Cars: A Love Affair Lost? | Green Energy News

January 10, 2010 – Vol.14 No.43

CARS: A LOVE AFFAIR LOST?
by Bruce Mulliken, Green Energy News

Driving is often misery. Buying a new car is more painful than a trip to the dentist. The daily commute is an exercise in survival. Then there are those repairs.

Exhaust from tailpipes is deadly. Wars are fought to keep fuel flowing. Gases that add to the insulating layer to an otherwise cold planet are getting too thick, thanks in part to cars as we know them.

But the US is built around motorized personal transportation. Building mass transit to within a few blocks of every suburban home in the nation is a task that could take decades, even if the country was flush with cash.

(It isn’t, of course. The US has to get is finances in order before it can build out rail lines and new bus routes that local, state and some federal leaders think (correctly) that we need.)

Still, despite, the dominance of cars as the main method of surface transportation, cars are losing their luster. The love is waning. According to a new report by Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute, the car fleet in the US shrank by four million in 2009. Sure, the slow economy was one factor – fewer people working means fewer new car sales – but that’s not the only reason for the nearly 2 percent decline: younger people aren’t as keen on cars as their parents were. A smart phone is more fun and more affordable than a smart car.

Brown sees a steady decline in the nation’s car fleet perhaps by as much as 10 percent – 25 million cars – by 2020, a decade from now.

More than just youth shunning cars, and more than what Brown predicts, there’s another generation that’s rapidly losing interest in cars while quickly reaching retirement age: the Baby Boomers. There isn’t a Boomer that I know (myself included) who doesn’t want to retire within walking distance of shops, stores and restaurants. And for many Boomers, the sooner car dependence ends, the better (myself included here, too.) (Imagine the money saved!)

Fewer new car sales each year does not bode well for US-centric car makers trying to recover from near death. Global manufacturers will just sell elsewhere, like China and India.

Between now and the time the nation starts building high-speed intercity rail and more urban mass transit, there’s an opportunity for communities. Reduce speed limits (which communities can always do in the interest of safety) to allow the use of electric low speed vehicles. LSVs would cut pollution, cut wear and tear on roadways, and attract new people who want, and perhaps need, local motorized transportation without all the fuss of a full blown car.

Walking is great when time is available and distances aren’t too far. Bicycles are fine for some people but are not without their dangers. LSVs offer some security and protection from the elements. They’re fun easy to drive, too. With LSVs some of the joy, the love of driving may return. Even if it’s at 25 miles per hour.

Links:

Earth Policy Institute: Plan B Updates: US Car Fleet Shrank by Four Million in 2009 - After a Century of Growth, US Fleet Entering Era of Decline

http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/plan_b_updates/2010/update87