Ever since cars were invented, they have widely been used as the primary source of transportation. They became so commonplace that their widespread use started to introduce negative impacts . As a result, some countries, or cities, have recently put in place programs or events to limit, or decrease, the amount of car usage in that area. There are many advantages to limiting car usage, including that not using cars is better for the environment and that it allows the city to improve itself.

In recent years, the environment has become a worldwide concern; one of the advantages to limiting car usage is that it will positively impact the environment. Today, people all over the world are paying attention to what they can do to help the environment, meaning that this is an advantage that will appeal to a widespread audience. One way that limiting car usage will help is that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Elisabeth Rosenthal's essay "In German Suburb, Life Goes On Without Cars", she writes, "Passenger cars are responsible for 2 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe ... and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States". By limiting the usage of cars, the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the world would decrease substantially. While the idea that everyone would stop using their cars and the gas emissions caused by them would disappear completely is unrealistic, the prospect that a majority of the emissions could do so is perfectly reasonable. The reduction of these emissions would mean that the air quality would increase and be overall healthier for both all the world's population and all the wildlife across the world. