ideas: on government

A social cost to our choking cities

Singapore is sometimes accused of being a sterile city. Although people who describe it that way may mean it unkindly, what this description reflects is that Singapore is chaos-free. The city moves to a steady daily rhythm — no mess, no fuss. An underground rail network renowned for its clockwork reliability moves 4.8 million people around the island every 24 hours.

There are other good reasons to avoid driving a car in Singapore. Private vehicles are sold on restricted and expensive permits. Singapore was also the first city in the world to implement electronic congestion tolling in the 1970s, slashing traffic volumes by more than 40 per cent when a cross-city drive became an expensive proposition. Rush hour is a non-event and the roads are filled with buses and taxis. The wide, leafy boulevards of the Orchard Road shopping strip signal that this city belongs to pedestrians.

But take a 45-minute flight to Kuala Lumpur and you’ll encounter a very different city. If you want chaos, Malaysia’s bustling capital is your city. There’s no peak hour here either — traffic is permanently gridlocked in a haze of exhaust fumes. Pedestrian crossings are generally ignored. Motorcyclists mount crumbling footpaths, dodging pedestrians to get ahead. The public transport system isn’t bad, but it seems to run at capacity — and there are no incentives to use it. No matter how long the commute, locals aren’t about to give up their cars.

The example of these two cities presents urban populations here in Australia with a choice. Our cities aren’t quite as congested as Kuala Lumpur, but there’s no question which of these two examples our major cities will resemble if current transport policy is maintained. A lack of planning, and more importantly, a lack of long-term vision, is condemning our rapidly-growing population centres to the same choking fate as Kuala Lumpur.

We share the same unhealthy addiction to the automobile as our neighbours in Kuala Lumpur. Movement in our cities is now dominated by cars. And they’re holding the economy and our way of life to ransom.

Read more: Full article on New Matilda

© 2009 importance of ideas….