Could you ever stop the cars?

Cars cars and more cars.

Cars are the most common means of transport in the United Kingdom. Between 1998 and 2000 18million men and 14 million women had driving licenses and at the end of 2000 there were 24million registered cars in the UK. This lead to over 70% of Britains households having regular use of a car as a means of transport, weather it was driving to work, school, or for leisure. Household spending on transport has also increased since 1998. This data shows us that no matter what different measures are in place people still want to or need to own a car.

At 17 the life of driving begins, and for some 17 year olds they want to learn to drive right away. At this age driving can be seen as independance no more having to get up for the school bus and a freedom to go where you like without having to ask parents to drive you or get public transport, for some it even saves walking to the corner shop. Driving does have its problems, for a start they need to buy a car, then insurance which for new and young drivers is expensive, petrol money needs to be forked out, as well as numberous other costs to running a car, but some people may see this all as part of growing up and becoming an adult. This also brings on many "young adults" starting to find jobs and earn their own money to help upkeep their car. Could this been seen as part of becoming an adult, and helping young people to learn the world of work?

Agenda 21 - Tackling climate change.

Agenda 21 was a meeting of 150 world leaders in the city of Rio De Janerio in Brazil. During this summit the millenium goals were produced, in this the world leaders looked at ensuring enviornmental sustainablity, this led the British government to look at tackling sustainable development on a national scale. In 2005 the prime minster set up the sustainable development strategy which looked at enabling people all around the country to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life but without compromising the quality of life for the future generations. One of these aims was to try and reduce the amount of carbon emmissions produced from cars. The government has looked at its progress over the years and in cutting cars emmissions its fair to say that is has not been sucessful. Emissions from cars have risen by 4% and road traffic volume has increased by 20%. So what have the government done to try and reduce the number of car emmissions.

London tackling car emissions - The Congestion Charge.

The congestion charge was introduced to London in February 2003 by the mayor of london to try and lower the amount of traffic in the city, which had the worst congestion in the UK and one of the worst in europe. The congestion charge works by people having to pay a charge (£8 a day) to enter the center of London, people who dont pay the charge are hit with heavy penalties. The congestion charge started five years ago and since then traffic levels have decreased but the amount of congestion is still high. This shows that the congestion charge is having some effect on reducing the amount of traffic, but large numbers of cars sitting in jams is not good for the environment as they give off lots of emissions. The congestion charge is not the only step London has taken, a series of adverts and other campaigns have been lauched to get people cycling into there workplace which can have to benefits to the nation by keeping the people healthy as well as the environment healthy. They have also introduced the oyster card which encourages people to have cheaper journeys around London on the public transport, such as a fairly good underground network and growing numbers of regular bus routes. However no matter how much the city throws at people they still want to bring their cars to the city.

Will people ever step out of there cars?

Cars open up oppertunities for people and offer freedom to the person driving the vechile, the United Kingdom has a complex road network and almost all areas are accessible if you have a car. Public transport does dont have this feature people have to be there at certain times and sometimes public transport needs to be intergrated in order for people to reach their destination. Public transport is also very expensive trains cost alot of money to travel on, although this is mainly due to the high maintenance bills.
The economy has also had an influence on the use of cars in many urban areas and developed countries, a country where people cycled everywhere would not be practical. London looses £2-4 billion a year from its economy from people being stuck in traffic, but would this change if people were on there bikes? Surely the journey would be longer and people would have to get up earlier. Public transport does not offer the benefit of being able to choose your own route to work, decide when to leave, or when to go home.
Safety is also a big issue many parents with children at school feel safer taking them in their own car, they have control over where the child goes and no strangers can pick them up when they get off the bus. Car sharing is one way to help cut down on the number of cars on the road in a day but this will not stop people from owning cars, but it could lower emissions although there could be arguements against this.
There are still ways we can cut car emissions in the air by encouraging people to use the train or to walk to the shops in the village or to car share on the way to work or to school. Private car ownership will still stay high and could also increase with a growing number of people able to afford to run a car. This does not have to mean that the emissions increase, if more projects like the congestion charge or park and ride schemes to keep car numbers lower in the city centre then the emissions should decrease. However people will always love the freedom and practicality of a car and until something very simular arrives, there will always be lots of car owners.