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Editorial

Back in the office
Back in the office after a long break, my
colleague, joyful and full of energy, remarked
that he had the impression that he was starting
to live a more “normal life”. Just being able to
get out of town, travel and visit friends and
family, despite some constraints, had definitely
made him feel like he was back in pre-covid
times. Coming back home with the familiar
traffic jam was also something he cherished
all of a sudden.

Traffic is a strange thing, he said. Apparently
urban planners use traffic as a tool to
discourage people from using their cars to Geneva has tried this, and the only problem
go to work. When I first heard it, I could not is that the public transport system is the
simply believe my ears but after reflecting a bit victim of its own success. Every time the TPG
and putting myself in their shoes, I see their increases service, extending hours and lines
point of view. How can you reduce the use of and adding new lines, the ridership goes up,
cars if there are no queues, nor constraints? which attracts more people. This, in turn,
makes it necessary to increase service.
This is how they think… he explained to
me. Everybody wants the comfort, ease and While the traffic is still heavy, the move into
convenience of a good life. The easiest way public transportation has reached dimensions
to get to work would seem to be to take your undreamed of only ten years ago. The overall
car and drive off. It might take ten minutes, system is one of the densest in Europe and is
whereas the bus ride may take 20 minutes in slowly being extended well out beyond the
a crowded bus where you may not always be Geneva area. The new train line under the city
able to get a seat. with the extension to Annecy is an example of
this extension. Opened in January 2020, it was
It’s only when the driving experience becomes very slow to catch on owing to the pandemic
a nightmare, because of the traffic jams and confinement, but now it is acknowledged as a
endless queues, that people might consider resounding success, with yet more extensions
leaving the car at home and using public yet to come.
transportation. So, what do the urban planners
do? They create constraints that make driving As COP in Glasgow looms on the horizon and
more and more onerous. Most people would more and more countries are woefully behind
not even think that this would be a plausible in fulfilling their 2015 commitments to tackle
approach, but here we are, creating problems global warming, the example of Geneva is
and constraints in order to create a change of worth keeping in mind. If one of the most
® perception. motorized cities in the world can successfully
challenge the automobile society, there is yet
However, my colleague said, what about the air some hope of changing our habits to attenuate
pollution coming from these types of measures? the harm being done and -- one can hope even
Do they take that into consideration? I simply further! -- even stop it.
wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to undertake
a major push to make public transport so Upon these notes we wish you a very pleasant
attractive that it simply draws people out of day!
their cars. Marit Fosse

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