How Terrible Land Use Ruins Cities

[@kailahmann1823]

A cities priorities can best be seen right in front of the train station… 142.000 cars per day but no bike or bus lanes are a strong answer :/

[@TheTramly]

exactly, + considering how it was from the construction of the station up to the mid-to-late 20th century, it got the largest glow down in history

[@lenkamaresova4116]

I do hope that the eastern part of the city ring road would be done sometimes in this century, after that, even the car brains will not have an argument for this abomination.

[@TheTramly]

Definitely!

[@alfredmarc4753]

méně než 30 % všech aut projíždějící magistrálu je transitní doprava, většina aut má cíl někde v centru. Okruh by tedy za dalších několik desítek miliard a dekád nebyl efektivním řešením.

[@TheTramly]

*Clarification for the last chapter of the video:* No one is entitled to, by default, anything. I am not entitled to public transport and cycling infrastructure, just as drivers aren't entitled to roads, by default. The point I was trying to make is this: Driving is often seen as the "default" transport mode, expected absolutely everywhere. I challenge this notion, and propose that instead, we should build cities around public transport, walking and cycling. The fact that driving is seen as the "default" transport mode is more of an ingrained transport policy decision, rather than a natural fact of life.

[@GLitchesHaxandBadAudio]

I would challenge that slightly. Developed, accessible pedestrian and cycling infrastructure should be something everyone is entitled to when living in a city. You don’t require a license or registration to walk or bike, especially if you are young, old, handicapped, or unable to afford an automobile. They are fiscally cheaper for a city to build and maintain and afford a greater degree of freedom in movement for all those able to use it, not to mention the general benefit such infrastructure has on public health, small/local business health, and community/social health. (They are also much better for connecting people with park space and greenways vs automobiles) If anyone should be entitled to access a type of infrastructure, it should definitely be pedestrian/cycling infrastructure.

[@TheTramly]

@@GLitchesHaxandBadAudio definitely! I was more pointing to the fact that when a city grows, in most parts of the world, the first question is "how do we provide access to cars" because this is how transport policy is made in most of the world, because it's seen as the default we should absolutely move away from this assumption that driving is the default mode of transport, and to build our cities around walking, cycling and transit first

[@GLitchesHaxandBadAudio]

@@TheTramly I couldn’t agree more. Sorry if I was confused in any way.

[@mymo_in_Bb]

I started commuting to Prague a few months after I started caring about good urbanism and watching channels like Not Just Bikes. I was absolutely disgusted when I discovered these abhorrent stroads in the middle of the city. I really hope something's done about them within our lifetimes, places like the Main Station etc. are restored to a more pedestrianised space, and driving is heavily restricted in the city, but we'll have to do a lot of work to convince people it's a good idea...

[@TheTramly]

@@mymo_in_Bb i hope I will see those changed during my lifetime, but sometimes I'm not too sure💀💀

[@Pidalin]

Problem is that Czechs are still very car-centric nation and there is a significant part of population and politicians who won't allow any changes, because this car hell is what they want and if you don't like to walk thru there, they will tell you that you should also use car. 🙂

[@mymo_in_Bb]

@@Pidalin Yea, that's probably what needs the most amount of work

[@ondrej_kraus]

It’s really hard, as most people have carbrain syndrome in Prague

[@Pidalin]

@@mymo_in_Bb I wish we were that brave as Poles, they are doing massive steps forward now, in some cities, they just banned cars in historical center (with few exceptions) and world didn't end, I wish we were able to do it too here in Czechia, but we live in 90s.

[@segarallychampionship702]

i saw the thumbnail and thought it's the crossroad between Ukrajinská/Pražská/Tyršova/U Prazdroje in Pilsen. three of those streets are four-lane. it's so awful they didn't even bother setting up pedestrian crossings in there, there's just an overpass going from one end of U Prazdroje to the other

[@TheTramly]

It's the intersection of Wilsonova, Husitská, Seifertova and Hybernská in Prague, and while it does have crosswalks and stuff, it's probably the LAST place you'd want to exist in as a pedestrian

[@sadilekjakub98]

Man, this video is briliant. I’m watching you since one of your first videos and i love your work. Fellow czech viewer btw. Speaking of that, I myself am in the same camp as you considering your opinions. However I think a large majority of czechs are not in this with us. Some of them not willingly ofc, they might just lack some information in this car centric country. To my point.. have you considered making a channel directly focused on czech viewers? I think it would be a honorable and useful thing to do. I imagine sharing videos like these in czech to my genX or boomer relatives who dont speak english might be a good source of opposition to their world views.

