I'd love to think the situation had improved in the last decade, since I wrote this, but I've always been terrible at lying to myself.
Cars and the Environment Information Sheet for the London Ecology Centre 1994
In the one hundred years or so since their invention cars have changed the face of the planet. Although the first individual off-road vehicles were a wonderful invention for low-density populations and remote areas, they were developed and promoted far beyond that original vision.
The railway was the first major transformer of landscapes (and often drew environmental protest when it was being built), but public forms of transport have remained low status. The car was invented just in time for the wealthy to be able to match rail journey-times, and still retain the privacy and freedom they had previously enjoyed in horse-drawn carriages.
An early consequence of the car was the relatively high speeds which damaged existing tracks, kicking up dust and scaring the horses, so road surfaces had to be improved, and as the promise was point-to-point travel, all surfaces would eventually have to be upgraded.
Once cars went into mass-production, and were on offer as the ultimate commodity, huge amounts of money were to be made from auto-manufacture, road-building and oil which form a powerful vested interest. These vested interests not only promoted the dream of independent travel with all the resources of modern hype - glamour, luxury, freedom, speed, status, etc. - but discouraged the alternatives. America’s experience - in which cities were often developed in parallel with the car, while running down existing public transit systems - was inappropriately applied to Europe, where ancient cities had to be ravaged to make room for wider roads, parking, garages, and the endless clutter of lights and signs.
The real costs of materials and the manufacturing process, and the social and environmental impact of cars, have been hidden or ignored. So much is now invested, and so many people have now become dependent on cars, that although it is easy enough to point out the problems (self-evident to any city dweller e.g. increasing congestion, air pollution etc...) it is extremely difficult to see how to reverse the trend.
The mounting problems faced by the USA in the post-war period led to a search for solutions. Legislation was implemented in an attempt to reduce speed limits, discourage gas-guzzling cars and encourage positive measures such as the fitting of catalytic convertors. These changes were completely overwhelmed, however, by the proliferation of cars, the reduction of alternative travel options, the encouragement of new owners through hire purchase, manipulative advertising and the blatant subsidising of oil and the building and maintenance costs of road.
Trying to measure the real costs of automobiles leads to some frightening statistics. We notice the occasional (and rare) crashes of trains and planes, but ignore the steady, daily costs of roads full of cars. Every year 5000 people die in the UK (more than 16 every day), and many more are injured; the costs in terms of emergency services, lost working time, stress on families, insurance, etc., all need to be included.
Aside from accidents, which do not only involve humans (e.g. an estimated 4 - 5,000 badgers are killed annually), there are unavoidable long-term effects on our health and quality of life. Most obviously, there is the car’s contribution to air pollution - it is a major source of the carbon dioxide (CO2) which is a major contributant to the Greenhouse effect; it produces many of the chemicals that cause acid rain such as sulphur dioxide (the Heidelberg study calculates that every car made causes 3 dead trees and 20 sick ones); exhaust fumes result in up to 10,000 deaths each year, and even diesel is now implicated in the increase of respiratory problems, asthma, etc ... And all the while dirt from exhaust particulates continues to settle everywhere, on our washing, plants, crops and buildings.
Another insidious effect has been a general numbing of the population to constant background noise. In very busy streets people have often not only abandoned the pavement and their front gardens as social space, but even reduced the use of their front rooms. The car offered to widen our world, and has ended up shrinking it.
The combination of fumes, noise and danger has made the street an unfriendly space for human interaction, and made it dangerous for children, old people and women. By traffic calming, creating green spaces, and making streets less car-friendly, or even car-free (pedestrian precincts) we could encourage better use of our neighbourhood resources, and make them more pleasant places to walk, cycle or just sit.
We have to reconsider what we want from city living, at the moment cities such as London are clearly unsustainable, yet cities have great potential. Although mobility was offered to us as the reward of new wealth, most travel for pleasure is done on weekends and holidays. Where possible, it would be efficient to try to eliminate unnecessary travel (particularly for routine journeys), by planning mixed-use city areas, urban villages with homes, offices, schools, shops, light industry and recreational spaces quite close to each other. This would help to control the tendency to urban sprawl which has been encouraged through the use of cars - so that now we have to travel further (even when it is no fun) just because we can. This leaves those without access to a car (including the members of car-owning houses when the car is being used) stranded and isolated.
Where commuting is unavoidable, public transport is by far the most energy efficient option, and the cheapest in real terms; an integrated system is essential, with a range of transport options, allowing us to use appropriate transport for our country/city, routine/emergency, long/short, essential! luxury journeys, rather than depending entirely on one over-powered general purpose vehicle. This may involve changes in ownership patterns. At present there this a split between public and private transport, with public transport often criticized for costing the tax payer money. ‘Public’ and ‘private’, however, is a false dichotomy, as we all (in the long run) pay for them, either in money, ill-health, stress, loss of quality of life, etc.
We can stop building new roads (although road building creates much needed jobs in the construction industry, this point needs to be addressed by the environmental movement); shift funding towards public transport (in line with most of Europe); rethink our residential areas; remove distorting subsidies (like the typically British ‘company car’); and make a change away from the fantasy of speed (average vehicle speed within cities hasn’t changed much in 100 years - 10/12 mph) to a safer, cleaner, less extravagant way of using cars in cities.
[May 2004 - The following information is 10 years out of date, but I don't want to spend the time researching it all again - a lot hasn't changed.]
Car Owners / Users
Technical information
(1) When buying, choose as small a car as possible, with a good lead-free fuel economy and the latest anti-pollution technology (lean-burn engines, etc). See NSCA leaflets.
(2) Catalytic converters. Write to Johnson Matthey for a free copy of Cutting Car Pollution: The Role of Catalytic Converters.
