The Effort to Dictate How We Live: NMA E-Newsletter #655

While we have warned about the Vision Zero and Complete Streets mission to force people out of their cars in many previous writings, that goal has not been stated in starker terms than those used by the Shared Mobility Principles For Livable Cities. Its mission, published by an international coalition of over 150 agencies, organizations, NGOs, and advocacy groups, establishes no less an objective than reshaping urban existence.

One of those mobility principles:

We Prioritize People Over Vehicles: The mobility of people and not vehicles shall be in the center of transportation planning and decision-making. Cities shall prioritize walking, cycling, public transport and other efficient shared mobility, as well as their interconnectivity. Cities shall discourage the use of cars, single-passenger taxis, and other oversized vehicles transporting one person.

And this:

We Support The Shared And Efficient Use Of Vehicles, Lanes, Curbs, and Land: Transportation and land use planning and policies should minimize the street and parking space used per person and maximize the use of each vehicle. We discourage overbuilding and oversized vehicles and infrastructure, as well as the oversupply of parking.

It is no coincidence that the concept for Shared Mobility Principles For Livable Cities was developed by the cofounder of Zipcar, and that Uber and Lyft are enthusiastic supporters of these initiatives. In fact, see if you can spot a trend among these other service providers that actively support limiting the people’s mobility options:

Carpool World – carpooling platform
Circuit – electric micro-transit service
ClearRoad – road usage pricing interface
Coord – transit technology platform
Digital Habitats Corp – digital cities developer
Dollaride – network of Dollar vans
Downtowner – transport service
Greenspot EV – electric vehicle sharing service
Hugo – transportation service provide for schools
Institute for Community MicroMobility – micromobility-focused advisor to cities
Koloni – bike-sharing service
Lumenus – technologically enhanced clothes & gear
Luum – commute technology platform
MeterFeeder – parking prediction and payment platform
Moove – transit technology platform
Organic Transit – vehicle company
Quint – dockless mobility technology
Rodify – transit information technology
SHARE Mobility – microtransit service provider
Spin – dockless bike-sharing service
Stae – data management technology platform
Transit Screen – transit information technology
Transit X – micro-guideway public transit provider
Trillium Transit – transit information technology
Upshift – car-sharing service

That’s the corporate side. Special interest groups in the fold include AmericaWalks, California Bicycle Coalition, Circulate San Diego, DC Sustainable Transportation, LivableStreets Alliance, Oregon Environmental Council, Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group, Seamless Bay Area, SharedStreets, Team Better Block, and Urbanism Next Center.

Lest you think we are exaggerating the whole reshaping of city living thing, here’s another Shared Mobility principle:

We Plan Our Cities And Their Mobility Together: The way our cities are built determines mobility needs and how they can be met. Development, urban design and public spaces, building and zoning regulations, parking requirements, and other land use policies shall incentivize compact, accessible, livable, and sustainable cities.

As Jay Beeber, Executive Director of Safer Streets L.A. and NMA Senior Research Analyst, observed, “This is a perfect example of how the authoritarian collectivists are working hand in hand with crony corporate elites to undermine the public’s right to freely travel using our preferred mode of transportation, the personal automobile, which for the vast majority of Americans is the fastest and most convenient way to get around.”

It must also be noted that this effort to dictate our urban way of life isn’t just about mega-metropolitan centers like New York City and Chicago, or other high-density urban populations. Small and mid-sized cities are in the sights of the elites Jay mentioned who believe they know what is best for everyone else. That which is not now “urban,” they want to make urban and dense, with a plan to do so by taking over our land-use policies.

On that cheerful note, you can find more about Shared Mobility Principles For Livable Cities here. In addition to helping us spread the word to the greater public of the initiative to force us into a society of restricted urban freedoms, you might think twice about supporting any of the service providers listed above, including Zipcar, Uber and Lyft.

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