Cars and the environment in Britain

Thèmes abordés

Car, environment, britain

Résumé du document

Human beings always search for technical progress, the industrial revolution is a good example of this assertion but it is sometimes to the detriment of the nature. The invention of the car was decisive, thanks to it, time and space can be reduced but it has also some disastrous effects on the environment such as pollution. This particular problem can be seen in Great Britain, especially because the car is the most popular means of transport.

This essay will discuss, firstly, possible solutions to this problem and secondly the potential obstacles to these solutions.

First of all, the most obvious solution would be to improve public transport. Making it cheaper and reliable could make people use it more often.
Government intervention can also be useful. For example, imposing congestion charges can force people to use other means of transport instead of the car. This experience had begun in 2003 in London and it has had some good results. During the first year, "congestion within the zone had fallen by 30 percent and there had been an increase of 29,000 bus passengers entering the zone during the morning peak period" (Office of National Statistics, 2005: 323).

Extraits

[...] There are also lots of ways to protect the environment but which has smaller impact, like, using an alternative form of fuel, going to work by bike or on foot if it is possible Although there are some solutions in favour of this problem, there are some arguments against it. First of all, there is a psychological problem “people are keen to reduce the impact of traffic but reluctant to limit their personal freedom” (Rogers and Powers, 2000: 93). There is clearly a lack of desire to change, people are only interested by themselves and do not care about the others. It is a fact; English citizens are excited about mobility. Everyday, they spend hours in their car to go to work. [...]

[...] Economy is another issue to consider. Improve public transport is a very expensive project, especially because Great Britain has a very dense population (it is easier for Copenhagen than for London to pedestrianise the streets because it is a small city with a comparatively small population). Moreover introducing congestion charging or pedestrianising the streets can create complaints from the population. A last obstacle is the people's fear of the road, “because of the fear of road accidents, only one in fifty children now bikes to school” (Rogers and Powers, 2000: 93). [...]

[...] Rogers, R & Powers, A. (2000) Cities from a Small Country. London: Faber and Faber. Theobald, W. ed. (2005) Global Tourism Elsevier Butterworth-Heinman: Burlington MA. Turner, A. (2001) Just Capital The Liberal Economy. London: Macmillan. [...]

[...] First of all, the most obvious solution would be to improve public transport. Making it cheaper and reliable could make people use it more often. Government intervention can also be useful. For example, imposing congestions charges can force people to use other means of transport instead of car. This experience had already begun in 2003 in London and it has had some good results. During the first year “congestion within the zone had fallen by 30 percent and there had been an increase of 29,000 bus passengers entering the zone during the morning peak period” (Office of National Statistics, 2005: 323). [...]