Interview
Desirability
What needs to occur for public transportation to become our default choice?
-
Samah Karaki
Founder and director of the Social Brain Institute
Samah Kamaki, Founder and Director of the Social Brain Institute, explains how to make public transport our first choice in mobility.
It has to be the option I naturally want. Transportation has to be affordable, safe and welcoming for a good experience. Transportation must have a positive effect. The choice to take public transport must be made because people want to.
On top of that, the car has to become difficult to use, with parking difficulties: my car is not welcome in cities. If you look at cities like Amsterdam, the bicycle is in the limelight. But in other cities, we have the impression that our bike is not welcome. We need to change this, to reverse this impression and ensure that our bodies, our bikes, our public transport become welcoming, affordable, accessible and where people have pleasant social interactions. We should also adopt a social justice perspective, taking into account people who live far from their workplace or school. These people need more attention when it comes to these choices, because they are sometimes forced to use their private cars.
-
Interview
Cars
What encourages people to choose public transportation over private cars?
Van den Brandt Elke, Minister for Mobility, Public Works and Road Safety within the government of the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium
-
Edito
Common Good
Is public transportation a common good?
Passalacqua Arnaud, Professor at the Paris School of Urban Planning
Public transportation is a common good: this is a commonly accepted fact, even if its meaning isn’t explored in depth. The question of commonality raises a number of tensions between the public transport’s organization and its financing methods, which are little known to users. -
Edito
Landscapes
What landscapes will we be able to contemplate from the windows of our public transit vehicles?
Jean Pierre Thibault, Director of the French section of the International Council on Monuments and Sites
When designing transportation structures, we must not neglect their visual impact. -
Edito
Access
Will the public transportation systems of tomorrow be fair for all?
Bousson Damien, Co-founder of Atsuké
Transport tickets are an essential part of ensuring fair access to public transport. -
Interview
Change
How can we give people the means to do without their cars?
Karaki Samah, Founder of the Social Brain Institute
Given the limits of our decision-making and attentional resources, we should first and foremost address the structural issues that hinder change, instead of putting the onus on individuals.
