Cars - cutting costs and emissions

Cars brought liberty to many people enabling them to have their own personalised travel, no longer dependent on public transport timetables and allowing access to areas once difficult to reach.

The ubiquitous car park!

Yet there are serious negative impacts. Congestion has increased leading to measures to increase road capacity, by building more roads (though these fail in that the result is more trips and traffic); land is taken up both by road space and car parks; pollution - both noise and particulates impact on residents, wildlife and the wider environment; and, last but not least greenhouse gas emissions are a significant contributor to climate breakdown. There are costs - whether in terms of road construction or maintenance, which are borne by those who either do not have a car or make minimal use of them. The move towards larger cars has exacerbated things - with greater fuel use and impact on road surfaces.

It should also be borne in mind that most trips are made by a minority of drivers who are preponderantly more affluent than the average person.

So what needs to be done? The emphasis on electric vehicles (EVs) has a superficial attraction but has implications for the use of resources such as lithium and creates a greater requirement for electricity which again carries costs. Congestion and traffic problems will not be resolved by the use of EVs. We can conclude therefore that the move to electric vehicles is not the solution in itself.

Are there alterative options?

The answer is yes although motorists will balk at some of them. Overall, the aim should be to reduce car use.

1) Introduce car parking charges for private car parks such as those at supermarkets, a significant share of the funds raised should go to local authorities to offset costs of road maintenance.

2) Introduce a mileage based charging system using the current mileage records on cars. Users could record mileage on a quarterly basis. Charges would be based on a per mile basis with higher rates for larger vehicles. VED which basically gets less of a charge the more you drive should be abolished.

3) Raising fuel duty.

At the same time investment in bus services is essential. Other options could include the use of webcams to allow people to see and hear what is happening on specific locations without the need to travel there. Walking and cycling (where appropriate) require encouragement. The urge to drive is part of the problem, Sometimes you do not need to travel and if you do see if a trip can include a number of activities.

We also need to address the problems created by events -it is time to move away from a world where people are encouraged to travel many miles to a music festival such as Boardmasters. Travel by car should be regarded as a privilege for essential trips not a free for all.

A busy road