Years ago I could drive to Geneva every day, up to two times per day or more. Over a period of time they made driving more and more inconvenient. They changed road circulation patterns to create one way systems, that made direct drivers more complicated. They designed traffic lights to create, rather than reduce traffic. I once drove from Place des Nations to the end of the Pont Du Mont Blanc in an hour. That’s 2 kilometres per hour. That’s slower than a sloth....
Posts tagged “cars”
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On the Bike Making Geneva Local Despite Living Near Nyon — Apr 24, 2026 -
The Lure of Affordable Cycling — Apr 18, 2026A few days ago I noticed that the car said I had 1300km before the next service. Within a few days it said 0km until next service. Now the “service” light is on permanently. I went to the garage to book a service and I was told that the service would be from 1700-2000 CHF because it is the 10 year service....
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Thirty Kilometres Per Day — Apr 7, 2023The Swiss travel an average of 30 kilometres per day in their cars, according to a new survey shared by the Radio Television Suisse.... -
A Homemade Electric Car - Youtube Video — Feb 25, 2020On one side of the Channel, you have people like Colin Furze building fun machines that have the fatal flaw of having an internal combustion engine. On the other side of the Channel, you have people like Marc Gyver building an electric car with easily bought components. The video below shows the construction process without talking, and without music....
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Thoughts on Cycling and Walking in the Age of the Car — Nov 14, 2025I often walk between towns and villages and in so doing I notice how overwhelming cars have become. If you walk from a village to a town, you have to contend with busy roads. These busy roads are often like deep rivers. Sometimes you need to wait for several minutes before you can cross. At other times you notice that cars see you at a crossing but they don’t slow down in anticipation of your wanting to cross.... -
Offloading Locomotion to Cars and the Transition to AI — Sep 23, 2025Recently I was thinking about how some people want to offload their work to AI and it got me to think about how people already offloaded getting around to cars. When is the last time that you saw a group of people walk from Nyon to St Cergue via La Dôle, rather than take the train most of the way, and walk a short loop at the top?... -
A Reminder to Unclip and Anticipate Danger While Cycling — Aug 15, 2025In the last two days I have had dangerous situations in Geneva and Nyon when pedestrians, or cars, have failed to pay attention to the fact that they were crossing a cycling lane where cyclists have priority. The result is that in two cases I had to take emergency evasive action to avoid a collision.... -
On the Irony of Expensive Cars — Jul 14, 2025A few weeks ago two individuals in a car yelled abuse at a group of us who were cycling. They were mad that a cyclist did not pull in for them to pass easily. At this point I thought "Despair is not sat on a bench as in the proverb, he is sat in a car.... -
Two Interpretations of Mobilité Douce — Jun 4, 2025My definition of Mobilité Douce and the Swiss definition are quite different. For me Mobilité Douce is walking, hiking, cycling and other sports that require a certain dedication and desire to cover long distances. In contrast Switzerland seems to see Mobilité Douce as going from home to the shops, while leaving the car at home. The journeys seem to be short, and at a slower pace.... -
The Absurdity of Commuting by Car — May 29, 2025Yesterday I drove to an event in Geneva and I parked at the P&R étoile. I went by car for a simple reason. I wanted the trip home to be fast and efficient. It worked. What wasn’t fast and efficient was the drive into Geneva....
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Charging in the Rain — Mar 15, 2025Today I got to experience something new, to me, and exciting. I got to charge an EV in the rain. In theory you should avoid doing this because you don’t want moisture to get into the connectors of the car, as well as the rubber plugs. You also don’t want to get moisture into the plug of the EV station adaptor. I was not electrocuted, and from what I saw everything remained dry.... -
An Arte Documentary Series about Cars — Jan 24, 2025Last night I watched two episodes in a documentary series about a brief history of cars. In the first documentary we see a discussion about the history of cars from the 19th century to modern day with the use of archive footage. In the second we see how the car helped with consumerism. In the third I think they discuss the mental health consequences of cars.... -
Car Apps That Don't Work — Dec 9, 2024I am fatigued by cars and their apps. When I was using the Citroën car twice a week it was working fine but then I let it sit for a month and then it stopped synching correctly. I have done several trips now, and the journeys are either not recorded properly or the date is a month out of sync with the journey.... -
Charging Electric Cars in Switzerland — Nov 28, 2024After some trial and error I finally managed to get an electric car to charge at public charging points. The first success was at an evpass charging station where I was able to charge 13.1kW/h in an hour and 14 minutes using the app on my phone and a credit card for 8.48 CHF. The second time was with the TCS eCharge RFID tag that I ordered from the Touring Club Suisse for free. In that case I charged 11.1kW/h for 5.89 CHF.... -
Self Driving Cars and Mobility — Oct 24, 2024Today I filled in a survey with the premise “Impact of automated vehicles on walking” and it gave me an opportunity to share my views on this topic. The short version is that I’d rather see more bike sharing opportunities, and more safe routes for pedestrians between villages and towns, than self driving cars.... -
Self-driven Cars and Failing Infrastructure — Oct 11, 2024In the US people are obsessed with the lure of self-driving cars and robotaxies but I think these are looking in the wrong direction. If you’re looking in the right direction you improve bus services. You improve their frequency and you improve their coverage. You also improve the bike sharing infrastructure....
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Twice the Driving Range — Jul 16, 2024Today I refuelled the car after 380 kilometres for about 30 CHF. A few years ago, when I refuelled another car it cost me 70 CHF to refuel a car, to travel 400 kilometres. This means that the car I drive now costs half as much, in petrol, despite the price going up by 10-20 centimes per litre....
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By Train or By Car — May 30, 2024For many years I could go to work by car so I did, because I had a parking. When I worked for other employers I took the train for a simple reason. Parking near work would cost 36 CHF per day whereas taking the train would cost about 14.50 CHF per day. I stopped using the car to commute for a simple reason, the cost of parking... -
The Luxury of Walking Paths Away From Cars — Sep 19, 2023I love to walk and cycle every day. I love to walk from home and not touch the car. This morning I refuelled the car and it cost 90 CHF for 44 litres or so. Every single time I refuel the car I get a shock. Petrol is expensive, and yet people drive every day.... -
Missing a Walk Due to Air Pollution — Sep 9, 2023Usually at this time of day I would go out for my daily walk but as I checked the air pollution information for today I noticed that Nitrous Oxide and ozone are high so I am skipping it. I thought that maybe I was getting tired of the heat, but upon looking at the data I believe that I am tired of the nitrous oxide and ozone....
