Everything You Thought You Knew About Roads Is A Lie

There’s a major problem with the way our roads and traffic systems are designed—one that’s being overlooked at an enormous cost. The core idea behind how we build our roads, and by extension our towns, cities, and landscapes, is outdated and deeply flawed. What exactly are junk roads? Why have we invested billions, possibly trillions, into them? Si Richardson is on a mission to expose the truth behind the roads we've accepted without question. 🛣️

⏱️ Timestamps: ⏱️
00:00 The Trillion Dollar Road Black Hole
01:25 Traffic Congestion Is A Problem. What’s the Answer?
03:01 The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion & “Induced Demand”
06:35 Transport Economics & How More Roads Don’t Actually Save Us Time (Or Money!)
11:06 Was There A Benefit To Improving The Road Network?
12:05 Why Hasn’t This Filtered Into Policy?
16:05 Texan Revolt Against Giant New Highways
17:04 Why Are We Doing The Same Thing Again?
17:41 What Might Happen If We Stopped? | The Cheonggyecheon Example
20:14 Have Roads And Cars Brought About Economic Wealth?
21:00 How Much Space (And Money) Do Roads (And Parking) Take Up?
22:23 What Could An Alternative Look Like?
24:11 Car Drivers Are Worth More Than Pedestrians And Cyclists
24:54 Active Transport Can Be Good | Freiburg
25:46 Interview With Marco Te Brömmelstroet - Prof Urban Planning In Netherlands
27:28 Bicycle Will Never Replace Cars Mobility Options

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What do you make of all this? 👀 Has this changed anything about the way you think about roads and transport? 🚘

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📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images

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[gcn]

What do you make of all this? 👀 Has this changed anything about the way you think about roads and transport? 🚘

[colerainey-slavick]

I appreciate GCN doing more content on safer streets and the absurdity of normal road designs lately. Keep it up please.

[smitchy]

I LOVE that GCN is moving into urbanism/street design and safety.

[ashu]

Finally, someone other than 'Not Just Bikes' talking about this fundamental issue in our city design.

[JIMMYHIBBS]

Millions of cars on the road - but the odd cyclist is the one ‘in the way’

[phiboLE]

Transportation planner from Germany here. Thanks for this easy to understand video I can share to the non-planner crowd! Unfortunately an integrated view on mobility and traffic is not the standard yet.

[Sustainable_Engineer]

A car is like a hammer, it's just a tool. The problem starts when you use that tool for everything

[adamwatson]

Simply one of the best videos EVER on GCN. So well researched, so convincing. I've known and understood this for 10 years, but have had an impossible time trying to explain it to your average driver, let alone, politicians.
In Melbourne, Australia we are currently widening what was a six lane freeway into a 25 lane monstrosity that is destroying beautiful forested parkland and the best cycling path into Melbourne central, and bankrupting the state in the process. I feel an intense grief at the loss of what had been such a special place for me.
It is too late to save this but maybe, just maybe, this video, so well presented and explained, might even start to change the conversation. Share it everyone.
Absolutely Brillian Work Si

[edwardwilliams]

I am absolutely loving this new advocacy/education content. Much needed and important content!

[marcopaganotto]

I grew up in the 70's and 80's and the increase in vehicles on the road a few decades later, is utterly shocking.

[lieb]

Appreciating urbanist sanity on your great channel. Hopefully it will make some effect on the views of the population.

[DarenC]

Combining the bicycle and the train was my favourite long distance commute. Lancaster to Salford took me about 2 hours door to door (15 minutes by bikes, 1 hour on the train, 15 minutes by bike; plus slack built in for punctures), but I got out in the fresh air and could read on the train. Much better than a stressful 50-80 minutes in a car (or 2 hours on a Friday before bank holiday). That said, I am much happier with my purely cycling commutes (takes me around 30 minutes to cycle to work when I go in to the office).

[james]

This is fantastic I've worked as a Transport Planner for 25 years and been banging on about this for the same amount of time. Finally it feels like something might change. thanks GCN ❤

[joshpopuli]

I'm very glad this topic has been increasing in popularity over the past few years

[GilbertTang]

Please, please keep these coming. You’re doing genuinely important work here.

[emilycolbeck]

Sadly I don’t think any ‘car centric’ people will ever take notice of these videos 😞

[humphuk]

I had drifted a bit from GCN - but with content like this, and I am back. Well done to Si and the team

[lux-wattage]

I'm intrigued! I never even considered that something as simple as pedestrian green light timing could have economic implications. It’s genuinely thought-provoking and opened up a whole level of complexity that I’m part of every day without even realizing it. Now I have a hundred new questions. Great video Si and GCN!!

[ilkoremmers]

I also follow a Canadian guy who left Canada to live in Holland and he makes wonderful video's about this topic from all around the world. All about what is wrong with how we develop streets and what the difference is between multiple countries. Japan is good with public transport and they put much money in it, Holland is good with cycle paths and stats show how much people use these kind of transport more then using cars.

[AndyInTheFort]

7:43 - You just said it better than anyone else has said in the past. "time has not been saved, instead people have used that increase in speed to travel further."