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Comment by blue1 | Hacker News Reader

Except, this does nothing for the already-existing cities, so it is just a planner's fantasy, unless the price of transportation becomes so high to cause the cities to transform. I think this is rather unlikely.

I am thinking, couldn't we consume less energy for transportation just by making lighter vehicles? 95% of the energy used by a car is expended just to move the vehicle itself, not for its ultimate purpose, which is moving a human.

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We have to get rid of the car as the main mode of transportation. Trains, busses and bikes must be the main ways to travel.

This will not only reduce the energy cost of transportation but also make cities attractive again

https://unevenearth.org/2018/08/the-social-ideology-of-the-m...

We could and we are in some regions of the world: Japan has kei cars, the EU L6e and L7e vehicles.

Unfortunately they often cost as much as cheap highway-capable cars and the fuel consumption, while better, isn't amazing.

EVs fare better regarding the latter, but they're even more expensive.

Personally I was close to getting a Renault Twizy, but after I started working remotely the need for a commuter vehicle disappeared.

By making 30km/h the general speed limit in urban areas, bicycles and small electric vehicles (e.g. scooters, microcars) become much more attractive. Traffic deaths would go down too.

The lack of secure storage space for bikes/ebikes/scooters is also a significant problem (along with rampant bike theft, at least here in the UK).

This is a problem at both ends of journeys - shops/workplaces, but also homes for some. Not everyone has a practical way to store a bike - e.g. if you're living in and apartment only accessible by one or more flights of stairs.

I’m starting to notice bike garages outside apartment blocks since I moved to Berlin. As you say, it isn’t everywhere, but it’s not insurmountable especially if there’s a government policy about it.

>I am thinking, couldn't we consume less energy for transportation just by making lighter vehicles?

Subways do that. Centuries old technology

Subways are great but they only work in dense cities; many cities are not dense and will never be.

I am thinking, couldn't we consume less energy for transportation just by making lighter vehicles?

Like bikes?

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