Mark Gorton, the Anti-automobile Crusader

Times of India has reported that New York entrepreneur Mark Gorton, an anti-automobile crusader, is currently in India to spread the message about just how wrong an automobilebased transport system is for the world. 

“India has the historical advantage of being able to see the damage that automobiles have done to cities in Europe, America and China. It can decide not to commit the same mistake,’’ he said. 

Gorton firmly believes in what Enrique Penalosa, a former mayor of Bogota, once said — you can have a city that is friendly to cars or friendly to people. You cannot have both.  Bumper-to-bumper traffic on urban streets is no coincidence and is a reflection of poor planning, said Gorton.  He believes in the need for a government policy, which works towards automobile suppression that includes punitive taxes on cars. “In Shanghai and Singapore, you need a permit to own a car. 

“In Tokyo, you first need proof of parking before you can buy a car,’’ the anti-automobile crusader added. 

Delhi, for instance, is trying to do the physically impossible by filling the streets with automobiles though there’s no space to fit them, he said.  On the other hand, he points to cycling tracks in cities like Ahmedabad. 

“Much of Europe is now looking at designing roads for bicycles. It’s only when streets have designated cycle tracks and are safe for cyclists that people will want to ride bicycles,’’ he said. 

His grouse against automobiles goes beyond the obvious concerns over pollution and congestion. He is concerned with the intangible fallout of living on a street that is crowded by cars and has little space to walk. 

“When there were fewer cars on New York streets, the city was safer for children, who could cross over, walk to school or run to a park.  A child’s world was, say, a kilometre in diametre. It has now been reduced to a few metre in front of the house,’’ Gorton said. 

He said this may well be a cause for childhood obesity, as children have no place to walk on the streets. “You now need an adult to accompany a child from one place to another,’’ he said. 

He points to studies which show that on an average people, who live on streets having heavy vehicular traffic have fewer friends in the neighbourhood than those who dwell on quieter streets.  Gorton is armed with data to prove cars are among the most inefficient means of transport. 

“Before New York moved to a transport system dependent on cars, the system was rail-based. Today, there are 370,000 fewer people entering New York’s Central Business District each weekday than there were in 1948,’’ he said.