NB: they need to run on unleaded petrol, and can increase the cost of a new car by about 5%, and fuel consumption, too.
(3) When buying, check which models can be bought with catalytic converters: in Europe some firms fit them without extra cost.
(4) Keep car tuned and maintained, even under inflated tyres increase fuel use.
(5) Consider changing to the Environmental Transport Association road rescue services (cycles, too!) - they are not part of the Road Lobby, (as are the AA, RAC & National Breakdown), and they campaign for environmentally sound transport policies.
(6) Take all
waste oil, old batteries and used tyres to a garage or local authority site for recycling or safe
disposal. Never pour used oil down drains or onto the ground. Not only is this
highly polluting motor oil poured down
the drain can interfere with the smooth running of sewage treatment plants) it
is also illegal.
(1) Don’t automatically use the car, especially for short journeys - 41% of all car journeys in urban areas are less than 3 miles (5km). Shop locally / buy local produce. Remember your option to walk or cycle or use public transport.
(2) Try to leave yourself enough time to travel without stress. Drive carefully and respect pedestrians and cyclists - Friends of the Earth offer a guide to ‘cycle-friendly motoring’. Keep to speed limits (slower is both safer and less polluting).
(3) For longer journeys, public transport is far more environmentally-friendly than cars - stay in touch with the details/timetables of your alternatives: buses, trams, trains.
(4) Consider the possibility of car-sharing schemes, or car pools, wherever possible. [Drivers can join Freewheelers (lift share agency) for free]
(5) Consider getting rid of your car and only hiring one when necessary, or using taxis to supplement public transport.
Car Free Movement: TDJ Chappell, Merton
College, OXFORD OX1 4JD
(6) Check your driving technique: aggressive driving, and excessive use of accelerator and brake are fuel extravagant.
(7) Don’t change cars too frequently - simply because of fashion, etc. Buy something to last.
Non-drivers
(1) Don’t start driving!
(2) Encourage car-sharing (NB: Freewheelers is a lift-share organization - hitch-hiking is always more common where cars are rarer (‘one each’ leads to selfishness); if you are nervous walking in the city, and have disposable income, use cabs and hired cars when needed, e.g. Lady Cabs.
3) Use a bike
if and when possible. Keep it maintained / make sure you are really in control (Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents) / Richard’s Bicycle Book (Pan 1981).
(4) Join the long-term struggle to reverse the current trend to total dependence on one form of transport - encourage and maintain our diversity and choice. Stay informed of your public transport options, collect timetables. Walk as much as feasible. Monitor Red Routes, keep pedestrian rights of way used, etc.
(5) Campaign against new roads; for children’s rights to play space; for cycle paths; for pedestrian priorities; for traffic calming; for people-friendly residential streets, etc.
NB: local authorities have relatively little control over major road building schemes - contact your MP
USEFUL ADDRESSES [NB: All this information was accurate in June 1994, it has not been corrected since then.]
ALARM UK Capital Transport Campaign
13
Stockwell Road 3rd
Floor
LONDON
SW9 9AU Walkden House
(supports people opposing 10 Melton Street
road schemes) NW1 2EJ Tel: 071 388 2489/6902
monitor local services, make local surveys
pressure
local councils
CLEAR (Campaign for Lead-Free Air)
3 Endsleigh Street London WC1H ODD
69 Meadrow
Godalming
Surrey GU7 3HS
Community Transport Association
Highbank
Halton Street
Cheshire SK14 2NY
DaRT (Dial-a-Ride and Taxicard users)
25 Leighton Road
LONDON NW5 2QD
071 482 2325
071 284 2081
(for people
with disabilities)
Department of Transport
Vehicle Inspectorate
report smoking
vehicles
0323 721471
The Old Post House,
Heath Road, Weybridge,
KT13 8RS Tel: 0932 82 88 82
(lift share agency)
Ventura House
176 Acre Lane
LONDON SW2 5IJL
Tel: (071) 738 6861
26-28 Underwood Street
LONDON Ni 7JQ
Systems Division
Orchard Road, Royston,
Hertfordshire SG8 5HE
Aquarius House
3 Archway Close
LONDON N19 3TD
Tel: 071 272 3019
071 281 4803
(women only
taxis)
London Cycling
Campaign
3 Stamford
Street
London SE19NJ
Tel: 071 928 7220
London Lorry Control
24 hour Hot Line
()71 582 1038
National Federation of Bus Users
6 Holmhurst Lane
St. Leonards-on-Sea
TH37 7LW
National
Society for Clean Air and
environmental protection
136 North Street BRIGHTON BN1 1RG Tel: (0273) 26313
NSCA produce
information sheets on traffic pollution and related issues for the general
public and schools
The Noise
Council
Chadwick House
48 Rushworth Street
LONDON SE1 OQT
The Noise
Abatement Society
P.O. Box no. 8
Bromley Kent BR2 OUH
The
Pedestrians Association
126 Aldersgate Street
LONDON EC 1A 4JQ
‘Walkways’ info pack - Help line 071 490 0750
Red Routes survey June 1993
ROAD ALERT
P0 Box 5544
Newbury
Berkshire RG14 5FB
T Tel: (01635) 521770
(networking -
road protests)
Royal Society
for the
Prevention of
Accidents
Cannon House
The Priory Queen sway
Birmingham B4 6BS
The Railway Path & Cycle Route
Construction Charity
35 King Street
Bristol BS1 4DZ
Tel: (0272) 268893
Transport 2000
Walkden House
10 Melton Street
London NW1 2EJ
[Feet First campaign Tel: 071 388 8386] National Campaign to redirect resources from
road-building to public transport.
This
Information Sheet was written by Toby
Philpott for the London Ecology Centre, May - June 1994.