Today’s young people see the car as an unnecessary expense, and in London that’s almost certainly true”
That a “petrol head” such as Jeremy Clarkson can recognise this demonstrates that at least for our city our relationship with the car is evolving. However you need only venture out past the M25 to such places as Bluewater and Lakeside whose whole existence is predicated on access by car to see that the love affair is not entirely over.
In Roadkill the authors set out to show how car culture came to be so embedded in our very 21st Century being and way’s to break this habit which they convincingly argue is unsustainable and harmful to the planet.
Written for a global audience – Costs are measured in millions of US $s with US spellings throughout – it is right that the book is targeted worldwide. Growing affluence outside of Europe and America is associated with car ownership as a sign of status but in line with the Society’s remit on London this review will focus on what it has to say for this City.
On cycling, as any Londoner will know, use has grown in popularity “and the numbers tell the story” with a 26% increase in daily trips 2019-2024 backed up by a quadrupling of cycle lanes in a similar period to 400km. From my own experience I’d say usage away from the centre is patchy but such a transformation is bound to have highs and lows.
On pollution it is estimated that here 9000 tons of tyre wear particles are emitted each year. Although the results of this are unclear this worrying statistic is part of a chapter highlighting that a shift to electric cars is not the answer. Different drug same addiction.
Both the hidden costs of car ownership and issues so taken for granted are brought to light in the book. “Nearly half of all city noise comes from cars” I worked at TfL in the 2000s when Trafalgar Square was reclaimed from being an exhaust ridden roundabout to the promontory of calm that we know today. For the first time in years the fountains could be heard making the then commissioner well up with emotion. It is only when we lose noise that we are aware of its pervasiveness.
The book is also good on some policies that may not work. Perhaps counterintuitively free public transport where introduced has mixed results on its efficacy in reducing car use. With societal views on car ownership around status seeming to be the main factor. No statistics were given for London but with its mix of low fares and free fares for young and old I like to think we can agree with a former Mayor of Bogota that “the sign of a prosperous society is not one where the poor use cars but rather where the rich use public transport”
Meticulously referenced with a third of the book’s 290 pages given over to detailing sources, the one criticism of it I would have is the terrible title. Although clearly linked roads (or streets as they were refocused to by TfL in the 2000s) are not the main issue here, needed as they are for buses and cycles, but the car itself. Indeed every time I’d describe to people what I was reviewing I was unable to remember what it was called. Perhaps something along the lines of Carmagheddon was thought too apocalyptic? As the book makes clear without existential change that could however be the highway on which we’re headed.
Publisher: Wiley
