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The usage of motor vehicles has been on a steady decline for the last several years.  More and more people are relying on carpooling and other means of transportation. In Elisabeth Rosenthal's articles, she discusses Vauban, Germany, where cars are forbidden and how the use of cars has been on the decline.  In Robert Duffer's article, he talks about Paris' issues with pollution and the ways it has been dealt with.  In Andrew Selsky's article, he talks about a program in Colombia when citizens use other means of transportation other than cars.  The perks of limiting car usage include less pollution, less traffic congestion, and improved safety.

The main culprit of pollution issues is car usage.  In Source 2, Robert Duffer says that "Diesels make up 67 percent of vehicles in France..."(Duffer 16) This is because of a tax policy that has a preference to this fuel.  Diesel fuel is a lot more harmful than regular gasoline, and if many people are using this fuel pollution rates will skyrocket.  Cutting down on these fuels altogether could create a less polluted environment.  In addition, cars cause 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, and 50 percent in specific places in the U.S(Rosenthal 5).  This statistic is startling, since half of the pollution problems in the U.S are associated to cars.  By using other means of transportation such as the train or even carpooling, this number can be greatly reduced to a much smaller percentage.

With more cars, more traffic congestion occurs.  A sign of this congestion is evident when Rosenthal says"New York's new bike-sharing program and its skyrocketing bridge and tunnel tolls reflect those new priorities.(Rosenthal 37)"  A lot of people are still using their own vehicles to get from point A to B, and as a result their is more money that has been given to toll bridges because of that.  The encouragement of governments to suggest car-pooling services and shared rides will decrease the revenue that comes from tolls.  If everybody shared a ride with a person from work or from somewhere else, there would be a great decrease in traffic congestion.

Furthermore, public transportation such as the BART in the San Francisco Bay area has decreased the amount of drivers on the road.  Although the rides are typically longer than driving a car from point A to B, it is a more efficient method of transportation.(Rosenthal 40)  Using these alternate methods of transportation decreases the amount of cars on the road at once.  With less cars on the road at once, there is more efficiency in getting where you need to go.

Safety is one of the most important aspects of reducing the amount of cars. In Colombia, a program promotes the use of no cars one day per year.  Many of the citizens use alternate methods of transportation such as walking and riding bikes.(Selsky 20)By promoting this, there are obviously less cars on the road and a lesser risk of people being injured by cars.  With programs that promote other modes of transportation, many lives can be saved since there would be fewer cars on the road.  Although many people require cars to get from place to place, the idea of lives being saved is something that shouldn't be ignored.  Also, technology has aided the decline in cars. Telecommunication has helped people become connected to friends and family in a way without meeting with them face to face.(Rosenthal 35) Because of this,  people dont have to travel to meet with their friends and family.  This has created a domino effect; people can communicate through social media and texting which causes less cars to be on the road to visit other people and overall causes less safety isssues.

In conclusion, cars are the focal point of many issues in our society.  They cause many safety issues such as traffic accidents,more traffic congestion which causes increases in revenue in tolls, and pollution issues.  By reducing car usage, many of these problems can disappear, and can create a safer and healthier environment.

Score: 5