Abstract
This is why the number of these vehicles has been growing because many cities in the world depend on private cars. There are many reasons why cars have become important in today’s cities. For example, many people can buy cars, and cars are more comfortable and reliable than public transport. However, cars have very bad effects. They result in traffic jams, accidents, pollute air and cause climate change. This paper says that it is possible to end the dependence on cars by making public transportation safe, cheap, clean and reliable. Cities should also have roads for people who walk or use bicycles. Also, cities must be designed so that people live close together and work close to their homes so that they avoid driving for long distances to go to work.
Introduction
Transportation in Australia and many parts of the world today, mainly depend on private cars. Car dependency is when a city thinks that cars are the most important way to travel and the city’s decisions on transport, roads and planning are influenced by cars. Many people like private cars because they are comfortable and convenient than public transport systems such as railways and busses. These vehicles cause large traffic jams (and waste time), pollute the air, and require cities/countries to expand roads as the population increases, which is going to be impossible in the long-term. Space is an important factor that determines the living standards. This is why the government is Australia is implementing policies that can help reduce traffic jams in cities.
The first reason why the dependency on cars should end, is because it cannot be sustained. According to Amphlett (2008), major cities in Austalia rely on cars too much because many people can afford to buy them and public transportation has also reduced. This happened because petrol rationining ended after the War and unemployment reduced. Today, the use of cars in Australia is 31% more than in Europe and up to 77% more than other cities in Asia. Even though trains are becoming more advanced and reliable, people to not like them because they are not as comfortable as private cars. The introduction of private passenger vehicles also made cities to expand away f rom the centres, because workers and other inputs could be transported to the regions away from the railway networks very easily. Highways between states made transportations using large lorries possible and more efficient than railway transportation. At the same time, other changes in technology and lifestyles ensured that people depended on cars more. For example, the refigerators and laege scale manufacturing made sure that people do not have to shop everyday. Many important facilities such as schools and schools were built outside cities and so people needed cars to access them since trains did not go many places. Since people own cars, they do not have to live near the places that they work, and so they drive to work every day, increasing traffic jams on the road. One other reason why people want to buy private cars is because cars show that they are rich and independent.
Secondly, the effect of many cars on cities has been badma nd this needs to end. Purcell (2000) included information about using computer software to show that the current cities cannot avoid traffic jams even if they expand the roads because there are too many cars and the roads can never be enough. To start with, these cars depend on petrol and other fuel, which may be finished (p. 353). While oil prices are low, the available sources of oil will not last forever, and when they are finished, many of these cars will be useless unless another fuel is invented. The effcet oil onj the environment is also bad. The use of oil results in carbon dioxide production, which is causing the climate to change. In addition, large cities has reduced the amount of land used for growing crops and natural vegetation. Air is also polluted. In many large cities, it is difficult to even see because of smog. Smog causes health problems and road accidents. The higher the number of cars on the road, the harder it is for people, especially children, to be safe on the road (Amphlett, 2008; Newman & Kenworthy, 2006). Newman & Kenworthy (2006) says that many cars are causing a reduction in jobs, quality of life, efficient transportation and access to many parts of cities.
One important way is to design cities to ensure that there is a high population density, which can support public transport. When cities are designed so that many people live in the same location, they are most likely have shopping areas in the same location, work in the same area and use bicycles or walk to work. Currently, cities are designed in such a way that people live far apart from one another that it is not possble for bus companies to operate in the same areas because they don’t have enough people to carry and make a profit. By ensuring that every acre of land has at least seven homes, there will be many people who would want to use public transport, and reduce the costs of travelling. In addition, the density of jobs in different areasof the city should be high enough, to avoid the need to travel for a long distance in order to go to work. High density is more important than factors such as culture, income, oil prices, politics, level of education and climate, when it comes to choosing the means of travelling (Newman & Kenworthy, 2006; Recsei, 2005). In Europe and Russia, high densities have been successful in encouraging people to change from private cars to public transport
However, these solutions may not work. While high density designs have been successsul in Europe, there is no evidence that they can be successful in Australia. To begin with, according to Recsei (2005), the research evidence available shows that as countries develop, they are more likely to buy cars. So high density designs do not lead to people buying few cars, but it only shows that people who live there have low incomes. People who are rich live in areas where there are few people, gardens and large houses, which means that they will not need busses. The design works in Europe for very different reasons. It is because of the history and culture in Europe. This article mentions that even though Moscow designed high density cities, the city has very high traffic jams. “Moscow now experiences severe traffic congestion with prolonged periods when traffic is at a virtual standstill” (p. 3). Secondly, unless people change their culture, to use bicycles and busses, designing cities or using policies such as clean fuel will not fail. People do not just start using bicycles and walking because there are roads for walking and riding bicycles.
These arguments make sense, but according to Purcell (2000), the high density designs have only failed because governments like policies that do not solve the root cause of the problem. He calls these policies end pipe policies. It will take time, but if cities are designed in new ways, they will cause the behaviour of people to change. If for example people find that it is hard to find a cheap house that has a parking area, they will avoid buying cars. Purcell (2000), Amphlett (2008) and Recsei (2005) say that one of the best ways to reduce the high number of cars on the road is to encourage “soft transport”, such as walking and using bicycles. Cities should provide safe and very attractive roads for people who walk or use bicycles. In addition, a large number of people who use private cars today have to start using public transport. This can only happen if public transport (e.g. buses and trains) are fast, safe, cheap and have to go to many places of the city. For example, the Sydney introduced trains in the middle of the city to reduce the need to use small vehicles. In Moscow for example, bus and train stations are very safe and clean. People pay very little money to use public transport cpompared to using private cars. Even though some people say that Europe has a different culture, and public transport was build before many people bought cars, the example of Mosow is important.
Conclusion
It is clear in this paper that traffic jams in many cities causes many problems. People spend too much time in traffic. The use of small cars also causes air pollution and causes climate change. This cannot continue. Solutions are needed to prevent the problem from becoming larger. The best solution is encourage people to start using public transport. However, this is not possible unless public transport has more advantages than personal transport. To do this, designing cities in such a way that many people live together and work close to their homes is very important. Also, cities should have roads for people who walk or use bicycles so that they don’t use their cars. If they implement this solutions, it will be possible to stop the dependence on cars.
References
Amphlett, K. (2008). Car dependence in Australian cities: a discussion of causes, environmental impact and possible solutions. Open Journal Systems, 1-10.
Newman, P., & Kenworthy, J. (2006). Urban Design to Reduce Automobile Dependence. Opolis: An International Journal of Suburban and Metropolitan Studies Vol 2, Issue 1, Article 3.
Purcell, D. (2000). The Car and the City. Bulletin of Science Technology Society vol. 20 no. 5, 348-359 .
Recsei, T. (2005). Pipe Dreams: The Shortcomings of Ideologically Based Planning . People and Place Volume 13 Issue 2 , 68-81.
Victoria Transport Policy Institute . (2005). Inquiry into Sustainable Urban Design for New Communities in Outer Suburban Areas. Victoria: Victoria Transport Policy Institute .
