Interesting comparison between Groningen and the US town of Reno, that is comparable in size. Especially a close look has been taken into car dependence: 36% car share in Groningen versus 87% in Reno, despite budgets for cycle and pedestraians that are alike.

Conclusions are: A constructivist sociologist would argue that since most motoring Renoites don’t
consider car dependence to be a problem, it is not a social problem. But since the problem
of a city choked by cars results from the choice of large numbers individuals to drive,
affects society as a whole, and can be solved through collective action, it is clear to me
that it is indeed a social problem. Reno’s challenge is in getting the problem on the public
agenda, so that individuals might consider changing their behavior. Care must be taken –
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the abrupt introduction of measures which penalize motorists might be met with fierce
opposition. A shift from driving to walking, cycling, or transit represents a significant
lifestyle change for the average Reno resident, who is used to driving everywhere he or
she goes.
Since a bicycle culture has existed in NL for years, Groningen was already a
cycling city. Since action was taken early – before many people purchased cars, there was
far less opposition to the new costs imposed and the regulations restricting their
movement. And first-time car purchasers have been well aware in advance of the
expenses that would await them. In Reno, the introduction of new measures to discourage
automobile travel might feel like unfair punishment to motorists who are accustomed to
cheap gas, free parking, and three lane highways.
Perhaps a way to convince Renoites to accept more radical measures is to propose
even more drastic ones, and then to meet halfway at the negotiating table. In the end,
some action would be taken. Ultimately, money does make the world go ‘round – when
the world reaches peak oil production, and there’s no doubt that at some point, it will –
motorists will be hit in the wallet not by new policies pushed for by moral entrepreneurs
or introduced by politicians, but by geological changes and their effects on the economy.
This will attract the media attention and public outcry necessary to really put the
automobile on the agenda as a social problem.
It’s important that Reno acts now to prepare for the volatile times which await.
Drastic changes in transport, land use, and energy planning – and linking the three – will
be necessary in order to make alternatives to the automobile feasible. New developments
which will encourage car use must be forbidden, and funding for traffic projects which
favor the automobile must be diverted to infrastructure and programs which will
encourage the use of other modes.