“Curbing Traffic”

Melissa Bruntlett & Chris Bruntlett

I think my favorite line in this book came from the conclusion:

Sure, the Dutch have had a five-decade head start, but that means they’ve shown what is possible if decision makers take risks and put people first.

Because everything leading up to that is, basically, a paean to the Dutch approach to city planning and traffic engineering. Which does mean that me reading this is the choir going to stand where they can be preached at; I’m already sold on the argument they’re making throughout the book. I already know that car-centric infrastructure is inefficient, expensive, and makes for bad built environments. I don’t need to read a chapter about noise pollution. I don’t need to read a chapter about resilience in transportation network design. I already know this stuff!

But there was also plenty of new things in there. The entire first chapter is about the benefits to children, the increase in safety and the ability to develop independence that’s missing in the American “indoor children” or “backseat children” options. So, in that sense, it was useful for me—my own ability to argue for this stuff has been improved. Beyond that, though, now I have a book I can point to when someone wants to know why I’m at the very bottom of the urban planning opinion progression.1

For the most part, I enjoyed this book; the biggest negative was that, in a couple spots, I had to stop to be angry at American civil planning. Not only would I say it’s worth the read, I would actively encourage all of my readers to check it out.2

I’m not kidding. There’s a spot on my favorite bike route where the pedestrian and bike zones are just painted on the pavement, and quite often, a semi truck (bonus points: delivering a load of Teslas) will park on them, forcing pedestrians and cyclists both to swerve out into the car lanes. I have had to be talked out of buying caltrops before, and likely will again. ↩