Getting rid of our obsession with cars

Photo by Cesar Perez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-sports-coupe-733745/

 It is obvious that the world needs to get rid of its obsession with cars as a personal means of transportation. Yet, we see no signs of that happening in any major way. There is a lot of action happening along the lines of replacing gasoline-powered cars with electric ones as if the latter don’t cause any pollution at all. Shouldn’t one be looking at a future with fewer and fewer cars, rather than obsessing with what is better- gasoline cars or electric ones? Cars are bad for the environment and that is something that has been proven beyond doubt.

What we need to do is to get rid of our obsession with cars-a malaise that is increasingly catching on in the emerging economies of the world like India. I would like to clarify that in my opinion, while we need way fewer cars, I am not suggesting that there be no cars at all as some people really do need them. If you have a daily long commute to accomplish and have no recourse to reliable public transport, sure it would make sense for you to have a car. If you are someone who needs to travel out of town frequently, you could possibly go in your car than pay through your nose for a plane ticket. In any case, an aeroplane is known to be way more polluting than a car.

It is the obsession with cars that I abhor. In the larger cities of India where young working adults often live with their parents in apartment complexes, it is not uncommon for a family to have two or three cars. Often, there are quarrels with the neighbours over parking space, but they will not think of riding in one car and save themselves a world of trouble. Buying more and more and bigger and bigger cars has become a matter of prestige notwithstanding the perennially choked roads and some of the most polluted roads in the world.

As many towns and cities in the West legislate to introduce more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly lanes in place of automobile freeways, countries like India and China which for decades had most people riding bicycles as cars were beyond their reach, they are now are going in the opposite direction. Currently China leads the world in the number of automobiles sold, with the US and India in the second and third place respectively. Considering that less than 9% of people in India own a passenger vehicle, one can expect an ocean of cars to deluge the nation of nearly a billion and a half people in the time to come.

People all over the developed and developing world need to be weaned off their reliance on personal cars as an effective way of getting around and instead, be encouraged to adopt public means of transport like buses and metro rail networks. They should also be encouraged to ride a bicycle instead of going somewhere by car or even walking if it is possible. The infrastructure needs to be put in place for this in the shape of larger, better and more comfortable bus and metro rail networks as well as more pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes. This has to be done at the expense of cars so that people are disincentivized to use them.

It makes every sense to do so from an environmental and personal health point of view. Fewer cars will go a long way in mitigating the factors that contribute to global warming and by encouraging people to walk, cycle and take public transport, there would be a massive reduction in the incidence of lifestyle diseases on account of the exercise they will get. A clear win-win for all. The glamourisation of cars has to stop and the health of the planet and its people should be something that people should focus all their attention on. The time for obsessions is over. It never leads to anything good.