Comments by "Ralphie Raccoon" (@Croz89) on "Should cities keep open streets after the pandemic?" video.

  1. Booting up a tram network from scratch is very expensive and often controversial unfortunately. Just look at Edinburgh.
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  2. Open streets could be a problem if public transport use is still discouraged as more and more people begin to start commuting again. Many people will have no realistic option but to drive in if they need to avoid public transport, so I think if that happens many of these open streets will need to be converted back to prioritise car use. In the long term I think it's really going to depend on what the "new normal" is for commuting patterns. Some people are predicting many people will never return to a pre-covid commuting pattern, especially if social distancing measures have to be kept up in offices for some time then the large capacity reduction will force more home working, and of course it doesn't take a genius to realise that even after those measures are removed it's cheaper to have a smaller office, so many businesses may make it permanent. If there's a dramatic reduction in people commuting into the city at all then it's a lot easier to keep open spaces. This is going to be especially true in low density cities where it's not cost effective to provide high quality public transport for a large portion of commuters. However there are economic costs to a large reduction in commuters. Shops and restaurants may see a large reduction in business from employees who are now working from home, no lunch break diners or people picking up a few things after work. If the locals and tourists can't provide enough custom, parts may become derelict.
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  3.  @TheRailLeaguer  You can't fully replace public transit with bicycles, only a portion of it, mainly low speed transit near the CBD.
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