Car Ownership Costs – Time And Money

As the population increases and more people learn to drive, the number of cars on the road becomes unmanageable. Larger countries have more space to re-design their towns to better cope with road traffic, but Britain is a small island with towns not designed for heavy traffic. Only Milton Keynes has been suitably designed with a grid layout of roads, similar to US city plans. Most towns in the UK were designed in medieval times to carry horse and carts and pedestrians. Narrow streets twisting and turning around ancient listed buildings has restricted town planners in modernising towns for cars and other vehicles, not to mention all the signs and Selling a car in Spain signal infrastructure required to manage road traffic.

Cars also need to be parked somewhere so narrow streets become clogged causing bottlenecks when cars must wait for oncoming cars. Cars are forced to park on pavements which obstructs pedestrians, push chairs and mobility scooters. Cars are not just a problem when they are moving – they need to be kept somewhere when they are stationary.

Town centres need to be cleared of all privately-owned transport. Most car journeys are unnecessary and an improved public transport network would convince more people to ditch their cars. People should travel into and around town by trams, buses or taxis. Taxis will cover the remote areas which are not feasible to run a regular service. Business delivereries should be by local couriers from a suburban depot to the inner town.

The Internet has given us the ability to order our shopping online, learn new skills, earn money, socialise and entertain ourselves. How many car journeys do you think we make doing these activities. If just 50% of us switched to doing each of these activities online then our roads would be a lot less congested. The Internet has also given us the power to use look up train and bus schedules to save the amount of time we spend waiting on platforms and bus shelters.

A popular argument in favour of the car is that it is a symbol of freedom. People can travel where they want, whenever they want and carry whatever luggage they can fit in the car. Leisure activities such as caravanning has allowed people to experience living in their own environment in different areas. However, this life will also become less sustainable as roads become more dangerous and campsites more crowded.

If people wish to travel independently to remote areas then they can always hire a car. Car rental companies could be located on the edge of town next to the motorway network and be well-connected to local transport networks. Car clubs could be established to allow subscribed members to share use of a fleet of vehicles. The subscription fee would cover the maintenance cost of the fleet, whilst allowing subscribers to book use of a car when required.