By: Taz Loomans
Principal, Blooming Rock Development

How car-dependent is your city? That is a question that is being asked more and more nationwide. I recently read an article in Sierra Magazine (a magazine put out by the Sierra Club) by Tom Vanderbilt called “Living Large Driving Less,” which talks about the national trends that are happening regarding transportation in cities.

Vanderbilt points out that between 1969 and 2001, the number of vehicle miles traveled increased more than 150 percent. And he noted that obesity rates began to spike upwards at the same time as vehicle miles traveled. This meant that kids were no longer walking to school, people were no longer walking to the grocery store and fewer and fewer people were taking transit to work.

Just recently, though, in 2007, the total number of vehicle miles traveled dropped for the first time since 1980. Plus, even the federal government seemed to change gears (no pun intended) on whether our driving culture is ultimately good for our communities. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood recently said livability means, “being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or post office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids at the park – all without having to get in your car.”

But many recoiled at this notion and asked what business the federal government had in defining livability in the first place and that everyone can choose what it means for themselves. But Vanderbilt points out that a great deal of people don’t have a choice at all. Many of our cities, and Phoenix is one of the worst offenders, are designed so that people have to get around in a car. “We have created a vehicle monoculture”, cries Vanderbilt.

But what are some solutions to our “petrovore” lifestyle? Vanderbilt names a few:

Smart Growth: Shaping future growth so that cars are accessories and not necessities.

Complete Streets: Designing and building roads that are not only made safe for, but made attractive to, pedestrians, cyclists and public-transit patrons.

Pedalers and Pedestrians: Installing bike and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure.

High-Speed Rail: Energy efficient substitutes for personal vehicle or short-haul jet trips between cities.

Local Transit Systems: Light Rail systems, Bus Rapid Transit, Street Cars, Traditional buses.

Incentives & Fees: Tax breaks and rebates for high-mpg cars, taxes based on annual miles driven, higher tolls on crowded roadways and at in-demand parking meters, pay-as-you-drive insurance pricing, oil security fee to be levied per barrel or at the fuel pump.

Except for the last solution proposed by Vanderbilt, which would take a radical political shift for Arizona, all the other five solutions are very doable here in Phoenix and some are already happening. Smart growth is being encouraged by an emerging transit-oriented development mind-set. Complete streets have made it into many local jurisdictions’ zoning ordinances. Bike- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure is finally making its way into Phoenix proper, following cities like Tempe and Scottsdale that have taken a lead in that department previously. And the advent of the Light Rail system has been a catalyst not only for the way people get around, but the way people think here in the Valley.

Vanderbilt’s article shows that cities all over the country are racing hard to become more livable, less car-dependent and more economically viable. Where are we in the race? Is Phoenix going to be caught sleeping at the wheel or are we going to wake up and press the metal to the pedal (bike pedal, that is)?