University of Queensland researcher asked 10 people to go car-free for 20 days. None wanted to continue.

None wanted to continue what? Going car free or using cars?

Paywalled trash

Using my uni’s database to get around the paywall for anyone that wants to read:

Almost a dozen regular Brisbane people took on a challenge to give up their car for 20 days, but by the end of the experiment, they decided it was unrealistic for them to go totally car-free.
Urban planners from The University of Queensland recruited 10 car-owning Brisbane residents – five men and five women.
They were asked to follow their regular schedules, but use public transport, walk or ride instead.
They were given public transport cards and offered reimbursement if taxis, Ubers or shared e-bikes or e-scooters were needed in an emergency.
The average claim per person for all their travel expenses during the experiment in Brisbane was $125 – but they saved $300 in car costs.
“I hadn’t realised how much money my car eats up,” a 43-year-old man from Brisbane said.
However, Associate Professor Dorina Pojani said participants were relieved when the experiment was over, and would not consider a permanent switch.
“The overwhelming feedback was that it’s just too hard to live without a car in Brisbane,” she said.
“It’s ultimately a sprawling, low-density city with a lack of integrated transport options – obstacles that have been shaped by historic planning decisions.”
The study, conducted by Dr Pojani and PhD scholar Sufian Almubarak, examined the experiences of people in Brisbane and another city of comparative urban sprawl, Al-Ahsa in Saudia Arabia.
All but one of the 10 Brisbane participants was working or studying and most lived within two kilometres of the city centre, with outliers at Manly in the east, Indooroopilly in the west, and Oxley in the south-west.
Pojani said participants were initially enthusiastic but that waned, and most found it disorienting, facing difficulties getting around.
Although people had spent weeks preparing, many were surprised by how much they needed to adjust when they could no longer rely on a private car.
Pojani said experiences with public transport in Brisbane varied due to major service gaps outside the inner-city, even though 50¢ fares made public transport more accessible and increased patronage.
“Our study indicates that even with cheaper travel, many people feel they can’t rely on public transport alone and continue to depend on their cars,” she said.
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Only people who lived very close to a station caught the train.
One woman said she liked to travel outside the inner-city, and she had to change her activities because of limited public transport, while a 33-year-old man said he missed many weekend get-togethers with his friends.
“This new lifestyle makes me relatively isolated from my social circle,” he said.
However, a few Brisbane participants had an increase in social interactions, as they actively engaged in friendly conversations with others while riding buses and bicycles.
A 38-year-old woman said riding a bike was a great way to travel a short distance.
“I have made many new friends because of the bike,” she said.
Parents said who needed to take their children to school or to extracurricular activities said this was hard without a car, and they ended up delegating it to someone with car access.
Family outings and out-of-town trips, which were previously done by car, were put on hold.
Pojani said, at the end of the project, four Brisbane participants pledged to use public transport for short trips within the inner-city.
“But all emphasised it was not realistic to give up their cars,” she said.
“It demonstrates that in low-density, sprawling cities like Brisbane, people cannot be expected to permanently give up driving unless there is significant investment in public transport.”
However, researchers found given participants were likely to slightly reduce their reliance on cars, it showed experiencing car-free living, even briefly, could help people break away from automobility.
In Brisbane, 89 per cent of households own at least one car and 48 per cent of commuters drive to work.

According to the article –

“Car-free trial in Brisbane

– Researchers from the University of Queensland asked 10 Brisbane car owners to give up their cars for 20 days to see if they could adopt a car-free lifestyle.

– None of the participants wanted to stay car-free long-term after the trial ended. The experience showed how strongly people rely on cars in a low-density, sprawling city like Brisbane where distances are large and alternatives can be inconvenient.

– During the trial, participants used public transport, walking, cycling and ride-share but many found this difficult due to:

– Time pressures
– Poor connectivity or limited transport options
– Challenges transporting groceries, kids or bulky items
– Hot weather and safety concerns

Even though most participants didn’t want to permanently give up their cars the study still found some positive outcomes:

– People became more aware of how often they automatically drive
– Some said they might reduce car use slightly in the future
– Short trials can help people rethink habits and consider alternatives

Researchers concluded that fully car-free living isn’t realistic for most residents right now but improving infrastructure and services could gradually reduce dependence on cars over time.

Overall takeaway:
The experiment showed that while short-term car-free living is possible, most Brisbane residents still see a car as essential though experiences like this can encourage small behaviour changes rather than total lifestyle shifts.”

10 people total. I’m sure this study will hold up to peer review.

The convenience – or inconvenience – of being car-free in Brisbane depends entirely on where you are. In some suburbs you’re right on the train line or near a bus stop; in others, you’re nowhere near either and commuting without a car is a massive pain in the arse.

Australia is not nearly as bad as the US – Dallas, for example, is an asphalt nightmare where no-one walks anywhere – but we’re also a huge, sprawling country with huge (size-wise), sprawling cities. We don’t have the compact, cycle-friendly cities of Europe – the distance means cars are generally the most desirable way to get from A to B.

