Cities across the U.S. and world are closing streets to traffic in response to the pandemic, offering a glimpse of a world where cars are no longer king.
Sam Schwartz, the “traffic guru” who served as New York City’s chief transportation engineer in the 1970s and ’80s― during which he coined the term “gridlock” ― understands firsthand the problems cars can cause for cities. But it wasn’t always this way, he pointed out.
“We built cities that focused on getting people in cars from downtowns out to the suburbs, and that was not a good way to build a transportation system,” said Jennifer Toole, an urban planner in Maryland. Even before COVID-19, we knew our transportation system had given precious little space to people walking and biking and using wheelchairs. And now we’re seeing the ramifications of those decisions.Around the world, city governments are scrambling to retrofit their streets for ballooning foot traffic and trying to anticipate the transportation needs of a post-pandemic world in which commuting to work might not be as necessary.
Such schemes may be an easier sell in Europe, which has a long-established culture of walking and more leaders who grasp the dangers of climate change . Since the coronavirus appeared, these redesigns have become more ambitious. In addition to banning cars from parkways that traverse or circumscribe green space, city officials have closed 7 miles of city streets to provide space for cyclists and pedestrians, while also accelerating planned work to create protected bike lanes.
“We’ve seen people doing exactly what we want them to do,” Cleckley says, “which is go out, take a jog, bike or walk the dog. People are out there with their children taking advantage of this opportunity to get out of the house, exercise a bit — but at the same time, comply with the social distance order.”
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