EXTRA: Cars as a Virus with Hermann Knoflacher

EXTRA: Cars as a Virus with Hermann Knoflacher

Author: The War on Cars, LLC October 29, 2024 Duration: 31:07

***This is a bonus episode that was previously only available to Patreon supporters of The War on Cars. If you want to hear more bonus episodes like this, please sign up today! We'll taking a very short break to work on our book and will be back with brand new episodes in November.***

Perhaps you've seen pictures of a person walking around in a large, wearable wooden frame meant to illustrate the space taken up by one person in a private automobile. That's the gehzeug — or walkmobile — and it was invented by the Austrian civil engineer and professor Hermann Knoflacher.

Professor Knoflacher, 84, is the head of the Institute of Transportation at the Vienna University of Technology. Long before the current global pandemic, he compared cars to a virus. Rather than searching for vaccines and other ways to fight this particular threat, humanity has actively helped the spread of cars, much to the detriment of the built environment, human health and safety, and even our future on this planet. It's a provocative analogy, but Knoflacher makes a compelling case. 

SHOW NOTES:

The Car Is Like A Virus, Says Urban Planner But This Is One Pandemic That Politicians Can Prevent (Carlton Reid, Forbes)

Excellent Uber Ad Distills the Problem With Uber in Crowded Cities (Angie Schmitt, Streetsblog)

"Driving is worse than an addiction" (In German: Deutschlandfunk Kultur)

"The driver is absolutely anti-social" (In German: Manager Magazin)

"Vienna has been my patient for decades" (In German: Kurier)

Virus Auto (Hermn


Imagine a world not built around traffic jams and parking lots, but shaped for people. The War on Cars is a dispatch from the front lines of that effort, a collective conversation questioning the automobile’s dominance over our cities, our environment, and our daily lives. Each episode digs into the real-world fight to reclaim public space, examining everything from the politics of a new bike lane to the history of how cars came to rule. You’ll hear from urban planners, activists, historians, and ordinary people pushing back, offering a mix of sharp analysis, on-the-ground reporting, and compelling narratives. This isn’t just about transportation; it’s about the culture and societal choices that have led us here, and the tangible, often inspiring work to create safer, quieter, and more connected communities. Tune in for a thoughtful and necessary critique of the status quo, a podcast dedicated to the idea that our streets can-and should-be for so much more.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The War on Cars
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