[@Ioulimontium]

That’s a good idea

[@TheTramly]

I considered that option, however, I barely get English language videos out once per week, I don't think I'd be able to manage making videos in both languages, especially after next month when university starts💀💀

[@Dash800]

you raised a good point, driving is in a lot of cases lot more efficent, and lot more versatile, i do usually end up driving, but on occasions where public transport is more convienient, i still use it despite having a car, i just wish it was a lot better than it is currently in my city (eastern slovakia)

[@agness6766]

Zdravím všechny šotouše a taky nadšence do aut Pohybuju se v obou komunitách a všichni se víceméně schodnou, že jet přes magistrálu ve dne je boží dopuštění (Na druhou stranu, byla jsem na nádraží kolem 3 ráno a nebylo na ni nic víc než taxíky) Jak jsi navrhl, mohlo by to pomoct vyřešit "city" tax, omezující vjezd do měst Problém je, že většina lidí, co jedou po magistrále jsou lidé, kteří bydlí/pracují v blízkosti ní a určitě odmítnou platit ještě tohle, když, cituju:"Hřib nám nedovolí ani parkovat v centru" A na veřejnou dopravu jsou moc "posh" tzv. Další problém je, že na magistrále se pohybuje velké množství autobusů(jak klasických linek, tak těch hop on hop off), kurýři a doručování služby a taxi- dal by jim magistrát výjimku? Protože jinak si to nedovedu představit Další problém je, že občas přes centrum prostě musíš, protože tunely stojí, okruh stojí nebo není dostavený atd Magistrála tohle řeší (ve většině případů) Nejlepší by bylo zase postavit na magistrálu traktory a pouštět do centra jen busy, to je můj názor/s

[@sabgin4008]

The problem is the cars are mainly used be the rich that have way more influence on the local politics than the common folk. And of course politicians couldn't handle walking a few meters to get to their workplace. Nuh uh, they have to have parking space painted on several centuries old cobbled street, so god forbid they wouldn't have to burn a few calories. Sarcasm aside, as a person moving to Prague I feel hopeless about the future of the city.

[@TheTramly]

I hope it'll get better, but yeah, the influence of the car-brains, and especially the richer ones, driving their g-wagons and other expensive ass cars into the center is STRONG

[@Pidalin]

Not that much the thing here in Czechia, a lot of car people are actually very poor and they believe that they need to be seen in car to look better, but going everywhere by car is one of reasons why they are poor.

[@szymex22]

I disagree because in Central Europe pretty much everyone can afford a car but the cheapest ones are old crap which pollutes much more than modern cars

[@Pidalin]

@@szymex22 Modern cars pollute more in reality when you look at it in bigger scale, becuase it's crap where if something breaks, you have to replace half of the car and older part is just garbage then, this is fake ecology and it's a massive scam from car producers and governements who create laws written for these producers. Also, today cars are addicted to stupid software that is bugged like everything now, people die because of that and it generates even more garbage and nonsense not needed electronics. Really eco car is a car where you can fix everything without replacing half of the car for new one and you can buy parts from third party producers for human prices. It's not even true that new cars consume less fuel, it's more like vice versa + today cars are much bigger and heavier. Also, another thing nobody is talking about - visual polution, today cars are bigger and much uglier than old cars, so this is a massive problem for me, old cars don't bother me that much because it's at least pretty.

[@Morgysgta]

1:36 V Praze byl Pleasant Park z Fortnitu?

[@TheTramly]

nene byly tam Tilted Towers

[@SunflowerPvZ-]

Most frustrating thing to me about Prague is how every major city around us does it better. Every time I'm abroad I'm just impressed lol. It feels like we are just so conservative, we like it this way, we don't want anything to change. I'd like to know what the Pirates get out of being with SPOLU, it feels like the whole city is ruled by ODS. Wait, no, let me edit this, it feels like a complete anarchy with the current parking situation. Let Svoboda sleep, no waking him up!

