Alternatives to the automobile

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Established alternatives for some aspects of automobile use include public transit (buses, trolleybuses, trains, subways, monorails, tramways), cycling, walking, rollerblading and skateboarding.

Car-share arrangements are also increasingly popular – the U.S. market leader has experienced double-digit growth in revenue and membership growth between 2006 and 2007, offering a service that enables urban residents to "share" a vehicle rather than own a car in already congested neighborhoods.[1] Bike-share systems have been tried in some European cities, including Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Similar programs have been experimented with in a number of U.S. Cities.[2]

An emerging alternative is personal rapid transit, in which small, automated vehicles would run on special elevated tracks spaced within walking distance throughout a city, and could provide direct service to a chosen station without stops. Another possibility is new forms of personal transport such as segway, which could serve as an alternative to automobiles and bicycles if they prove to be socially accepted.[3]

All of these alternative modes of transport pollute less than the conventional (petroleum) car and contributes to transport sustainability. They also provide other significant benefits such as reduced traffic-related injuries and fatalities, reduced space requirements, both for parking and driving, reduced resource usage and pollution related to both production and driving, increased social inclusion, increased economic and social equity, and more livable streets and cities. Some alternative modes of transportation, especially cycling, also provide regular, low-impact exercise, tailored to the needs of human bodies. Public transport is also linked to increased exercise, because they are combined in a multi-modal transport chain that includes walking or cycling.

The benefits of possible future car technologies, not yet in widespread use, like zero-emissions vehicles over these alternatives, would be:[4]

  • Increased mobility in rural settings and in some other areas where traffic jams are not severe
  • Possibly higher social status
  • Overall a better provision for privacy
  • Profit for the multinational firms producing cars, and possibly for their employees

[edit] References

  1. ^ Flexcar Expands to Philadelphia. Green Car Congress (2007-04-02).
  2. ^ About Bike Share Programs. Tech Bikes MIT.
  3. ^ Jane Holtz Kay (1998). Asphalt Nation: how the automobile took over America, and how we can take it back. ISBN 0520216202. 
  4. ^ Transology: M.I.T. Future Car Workshop