to public transport hubs and the more frequent the service, the more people will use them.
We must encourage the principle of what I call ‘the 25-minute initiative.’
All new development should be within a 25-minute walk of a train or tram stop. If a person’s destination is within a 25-minute walk then that is the mode of transport we should use to get there.
Car parking at or near the station should be discouraged rather than encouraged. More well-designed footpaths and cycle paths need building. There is almost always plenty of land available – it’s the political will to use it for housing and our dysfunctional planning system which prevents its use. We should be encouraging owners of land near rail, tram stations and stops to offer their land for housing. Major housebuilders should be obliged to include new micro stations and track extensions in plans for large-scale developments.
Stop vilifying car drivers without offering a workable alternative and start building more micro rail stations and tracks – that’s my central point.
Buying and running a car is expensive, so make it easy, free (or at least cheap) for people to use public transport, and use it they will. In their millions! Vision is key to building back better.