[@TheTramly]

Exactly! I've visited Bratislava and Vienna, and while those cities are nowhere near perfect, they are doing WAY better on the cycling and sometimes, even on the transit front than Prague 💀

[@austriankangaroo]

@@TheTramlyReally? Im from vienna and I have the feeling that prague cares a lot more about its transit than vienna. In vienna many of the tram tracks are in terrible condition that only allow 20 kph or less, most trams average at 15kph because transit priotity in this city is very little. Also there is no effort at all to integrate live departures into google maps. I felt that trams in prague are much more efficient, there is only a single tram line in vienna that averages over 20 kph. Also , you have beautiful streets with tram lines that use asphalt cover or even cobblestone, in vienna every street with a tram line uses concrete blocks, terrible to drive on with a bike, loud, ugly…

[@TheTramly]

Vienna is doing WAY better on the cycling front than Prague, we have almost no dedicated bike paths, whereas I saw quite a lot of them on my trip to Vienna about transit, yeah, i have to concede that at least on the tram front, Prague has it better (but damn I'm envious of Vienna's metro construction and number of lines, we got our last extension in 2015, and there aren't any more in construction, disregarding the new D Metro line, but that's stuck in NIMBY purgatory 💀💀💀)

[@austriankangaroo]

@@TheTramly Oh you are probably right in the cycling-department, but its still far from perfect. And you are also right regarding the metro lines. Currently we have 7 metro like lines (5 metro and 2 high frequency suburban train routes, basically like a metro) and the 6th metro line is beeing built. However just a week ago it was announced that the extension of U2 will be delayed by 2 years… So now it will be finished in 2030

[@simonmrnka3405]

​​@@TheTramly being from Bratislava, I find it rare for my city to get compliments from someone from Prague. At least we got something to make up for the metro💀

[@PersonManManManMan]

Removing tram access from train station is horrendous decision. 6 lame road is just too much in city center. Plus this is premium lamdz there should be green areas instead of asphalt. Ideal solution would be to only keep 2 lanes for public transport and lanes for bikes pedestrians.

[@TheTramly]

I hope I'll get to live long enough to see that change 💀

[@hairypotter259]

It’s a shame NYC couldn’t get (de)congestion pricing when it was a week a way from getting implemented because the governor is in the pockets of car dealerships

[@TheTramly]

10000% This is just a theory, so take this with a grain of salt, but the Czech economy being heavily based on car manufacturing and sales probably isn't doing wonders for pushing for transit, walking and cycling 💀

[@aputik2503]

this guy is adam something lite

[@MrToradragon]

Regarding the subsidies. petrol and diesel ARE NOT subsidized in Czechia, they are, quite the opposite, heavily taxed. Of course there are some countries that have real subsidies for those fuels, but that certainly is not case of Czechia nor any other member of the EU. Also, given the number of cars in Czechia, over 6 million, and in total over 8.7 million motorized road vehicles, which is almost 1 such vehicle per adult, we can assume that most of the taxpayers own some road vehicle, or drive one as part of their job and thus their taxes go directly into infrastructure they use and so I would not call that as subsidy. (Unless we are willing to call any money transfer through the state a subsidy) Now of course the question is whether we should or should not say that public transport is subsidized. Certainly it was ordered by municipality or region, or by government, but the question is whether the order can be called a subsidy, i think not. The priorities of the city, region and country are also reflection of priorities of the people that live there. So people perhaps want to have reasonably flowing road traffic without various unnecessary costs and obstructions. You are also not taking one, perhaps Czechia specific, into account, unaffordable, or even unavailable housing. This leads to people being stuck on one place while place of their work may change every few years, or them having to leave the city in search for cheaper alternative. Also in case of Prague, but perhaps of plenty of other cities, it almost completely lacks tangential rail based connections in newer parts, it is often almost exclusively radial network from edge of roughly 1930's centre. So if somebody from Jižní Město wants to go to Záběhlice, he has to go all the way down to at least Pražského Povstání. Also people often have more complex daily routines than just going from home to work and back so the car can offer greater flexibility in this regard and I would even suspect that this is one of the reasons why people choose to drive in inner city. If you, or anybody else, wants to find way how to get mere people to public transport, that person must came with viable and reasonable plan how to make the public transport much better, perhaps by finally focusing on the problems like missing direct connections in newer parts fo the city and on providing reasonable alternative for suburban transport. Or other option would be to came with such policies and regulations that will significantly speed up new constructions and will lead to reduction of prices of real estate so people could move closer to their place of work and as result they would have to commute less or over shorter distance. But I am not sure which one of those solutions simpler to execute.

