[sustran] Re: MMRDA will file PIL to block Tata's Rs1 lakh car

Anjali Mahendra anjali.mahendra at gmail.com
Sat Jul 14 01:48:47 JST 2007


Yes, I see the point about the relationship between household car ownership
and use not being the same in all places.  On Lee's point about the Danes, I
have heard that those who own cars in Danish cities use them less within
cities, where transit and bicycles are used much more.  Total VMT are higher
because cars are used for weekend trips, esp. visits to homes in the
countryside.  Is that right?  The low car ownership seems correlated with
income given that ownership taxes are so high.
 
But you look at a city like Delhi in India where transit options have been
dismal so far and worsened by the fast-paced spread of the city--and you
find car ownership directly correlated with use.  Cars are considered a
"necessity".  People consider themselves "handicapped" without a car.  All
working members of a household need a car--it's the only way they can get to
work--and the way land is being developed has contributed to it.  So you see
dense apartment blocks with 4 cars per household and parking designed for a
car per household.  Chuwa's story of Penang sounds very familiar.

The picture of car ownership in Mumbai is not as bad though it is worsening
as the suburbs become denser (new laws for higher FSI in the suburbs are
contributing to this).  The richest of households own multiple cars where
the minivan may be used mostly on weekends and not in the city, but by and
large, car owners will use their cars in Indian cities.  The prestige of
owning a car and incentives provided through low-rate auto ownership loans
coupled with close-to-nil parking (or other usage) charges for driving in
the city, poor transit in many cases, and most importantly, the land
development patterns make people own their car and drive it too.

-Anjali




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