[sustran] Re: Are private cars the ideal transport?

[Todd Alexander Litman]

For more detailed analysis of the full costs of 
different forms of transport, and the benefits of 
shifts from automobile to alternative modes, see 
the report "Transportation Cost and Benefit 
Analysis" (www.vtpi.org/tca ). Under urban-peak 
conditions, automobile use is particularly costly 
while other modes are relatively efficient. By 
the way, this report is currently being updated, 
so a new version should be posted in about a month.

Unfortunately, current transportation markets are 
distorted in various ways that favor mobility 
over accessibility and automobile transport over 
other modes, resulting in economically excessive 
automobile travel, a less diverse and efficient 
transportation system, and more sprawl than is 
optimal. Described more positively, there are 
many potential economic, social and environmental 
benefits to market and planning reforms that 
encourage more efficient transportation. This is 
discussed in my paper, "Socially Optimal 
Transport Prices and Markets" 
(www.vtpi.org/sotpm.pdf ). My analysis indicates 
that in a more efficient market, consumers would 
choose to own fewer cars, drive 30-50% 
less,  rely more on alternative modes, and be 
better off overall as a result. This is certainly 
true of developed countries, and is probably 
equally true in developing countries.


Best wishes,
-Todd Litman

At 01:00 AM 9/7/2008, Saiful Alam wrote:
>
>Are private cars the ideal transport?
>
>Let us return to the private car.  Whatever 
>convenience and comfort it provides comes at 
>various costs.  Cars are the main source of 
>pollutants worldwide.  There is no such thing as 
>a clean car; cars just vary in the amount they 
>pollute.  Despite increasingly stringent 
>emissions control standards over the decades in 
>the US, cars pollute more than they used 
>to—because people are driving farther.
>
>It is difficult for us to appreciate just how 
>much cars pollute.  The air in Dhaka City, after 
>all, improved dramatically after the banning of 
>two-stroke baby taxis, and again with the 
>introduction of unleaded fuel.  However, this is 
>by no means an indication that the air in Dhaka 
>is clean.  Any trip to the countryside is a 
>reminder of the pleasure of breathing clean 
>air.  Even in Dhaka, if we wake up early and 
>take a walk, we can experience a bit of the 
>pleasure of fresh air; as each car passes, we 
>can also understand just how much each car 
>pollutes the air.  As the streets fill with 
>cars, the pollution rises.  On hartal days, 
>despite large numbers of people moving about the 
>city, the air is fresh and the city (violence 
>aside) is quiet.  Cars—and the wide paved roads 
>needed to accommodate them—also emit a great 
>deal of heat, making Dhaka even more insufferable in the many hot months.
>
>Cars also are the main cause of noise 
>pollution.  A full 97% of students in Dhaka in a 
>survey on noise pollution said that their 
>studying is disrupted by car horns; 96% of the 
>general public interviewed mentioned car horns 
>as the main cause of noise pollution in 
>Dhaka.[1]  When rickshaws were on strike in 
>October 2004, there were no rickshaws on the 
>streets, yet the streets were as noisy as ever.
>
>We would argue that since cars only transport 
>roughly 10-20% of travelers, they should only 
>have access to 10-20% of road space, for moving 
>and parking—and should respect the rest of 
>users, as well as the right to some peace and 
>quiet of all the people working and living next to roads.
>  Presumably one component of civilization is 
> respecting the rights of others.  The attitude 
> of drivers—who represent the wealthiest portion 
> of society—that they alone should have full 
> access to roads—is anti-democratic, 
> anti-civilization, and disturbingly elitist.  A 
> society in which people fail to respect the 
> rights of others, and in which the rich believe 
> they should have special privileges on the 
> roads as well as in every other aspect of life, 
> is a society destined to fall into crime, 
> selfishness, viciousness, and lack of the 
> neighborly friendliness that allows people to live comfortably together
>
>Syed Siful Alam Shovan
>shovan1209 at yahoo.com


Sincerely,
Todd Alexander Litman
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org)
litman at vtpi.org
Phone & Fax 250-360-1560
1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
“Efficiency - Equity - Clarity”