North American mobility vs European mobility

Juan Diego Echeverri Calle

To understand the subject that will be discussed below, it is necessary to know what it
refers to when we talk about mobility, in a few words, mobility refers to the ability of people
or things to move from one place to another in a given time, to In the case of civil
engineering, this mobility is based on the transport of people who make trips or trips to
carry out their daily activities.
Today these two schools are available when it comes to planning the development of
cities, regions and countries. They are totally opposite thoughts or ideas of development
not only in the layout and construction of its infrastructure, it also clearly depends on the
country's economy, its beliefs and preferences, the characteristics of its territories, the
distances to be traveled, the distribution and the way to establish its cities, and last but not
least, the politics that this country has in favor or against the consumption of fossil fuels or
ecofriendly fuels.
First we talk about the North American current, in this the use of the car as the main
means of transport prevails, this is mainly due to several factors, the distribution of its
cities, which cover large areas of land and residential areas or suburbs They are located
on the outskirts of an economic center that is the main receiver of trips (this can be
evidenced in cities such as Houston, Miami, or New York), in these places other possible
means of transport such as public transport is a great variety mainly in said economic
center, but for the displacement to residential areas as a means of public transport there
are buses and little else. Another clear indication is to give priority to the private vehicle
(car or motorcycle) when building its infrastructure, here we see large avenues, cities with
2 or even 3 levels of avenues, in which the speed at which the vehicles can move stands
out. And finally, is the vision of the "American dream" which tells us that to be successful
you must have a giant house and a giant car, this is a more psychological or mental factor
that is key when establishing preferences of people.
The other vision is the European one, driven mainly by Nordic countries such as Sweden
or Denmark, and carried to its maximum expression by countries such as Switzerland or
the Netherlands, in which the displacement in public transport or in micro-vehicles such as
bicycles, scooters and even walk. This is mainly due to 3 things, the first is the distribution
and extension of its cities, in Europe we have very few cities of large extensions such as
the North American ones, which makes the kilometers traveled when traveling are less, in
addition For cities with large territories such as London or Paris, they do not have a single
economic center, but in addition to the main one there are small economic centers around
the city, in addition to public transport that tries to reach practically every corner of the city.
the city (in any variant of this metro, bus, tram, trolleybus, cable car). Another
characteristic is that the design of their cities and infrastructure is based mainly on favoring
bimodal travel (using more than one means of transport in a trip) where many areas of the
cities restrict or minimize access to private vehicles, and prioritize the pedestrian and non-
motorized vehicles and provides them with easy access to the main public transport
network. And finally there is the mentality or culture found in this place where health and
short trips are prioritized, either with work incentives, or with tax incentives (such as days
off for x days arriving by bike to work, or an increase in the payment of your taxes due to
the motorization of your trips).
These two different schools can be adapted to any city in the world, it all depends mainly
on the vision of the city that politicians have for this in the future, its geographical location,
the amount of money that is going to be invested and the technology with the one that is
counted at the moment. Both are very disparate thoughts, but they seek something in
common, the well-being and safety of people when traveling.