Asking people to go car free in a city whose infrastructure is still openly hostile to cyclists is a bit of a mission.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s gotten a lot better in the past 10 years, but shops rarely have a decent place to park your bike, many suburbs have little or no cycling lanes, intersections often force cyclists to either get onto pedestrian infrastructure or in risky positions among traffic, and if you have mechanical trouble you’re on your own. And then there’s the legacy issues like cyclists in Brisbane just generally not being very good, resulting in behaviour that aggravates other traffic, causing both defensive and aggressive manoeuvring.

Brisbane has plenty of space and with the political will and some budget it could be as cycling-friendly as many European and Asian cities. It would be transformative and I’d welcome it with open arms. But right now, as a Dutch citizen living in Brisbane for over 10 years, even I don’t go car-free – and for 40 years I never owned a car before I came to Australia.

This will depend entirely on geography. If you live in Brisbane metro and work close to where you live you’ll be fine but if you live anywhere in the northern suburbs life will be harder without a car

One major thing I notice that makes me sad is most bus stops in my area don’t have seating or shelter. The buses in the area only run every hour so I see people sitting on the ground in qld sun? We have some of the highest cancer rates in the world and no shelter 🫠

Things don’t have to be binary.

You can use PT when it makes sense, and use your car when it makes sense.

Everyone seems to think it needs to be one or the other, but you can do both and it’s still beneficial.

We live in an amazing city that is always at the pointy end of the world’s best. One downside is that it’s spacious and tough without a car. We might all need to cut back on non-essential travel for a short while but it’s a non-issue, tiny bump in an otherwise great lifestyle

Ever gone grocery shopping on a bike?

We don’t have a car and haven’t had one. 2 kids. We obviously plan our housing around distance to PT. Live in pine rivers. Wife works at Chermside. I’m in Brendale. It’s easy for her, one bus. Brendale is a wasteland so I escoot. Kids get a school bus.

Only times it’s a genuine real chore is when it rains, but I can wfh on the days it’s yeeting down. Fortunate to have a couple supermarkets in reasonable walking distance for milk and sugar urgently needed stuff, otherwise groceries get delivered once a week.

Our hobbies are obviously based around this, but I also golf a couple times a month, so it’s not like you miss out on everything entirely. You become pretty good at planning and time management.

We were planning on getting a car later this year. Another Middle East war is going to delay those plans.

At least this current fuel crisis has no impact on our work lives, only other ancillary costs like food etc. others aren’t so fortunate.

I have no doubt it can be massively inconvenient for a whole heap of people who live somewhere poorly serviced by PT or they are just busy people who have their entire calendar booked out with random shit.

But it can be done without a huge amount of change too, so I feel either the people were cherry picked or they just have little resolve.

I lived car-free for more than a decade before getting a car again in the last two years and I don’t think I could go without having a car again now. I live inner-city and use PT to get to and from work, but the freedom and flexibility having a car offers just can’t be matched with PT and rideshares/taxis.

I was car-free for 8 months in Townsville and somehow managed. Wasn’t great, but

Now try a similar experiment but in addition to the public transport option, give each participant the use of a cargo ebike.

I’ve never owned a car and I live in the Sydney CBD but that’s because I can walk everywhere I need to

I have been carfree for 32 years 😂

I have been going car free all my life.

Our public transport is good but it’s got a fair ways to go. I don’t blame people outside the cbd in preferring their car over the logistical pain in the arse it is in taking multiple modes of transport + walking for their daily commute

Brisbane is too hot to walk any sort of distance for things like shopping etc. Could be improved with more shaded seating.

Roads are too dangerous for cycling and again the heat makes it troublesome.

Many people make multi use car trips eg drop kids off go to work. That’s a functionality that is difficult to replace.

Some partial solutions include – shift to small EVs, more shade and seating to support walking, urban design for 15minute living, dedicated low speed transport lanes that allow both bikes, electric bikes and mobility vehicles. Reduction in hours, restricted corridors, for large commercial transportation.

We moved to a cheap unit in an inner city suburb as a single parent I wanted walkability. We use the car on weekends only, and even that would be eliminated if the dog could come on the bus . Eg if we wanted to get the bus to kedron dog walkway we have to leave her behind – so of course we drive there. I think if you have dogs you end up wanting a car

Yea this does feel like an experiment design to get a specific result, seems like some dumbass journo or the LNP will pick it up to promote cutting public transport funding etc

I’ve always felt like the solution reducing car dependency is to remove mandatory parking minimums. Developers will jump at the opportunity to have more GFA for rent-generating spaces, and as proven in the study, people can work their lives around public transit options.

Natural development (medium/high residential) plus less parking options will naturally over time reduce the carpark to person ratio; and at the same time PT options will develop further.

If a bus trip takes 30 minutes to get to the city, and a car trip is only 15 minutes but you need to spend another 20 minutes finding a car park, people will naturally adjust to the fastest transit option. The solution to car dependency is just make parking expensive and hard.