Alternative


Established alternatives for some aspects of car use include public transport such as busses, trolleybusses, trains, subways, tramways, light rail, cycling, and walking. Bicycle sharing systems have been established in China and many European cities, including Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Similar programmes have been developed in large US cities. Additional individual modes of transport, such as personal rapid transit could serve as an alternative to cars if they prove to be socially accepted. A study which checked the costs and the benefits of introducing Low Traffic Neighborhood in London found the benefits overpass the costs approximately by 100 times in the first 20 years and the difference is growing over time.

Peak car

Peak car (also peak car use or peak travel) is a hypothesis that motor vehicle distance traveled per capital, predominantly by private car, has peaked and will now fall in a sustained manner. The theory was developed as an alternative to the prevailing market saturation model, which suggested that car use would saturate and then remain reasonably constant, or to GDP-based theories which predict that traffic will increase again as the economy improves, linking recent traffic reductions to the Great Recession of 2008.


The 'peak car' hypothesis was proposed after declines in traffic during the morning peak period were observed from the mid 1990s in some places and at a national level since about 2008. Local Transport Today, a professional transport journal in the United Kingdom, reported that the number "peak car traffic" entering Britain's town and city centres during the morning peak hours had declined significantly over the previous ten years; of 21 areas studied all except Leeds had seen falls. Traffic into London during the morning peak period had fallen 28% between 1994 and 2003 when the London congestion charge was introduced and a further 12% by 2004. Inbound car trip into Birmingham during the morning peak period had fallen by 29% between 1995 and 2003.

Between June and September 2010 Professor Phil Goodwin published a series of articles in the UK professional transport press suggesting that data showed not merely a plateau in vehicle miles driven but rather a decline in overall automobile usage per capita. These articles were later compiled and updated in a journal article by Goodwin, published in 2011.

David Metz, of University College London and former Chief Scientist of the UK Department of Transport noted that "peak car use came and went [in the UK] at least 15 years ago, when none of us noticed".He then published articles in 2010 and 2012 suggesting that the Department's forecasts of growth were erroneous because in the UK a saturated peak level had already been reached.

In November 2010 by Millard-Ball and Schipper presented data confirming the trend in cities in eight nations: United States, Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia. Newman and Kenworthy published an article in June 2011 suggesting that the effect was also valid for Australia.

By 2016, several papers have cast doubt on the peak car phenomenon, demonstrating that economic and sociodemographic factors account for most or all of the observed slowdowns. Recent statistics in the US show total vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) increasing after several years of decline,although per-capita VMT remains below its all-time high.

Cities

Declines of total "vehicle kilometers traveled" (vkt) in selected cities as reported in the research:

CountryCity1995–2005peak year
AustraliaAll cities2004[39]
AustriaVienna–7.6%[19]
SwedenStockholm–3.7%[19]
SwitzerlandZurich–4.7%[19]
UKLondon–1.2%[19]"Early 1990s"[41]
USAAtlanta–10.1%[19]c.1995[19]
USAHouston–15.2%[19]c.1995[19]
USALos Angeles–2.0%[19]
USASan Francisco–4.8%[19]


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Ford Mustang (first generation) The first-generation  Ford Mustang  was manufactured by Ford from March 1964 until 1973. The introduction of the Mustang created a new class of automobiles known as pony cars. The Mustang's styling, with its long hood and short deck, proved wildly popular and inspired a host of competition. It was introduced on April 17, 1964, as a hardtop and convertible, with the fastback version following in August 1964. Upon introduction, the Mustang, sharing its platform with the Falcon, was slotted into the compact car segment. The first-generation Mustangs grew in overall dimensions and engine power with each revision. The 1971 model featured a drastic redesign. After an initial surge, sales steadily declined, and Ford began working on a new generation Mustang. With the onset of the 1973 oil crisis, Ford was prepared, having already designed the smaller Mustang II for the 1974 model year. ...
Read more
Image
 Cars Generation R211 (New York City Subway car) The  R211  is a class of New Technology Train (NTT) subway cars built for the New York City Transit Authority. Being built by Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing for the B Division of the New York City Subway and for the Staten Island Railway (SIR), they will replace two aging subway car models: all R44 cars on the SIR, plus all R46 and some R68 subway cars. The order is split into three parts:  R211A  and  R211T  cars for the subway and  R211S  cars for the SIR. The R211Ts employ open gangways between cars, allowing passengers to see and walk through the entire length of the train – a feature not present on the subway's other rolling stock. Planning for the R211 order started in 2011. The design process started in 2012, at which time the order was supposed to consist of 75-foot-long (23 m) cars....
Read more
Image
  Mass production Propulsion and fuels Fossil fuels Most cars in use in the early 2020s run on petrol burnt in an internal combustion engine (ICE). Some cities ban older more polluting petrol-driven cars and some countries plan to ban sales in future. However, some environmental groups say this phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles must be brought forwards to limit climate change. Production of petrol-fuelled cars peaked in 2017. Other hydrocarbon fossil fuels also burnt by deflagration (rather than detonation) in ICE cars include diesel, autogas, and CNG. Removal of fossil fuel subsidies, concerns about oil dependence, tightening environmental laws and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions are propelling work on alternative power systems for cars. This includes hybrid vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles. Out of all cars sold in 2021, nine per cent...
Read more