[@blazikem]

7:52 This graph is wild with its scaling wtf

[@TheTramly]

yeah, i know💀💀 still, it gets the point across

[@nopeoppeln]

why is Prague stuck in the 1970s when it comes to urban planning

[@TheTramly]

No idea, but a big contributing factor as of now is the leading coalition - SPOLU, are centre-right car-brains

[@nopeoppeln]

@@TheTramly I swear Prague is more of a theme park for tourists than an actual city to live in, not only its city centre is literally just tourist traps and AirBNBs (no wonder why Prague has the least affordable housing in Europe and maybe it's time to learn from your former overlords down south in that regard) but outside of the city centre everything seems to be consistently made for the car (even if good public transport's there), like they repair 200m of pavement and call it new cycling infrastructure or demolish for a playground for a new car park + the mayor's deputy (Hrib's his name iirc) is a joke yet describes himself as a "progressive", I do not like Prague at all although I really want to like it

[@SilverWave64]

Everyone complains about the highway in front of the train station...you don't see the highway anyway if you enter or exit the station. You'd have to purposely walk upstairs to get there. If you exit a train and walk downstairs to the underpass, you can exit the station on the same level, and enter a park, without have to walk upstairs again. The highway is actually quite useful, it gives you quick and easy access to the central station from the outskirts, which otherwise you'd have to travel up to an hour to by public transport. Btw - the charge in London isn't working either. The streets are still full, congestion is everywhere and people have to spend more money.

[@lukajakos9680]

That is so weird to me in my town they are renowating the main train station and from what i have seen they are giving more space to bike lanes, pedestrian side walks and bus lane just for buses and there is a road that goes by but it is only a normal single lane road in each direction. There is also the fact that all of the plans my city has are online meaning you can go and check evertyhing for youself if you want to see what projects are coming. Otherwise i have been to Prague and it is a beautiful city but i have noticed the roads that was one of the negatives.

[@TheTramly]

I wish💀💀💀 Here, at least with the main train station in Prague, we're stuck with *cars*

[@NeonNion]

I often wonder just how easily people forget that we live on a finite planet. Our modern civilization is highly dependent on critical resources that do not grow on trees like apples do, and energy abundance (sadly… thanks to fossil fuels). With the worst part being that there is no such thing as sustainable recycling. We lose material no matter what, and the more you want to recycle, the harder it becomes and the more energy you have to put in. Aluminum is perhaps one of the easiest metals to recycle, and yet, only around 76% of produced aluminum is still in use, even though we only started using it in truly great quantities after halfway through 20th century. Production in 1900 was 6,800 metric tons, and 2,810,000 metric tons in 1954. The point I’m making is that sooner or later we will run out of raw metals and will have to resort to recycling. However, as I just said, it goes against the laws of physics. Even if we could reuse imaginary 90% of the material after each cycle, after only 26 cycles the amount of material would shrink to just 6% of the original. With 80% reuse rate the amount of material would shrink to just 10% after ONLY 10 cycles. Mind you, both of these numbers are crazy high. Thus, we seriously need to ask the question: “Do we want future generations to have access the things we do now, or not?” We can mine the forests, the seabed, and the mountains to manufacture a billion electric vehicles, and dozens of other disposable gadgets, and all that wasteful infrastructure it entails here and now, and future would look akin to Mad Max. Or we can understand their value on a finite planet and use them wisely to ensure they are available for long-term. This means maximizing lifecycles, minimizing use, and moving away from completely wasteful uses. No disposable cars, no planned obsolescence, no unrepairable devices, no “innovation” like 0.1 mm thinner phone bezels, no buildings made to last less than your grandma, and so on… You get the idea. What’s it going to be?

