考研英语阅读素材:封路能够解决堵车难题吗?

发布于 2021-01-15 19:42

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封路能够解决堵车难题吗?

(本文选自《经济学人》20201003期)

背景介绍：

近日，英国伦敦东部的贝思纳尔格林地区爆发了一场抗议活动，起因是政府为解决伦敦地区的交通堵塞问题而采取了封路措施，抗议者对此表示反对。伦敦的交通堵塞问题由来已久，那么这场封路之争的背后是否还有着更深层次的原因呢?

The battle over London’s road closures

伦敦封路之战

Old London pitted against new

新旧伦敦之争

On September 26th a few dozen people gathered in Bethnal Green in the East End of London to protest against road closures. Whistles blew and passing drivers honked as speakers railed against Tower Hamlets council. Restrictions on driving (some planned, others already in place) were awful, they said.

9月26日，数十人聚集在伦敦东部的贝思纳尔格林，对封路表示抗议。抗议者吹响了口哨，路过的司机则按响了喇叭，以反对陶尔哈姆莱茨议会的决议。他们说，政府对交通的限制(有些仍在计划中，有些已经实施)做得很失败。

Banning cars from some roads merely increased traffic on others; local businesses were dying for want of customers; the disabled could not get about. It was all very harmonious, until a suspicious group of men was spotted nearby. “Cyclists!” hissed a protester. “They might be looking for trouble.”

封禁某些道路只会导致其他一些道路车流量的增加;道路封闭区域的商户迫切需要顾客前去;一些残疾人也无法想去哪就去哪了。一切都很和谐，直到附近出现了一群可疑的人。一名抗议者呼喊道：“骑自行车的人来了!他们来找麻烦了。”

When covid-19 hit Britain in the spring, several London councils moved to head off an expected surge in driving as people tried to avoid public transport. New planning rules allow them to close roads to cars without holding lengthy consultations—they can act first and then, over the next 18 months, ask people what they think of the changes. Councils have duly blocked some roads with bollards and large wooden planters, and erected cameras on others to photograph and fine errant drivers.

今年春季，随着新冠肺炎疫情在英国爆发，许多人会避免乘坐公共交通工具，为防止车流量如预期一般激增，伦敦地区的一些议会随即采取了行动。新的交通规划条例将允许各地政府在不进行有效磋商的情况下封闭道路——政府可以先采取行动，然后在接下来的18个月里，再征求人们关于这些道路变化的意见。地方政府已经通过修建防护柱和大型木质盆景对一些道路进行了封闭，同时还在其他一些道路上架设了摄像头，以便对违规司机进行拍照和处罚。

This should not have been unexpected. Driving in London has become ever more challenging, and in the 2018 local elections Labour Party councillors in some boroughs pledged to deter it even further. But the sudden changes have been too much for some. Protests have been held, traffic signs have been spray-painted over, bollards and planters have been vandalised and oil has been tipped onto bike lanes.

这些举措并不出人意料。在伦敦，开车变得越来越艰难了，不过在2018年的地方选举中，一些行政区的工党议员承诺将进一步控制这一现状。但道路规划的变动对一些人来说太突然了。抗议活动一直持续不断，抗议者在交通指示牌上喷了漆，对防护柱和盆景植被进行了破坏，还在自行车道上泼了油。

Ostensibly, supporters and opponents of the new low-traffic neighbourhoods, sometimes called “mini-Hollands”, disagree about facts. Does banning cars from local streets discourage driving or merely displace it to other roads? Does it slow down ambulances and fire engines or speed them up? But the dispute over road closures is really about something bigger.

从表面上看，支持者和反对者对这种新型低交通流量社区(有时也被称为“迷你荷兰”)的现实意义持有不同意见。封闭道路能否阻止人们驾车，还是说只是促使人们选择了其他道路?这么做会加快还是减慢救护车及消防车的速度?但是，封路之争的背后实际上还有着更深层次的原因。

“It’s social cleansing,” argues Mohammad Rakib, who organised the protest in Bethnal Green. He believes the car bans are designed to create a village atmosphere that will entice more young, bicycle-riding professionals to a mostly poor district. He thinks it is revealing that advocates of low-traffic neighbourhoods laud cities such as Amsterdam and San Francisco: “Those places have already been gentrified.”

贝思纳尔格林抗议活动的组织者穆罕默德·拉基布说：“这是一场社会清洗。”他认为，汽车限令的目的是为了营造一种乡村氛围，从而吸引更多骑自行车上下班的年轻人来到这些相对贫穷的地区。他表示，那些低交通流量社区的支持者往往喜欢像阿姆斯特朗和旧金山那样的城市，这就很能说明问题了：“这些地方早已被清洗过了。”

The argument, which other protesters also make, that car bans disproportionately affect working-class Londoners is wrong. The wealthy drive cars (and ride bicycles) more than the poorest, who tend to walk or take buses. What is true, however, is that veteran Londoners drive. People who moved to the capital several decades ago are much more likely to own a car than new arrivals. The opponents of low-traffic neighbourhoods are fighting to save the old, chaotic, dirty London.

其他抗议者也认为，汽车限令主要影响的是工薪阶层，但这种观点是错误的。相比穷人，开车(或骑自行车)的富人更多，穷人往往会选择步行或乘坐公共汽车。但老伦敦人通常会开车。相比新来伦敦的人，几十年前就来到伦敦的人更有可能拥有一辆汽车。低交通流量社区的反对者正在为拯救古老、脏乱的伦敦而斗争。

The struggle between old and new, between those defending their way of life and those who want a greener city, is London’s version of the cultural divide that gave Britain Brexit and propelled Boris Johnson to power. Jody Graber, a leader of the protests against road closures in Islington, certainly hopes the parallel holds. He plans to stand as a councillor in that heavily Labour borough. “Boris smashed the red wall up north,” he says. “I’m going to smash it in north London.”

这场新旧之争实际上是那些既有生活方式捍卫者与绿色环保城市追求者之间的一场纷争，它展现的是伦敦版的文化分歧，而正是这种文化分歧推动了英国脱欧，并促使鲍里斯·约翰逊上台。反对封锁伊斯灵顿道路抗议活动的领导人乔迪•格雷伯当然也希望如此。他打算前去工党占多数的选区担任议员。他说：“鲍里斯打破了英国北部的红墙，我也要打破伦敦北部的红墙。”