Can we learn something from smoggy Europe…

And I don’t mean smoking. An article in the New York Times this past Sunday talked about the increase in pollution and smog that is being generated by an increase in cars. Starting with a focus on Dublin, which has seen an increase to double the number of cars from 15 years ago, the article focuses on a growing problem there and one that we have in the United States as well.

With a chicken and the egg question, planners look at urban sprawl and automobiles as partners with this problem. No one can answer which causes which. Urban sprawl creates the need for more cars. Cars allow urban sprawl to expand. Let’s look at this chicken and the egg.
On the chicken side, when we build urban sprawl and when we build farther and farther from our cities and transportation system we create the need for cars. As people move to or live in these sprawl locations they become dependent upon cars, usually one car for every person in the household at or over the age of 16. No trains, public buses, or other services go to these remote suburbs, so everyone needs a car to go shopping, to get to work, to enjoy entertainment, or to get children to school.
On the egg side, cars create the ability to develop urban sprawl, allowing projected new development projects to be located far from cities or other transportation. Who cares if you are 40 minutes from the city, the light rail station, or public transportation. All you need to do is give everyone in your home a car and you’ll be fine.

Whether it is the chicken or the egg that is the cause, both are creating a problem.

This problem in Europe is the same problem here in Denver. More cars, more motorways, more cars, more motorways, and ultimately more emissions. Since 1990 greenhouse gas emissions for Ireland have increased more than 140%. Another sad thing is that while car ownership increases, using a car is not becoming more enjoyable. Using a car on our roads is becoming worse and worse of an experience. A household that might have had one car 20 years ago now has 3, 4 or 5 cars. What does that mean… Traffic.

Traffic is simply a headache that increases every day. And from a local perspective Denver is reported to be one of the worst traffic cities in the country. So what do we do, we build more homes away from the city and the light rail. Spiffy!

This problem is repeated across other European countries, in the United states, and the world. That is alot of emissions.
Solutions? Different countries have tried different things. Some countries have treated cars as a luxury, imposing taxes up to 200% of the cost of the car. Rome restricts access to the city to low emission cars or charge large surcharges on gasoline. Some cities in Europe have a surcharge to operate a car in the city.

But in my opinion the best solution is exactly what Denver is doing. Building more light rail and heavy rail tracks, working to get people out of their cars, and helping developers build new homes on these planned arteries. Try and get folks out of their cars.

I try to bike or use public transportation when I can to avoid driving. But most folks complain about the weather for biking, the timing for public transportation, and many other things. Get over it, because the automobile path has a limited lifespan.

Want some ideas to comment on or think about…

Some European cities and town make sure the roads support more than just bikes. Picture large bikes with storage, bubbles to protect from the elements, and more. You should check out their websites as they talk about transporting 6 children with room for luggage to spare. Some examples include the Nihola bike or the Christiana bikes. Just imagine how good of shape you would be in then. And to think some folks drive to the gym so they can get on a stationary bike.

Or perhaps we should share our cars. Just like partial ownership in charter planes, I really only need a car every blue moon if I really think about it. Maybe me and 20 friends can go in on one and we all share it.

Maybe someone can make a business out of this, like netflix or FedEx there could be a new enterprise solution.  Lets expand the rental car market, and you can buy a share of a rental car from a nationwide service.  When you need it, you just put your start time and location into a web page and whammo… it awaits you.  You drive it while you need it and you drop it off when and where you are done.  Of course its hopefully a fleet of hybrid or other green cars that support this service.  But ideally you drive less and don’t even need a garage anymore.  Not sure this gets us far enough out of the emission game, but perhaps there is an idea here someone can expand on.  And maybe save the consumer a ton of car payments.

Hopefully there are some better answers out there, and I’d love to hear yours so comment away.

Happy walking and biking my friends!

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