In this blog an intention was to review some of the websites and blogs already out there about being car-free. There are a few and some are really helpful and interesting – so I still do need to do it sometime. However, I recently found my way to a podcast which seems to have become pretty popular and notable – The War on Cars. This is what they say about their podcast on their site:

“The War on Cars is a new podcast about the epic, hundred years’ war between The Car and The City. We deliver news and commentary on the latest developments in the worldwide fight to undo a century’s worth of damage wrought by the automobile. We produce a new show every other week.”

I have listened to a few of their recent podcasts – the first ones seem to go back to August 2022. The first reflection is that doing this blogging thing is very likely – “just so last year!”. What I mean by that is in the short history of the internet as I understand it social media in its various forms has superceeded blogging. And, video and audio media has become the go-to choice for those who want to get their messages out via the internet.

Where as this blog is ‘old school’ text and photos – The War on Cars is a podcast (not much video as far as I have noticed so far) and a very good one! The production and editing it very neatly done. And, whilst from the title it sounds quite militant (literally) there is for sure a strong, let us say, ‘active’ and ‘public’ travel advocacy, it seeks to open up conversations about cars, and getting rid of many of them, with all kinds of folks including those who are obsessed with their motor car. For example, today I listened to an episode engaging with people who were all about their, likely the fiercest of all vehicles, ‘muscle cars‘.

The main revelation of listening to The War on Cars is that a lot of people are having very interesting and serious conversations about car-free cities and ways of living – it sounds very promising. Even when for many it seems unimaginable (see last blog post) that we can envisage existing without cars. Indeed the first car appeared on Britain’s roads in 1895, whereas the first humans are suggested to have been in Britain about 500’000 years ago. So we have been without cars for 99+% of human history in the UK. In historical terms cars are very certainly odd!

Photo by British Library on Unsplash