[@szymex22]

Id say make it a boulevard take some lanes and make it a 2 lane each direction road and use the space reclaimed to get a lot of trees in maybe some bike path. I don’t think it should cause that much trouble as many cars will reroute to the ring road and other alternative routes. Add some crosswalks with traffic lights in next to the station. Police the park properly.

[@TheTramly]

Prague should finally finish the damn ring road, and move to rerouting the traffic around the city rather than through it Although I'm not optimistic that I'll live long enough to see it

[@naser_si]

What you dont get is the hastle, waiting 5 minutes for the bus or going there on time and risking that the bus driver will leave soon, having to walk to the bus stop and then from it... with a car you can go anywhere at anytime, if i say i want to go to germany at 1am in the moring then i can be there in 2 hours but with a bus, well no bus will get me there at the specific time i want + i get to be there in a car so when im there i can go anywhere i want! and if i take 3 friends with me and they give me money for the gas its cheaper and faster then going there on 5 diffrend busses, the only reason public transport is good is when you go drinking you can take the tram drunk and not loose youre license same goes for bycycles

[@jakubbriza7274]

The city is too hilly for bikes, that's the number one issue!

[@Robotical_RiGo]

And the two road rings promised since the 1970s. And some missing bus and train connections to Prague's surrounding cities. And a train/metro line to the airport. And some traffic light placement which morbidly pralyzes all surrounding traffic, which in result blocks both trams and pedastrians. And.....

[@no-damn-alias]

The thumbnail looks like it's from Budapest

[@paulpujeter6340]

Fire video

[@nickywheels]

So, how does one say stroad in Czech?

[@lank5235]

It could be "ulicesta" (ulice = street; cesta = road). But I've just made it up, never heard it before.

[@auslegungssache]

​@@lank5235tak to je konec

[@Чех-б2ю]

@@lank5235I’d say the word “průtah” fits pretty well…

[@lank5235]

@@Чех-б2ю Yes, that's also possible. I was more focused on the literal translation of stroad.

[@ondrej_kraus]

I would say: “dopravní stoka”

[@samueloswald7476]

super

[@twominutesturkish6664]

You want cities to be calm and quiet? It’s a city 🤷‍♂️ There’s a reason they have six lane highways

[@TheTramly]

you might want to watch this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYW5XqqtqN96rZosi=4r2IIiuMPsdQYSWb

[@petrhajduk9955]

Six lane highway is always fail of city planning. Cars should never have more than 2+2, the rest should be lanes for buses, trams, bikes or green belts.

[@ignacyk3203]

This is what should be done to the road. Cut the existing road deep into the suburbs or cut it entirely. Change it into a 2 lane in each direction boulevard or avenue. Add a dedicated cycle and bus lane, wide sidewalk, return of the tram there etc.

[@thecringeinspector5636]

Založené tož názor.

[@Pidalin]

I've just visited Jaroměř and their main road thru city is that bussy and full of trucks that if I lived there, I would be probably already in prison, because I would be attacking those cars. Something is completely wrong with planning in our cities and there is no will to change it because of car-centric society. I visited Hradec Králové, city generally is nice, but their the most historical square is parking lot, when you say it, then again, you are marked as "cycklo-terrorist" for no reason. Even if I had a car, I would feel bad for parking there. We have to vote better, but vote who? Pirates promissed so many things, but this is bigger than what they are able to change with their % and most of other parties are car-centric and if not, it's some hypocritical eco-terrorist green party where they talk about ecology, but their members live in castles. 😀 And rest of population vice versa support car hell because we are 30 years behind the west, so there is no hope in near future.

[@TheTramly]

On the voting front, it seems that we're truly fucked 💀💀 Can we just not have to choke on car fumes please my asthmatic ass would really appreciate it💀

[@Ioulimontium]

Well, in Jaroměř it is a fault of the Czech state for not building more roads, ironically (i.e bypass of Jaroměř) Luckily it’s opening this year so you won’t have to attack the cars anymore 😅

[@Pidalin]

@@Ioulimontium Luckily, I don't live there, but it's a nightmare that you have an apartment or house for generations there and then, they turn road in front of it to such truck hell and your propertly lost all it's value over night.