Reduced car dependency creates healthier communities

A man recently drove his car into a Castro Valley Trader Joe's, injuring eight people.

Some would paint this as an unfortunate, albeit unusual, accident. It's not. In fact, an woman drove into a Trader Joe's earlier this year. These accidents are a natural consequence of a car-dependent transportation system.

Driving is necessary to manage everyday life, so it's very difficult to remove unsafe drivers from the road. And car dependency creates many more problems. Older people and families with young children struggle with transportation. Often, a parent restricts their work opportunities as a result. Car dependency creates traffic and, subsequently, most of our greenhouse emissions. It's expensive. Many low income people now spend more on transportation than housing.

In California, it feels too hard to change. We have been car dependent for so long, it's hard to imagine what change would look like and how it could happen.

Reducing car dependency does not mean banning cars, just deprioritizing them. Streets should serve people, not cars. The needs of pedestrians, bike riders, bus riders, parents with strollers and people with pets are just as important as the needs of drivers. This sounds simple, but it is radically different from typical street design, and drives the following types of changes:

• Some road space is reallocated from cars to bikes, pedestrians or public transit. Lanes are narrowed, or in some cases, eliminated altogether. This allows for wider sidewalks and/or bike lanes, more bus shelters and, possibly, barriers between automobiles and unprotected travelers.

• Cars drive slower. Speed limits may be lowered, but street design is possibly more important. Cars will not drive slow on a wide, open road with unobstructed vistas. Narrowing roads and adding trees will naturally reduce speeds.

• More people use alternative forms of transportation. Narrow streets with trees and slow moving cars are pleasant to walk or ride a bike on. They are more attractive and feel comfortable, because they are safer. More residents will choose to walk or bike to the coffee shop instead of jumping in their car.

• Car fatalities decrease. Car accidents are much less dangerous at low speeds. Most pedestrians survive if they are hit by a car moving 20 mph. This rarely happens if a car is moving 40 mph. Our auto fatality rates are 50% higher than Canada's. We can prevent many deaths.

• The demand for parking lessens. As more people walk or bike to local businesses, fewer parking spots are needed. More residents will opt to not own a car. Space used for parking can be converted to housing, specialty retail or public spaces.

• Local, specialty retailers will strengthen. When people drive to shop, they tend to drive to large, destination stores. Business-district retailers overestimate the proportion of customers driving to their stores, as opposed to wandering in while walking in the area. Smaller retailers benefit from walkable environments.

• People are happier. People love walkable neighborhoods and will pay a significant premium to live near one.

This may sound like wishful thinking. However, other cities have shown that it works. Washington, D.C. has increased bike safety and bike lanes. Now 16% of commutes are by bike. Seattle reduced car traffic 5% while its population grew 20% by investing in transit, walkability and bike infrastructure. Commercial vacancies have dropped 50% in New York's new pedestrianized zones.

We have our own example much closer to home. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the damaged freeway over San Francisco's Embarcadero was removed. Merchants opposed this, fearing it would hurt their sales. Residents fought the removal due to fears of gridlock. These fears proved to be unwarranted. Now, the Embarcadero is a lovely place to be. No one is clamoring to rebuild the freeway.

This is the case virtually everywhere cars have been deprioritized. The residents and businesses love the revisioned space and have no desire to turn back.

Gov. Gavin Newsom took a first step at rebalancing our streets by signing new laws that decriminalize jaywalking and prohibit minimum parking requirements on residential and commercial developments within a half mile of public transit. We can do more. Ask our elected officials to make our communities less car dependent and give more space to bikers, walkers and public transit.

Reducing car dependency does not mean banning cars, just deprioritizing them.