Thereโs a major problem with the way our roads and traffic systems are designedโone thatโs being overlooked at an enormous cost. The core idea behind how we build our roads, and by extension our towns, cities, and landscapes, is outdated and deeply flawed. What exactly are junk roads? Why have we invested billions, possibly trillions, into them? Si Richardson is on a mission to expose the truth behind the roads we’ve accepted without question. ๐ฃ๏ธ
โฑ๏ธ Timestamps: โฑ๏ธ
00:00 The Trillion Dollar Road Black Hole
01:25 Traffic Congestion Is A Problem. Whatโs the Answer?
03:01 The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion & โInduced Demandโ
06:35 Transport Economics & How More Roads Donโt Actually Save Us Time (Or Money!)
11:06 Was There A Benefit To Improving The Road Network?
12:05 Why Hasnโt This Filtered Into Policy?
16:05 Texan Revolt Against Giant New Highways
17:04 Why Are We Doing The Same Thing Again?
17:41 What Might Happen If We Stopped? | The Cheonggyecheon Example
20:14 Have Roads And Cars Brought About Economic Wealth?
21:00 How Much Space (And Money) Do Roads (And Parking) Take Up?
22:23 What Could An Alternative Look Like?
24:11 Car Drivers Are Worth More Than Pedestrians And Cyclists
24:54 Active Transport Can Be Good | Freiburg
25:46 Interview With Marco Te Brรถmmelstroet – Prof Urban Planning In Netherlands
27:28 Bicycle Will Never Replace Cars Mobility Options
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What do you make of all this? ๐ Has this changed anything about the way you think about roads and transport? ๐
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26 Comments
What do you make of all this? ๐ Has this changed anything about the way you think about roads and transport? ๐
Jevons paradox 1865.
I love this content, please do more urbanism segments!
Ask your director of national highways where theyโre getting the $45bn from. Itโs always some made up projection that never matches reality. Their models always look at the rosiest situation for motorways because the people pushing for the road widening policies want those policies because theyโre what I call car-brained.
Nice shot of the Stonecutter's Bridge in Hong Kong. Not open to bicycles, of course.
Fortunately the MTR (underground/overground railway) has become much more bike friendly. If you are happy to take off your front wheel, you can take your bike on a train.
The moment the car became a consumer article for mass production as a result of the invention of the conveyor belt, it was bound to beccome a cancerous scourge for humankind. As car procuction increased from hundreds to thousands to hundreds of thousands to millions, and eventually even billions of them worldwide, their cancerous qualities are more and more revealed. Car culture, or better un-culture, sucks up enormeous amounts of resources and energy and space that could otherwise be used for better things. Air and noise pollution alone, and associated with it the increase of resperatory and stress-related diseases, costing us millions, should be reason enough to drive back car culture for the benefit of everyone living in urban areas, especially. Accidents and related costs in human lives and medical expenses as a consequence of fatalities and injuries are another major reason to turn away from car-centric policies. Investing in public transit and cycling infrastructure, to offer people convenient, affordable alternatives to driving is the path to the future. Still, the forces which profit from the cancerous status quo are lobbying heavily with politics and people's minds to remain stuck in the old matrix of car centricity. Once that bubble pops in the mind of the drivers, they will see what shenanigan they have been living with for their whole lives. Car culture will…has to outlive itself. Too many people just don't see it, yet.
For everybody interested – Channel called "Not just bikes" has more (excellent) videos on this and other related subjects
Maybe the UK population going from 52 million in 1960 to 68 million in 2025 on a tiny island has had some effect? Or the US population going from 176 million to 340 million in the same time span with an increase primarily in big cities? Come to South Dakota, North Dakota, or Wyoming, etc., small populations and no congestion.
At 7:50 there seems a flaw in your claim "more roads built do not lead to time saved but instead leads to longer distances travelled."
Sure, no time saving, but how about the greatly increased utility in now being able to do more frequent and longer trips in the same time as before?
That utility increase is very significantly useful. As a club cyclist, to do the same journeys on a bike would be out of the question.
My commute to London is a distance of 22 miles takes me 2 hours of driving, 1 hour 48 mins on public transport or 1 hour 50 mins of cycling. So thatโs 11mph for the car, 12.22mph for public transport and 12mph cycling. Basically London has underinvested in public transport and its road system to a chronic level.
Travelling longer distances in the same time allows us to increase economic activity and makes life less dull.
The problem, as always, is not what we are doing but rather how many of us are doing it. As long as our economies are based on population growth this will not stop.
Love these deep dive videos. Theyโre so intriguing. I just wish politicians would take note of these statistics.
Iโm reminded of a documentary on Netflix called Bikes vs Cars
The nice thing about induced demand is that it works in both directions.
This was an excellent discussion! As a former professional planner here in the U.S., we have been preaching many of the points made in this video for years. Thank you bringing this topic more into the mainstream consciousness.
make your video much shorter this is not a 34 minute video. Itโs like a 10 minute video get to the point.
Simon for MP…..Can you force someone to be a politician, might be better then the people that want to be a politician.
โ I hate trafficโ โฆ.. but you are traffic!!
Hi @si Really interesting video. So much of life is devoted to cars, travelling in them, buying them, storing them, etc. and thought it was really interesting where a financial cost was put on this, moving away from "time saved" to the actual cost of a motorway junction compared to a town of people.
Sadly the majority of those that watch this video are not the ones that need convincing! This kind of content needs to be shown to council planners as mandatory viewing.
Hands down the best video I've seen so far from GCN, and there have been a lot.
Si, you're my hero now!
I live on the isle of Wight and had to travel to Wales. First trip by cramped train and had to change a couple of times with as much as I could carry. 2nd time by car, loaded up seats, no queues. It took slightly longer than the train but was much cheaper and more comfortable.
Our trains are a total rip off. I'll drive next time too. Sort out the train fares and maybe more people may use it but they wont get a seat. Total rip off.
As I have written in a previous comment, I really enjoy it when Connor and you make a political content. The channel @NotJustBikes stresses this topic a lot, too. I can really recommend this channel.
Roads are great – I drive them all the time!
Bicycles suck – walking is much better exercise!
Watched this a few times and it still blows my mind how as humans we keep doing things that we know arnt the right choices but canโt stop despite those choices being bad for the planet our wallets and our health
The bit about our comfortable travel time being an hour and the difference from then to now being the distance travels in that hour
Keep up the good work @GCN this is valuable stuff
Someone needs to write a book about this