I hate the anti car movement.

I live in Oslo.

The city has declared an all-out war against cars
for the last 10 years at least.

They have done some productive things, some annoying things
and some downright sadistic things as far as driving.
Removing damn near all city parking spaces.
Regulating away even more.

There is still some parking in garages and private lots but it is $$$$.

Plus with the constant development in the city
(Unrelated to the citys activities) you never know
what roads will be closed temporarily and semi permanently (years)

As one example:
The national government decided that their safety required that
an important underground car tunnel had to be closed to rebuild it
2 meters farther down. [1]

That is going to take a while.

If you live downtown and you have a bike it is kinda nice.
Except we have winters (should not surprise many) when travelling
by bike a good option.
(Yes there is a tiny minority who risk life and limb by biking all
year around)

Most people dont ride a bike if the weather is bad even during the summer.
Oslo is also far from flat.

Riding around in Amsterdam or Denmark
its pretty flat. Makes riding a lot easier.
In Oslo we go up and down, up and down etc.

This is mitigated in part by a sharp increase in bikes with electric engines.
(Which I am not a huge fan of since it takes a near zero polluting vehicle
and bang on a not ideally green battery)

I think spending so many millions of dollars to make Oslo better for
bikes is an unfortunate strategy. If they instead spent the money
in improving and expanding public transit (something sorely needed)
it would benefit a lot more people all year round.

I have been a strong advocate for public transit most of my life
and a staunch rider for most of my life.

I dont live downtown. It is terribly expensive. I cant afford to.

Until a few years ago where I was involved in an accident and
I am no longer able to ride a bike, or use public transport.
I am restricted to travelling by car. (or taxi if I could afford it).
The nature of my injuries do not qualify me for the nationwide
disabled person program where you get a sticker in your car that
makes the city easier to handle by car).

Due to the anti car movement, freedom/options has been severely downgraded.
There are museums, cultural events, restaurants, and people to visit that
I simply cannot do anymore in any practical sense.
I miss that.

I know it is selfish.
But if you were in my shoes, you would find it annoying as well
Believe me.

Huge shopping malls outside downtown usually have a lot of parking and
accessible but it's not at all interesting for em.

Aside from myself, for my father and 10.000s of other senior citizens
who are not in the best of health they suffer from the same issues.

As do thousands of others who are in some way disabled but do not qualify
for the national standard.

(There are still a lot of senior citizens who benefit from it.
It is not black or white)

Anti car movement seems best for rich, healthy young people.

Rich in that they can usually afford to live downtown or right
next ot a subway station.

Health because you do need to be in decent health to ride a bike.
even ebikes.

Young in that all physical activity is easier when you are young.
(lets say less than 50)

So from embracing it, I have gone on to hate it.
It is not inclusive.

As an ironic aside:
The city wants to move towards 0 cars in the city or as close as they can get.
HOWEVER, there are toll stations anywhere and the city has become dependent on
the income from them. When Covid was in full effect and a lot less driving
was taking place the city had budget problems.

They do not have a plan on how to replace that income (yet).

[1] https://www.bygg.no/vil-senke-ring-1-under-regjeringskvartal...

I dont live downtown because it is far too expensive.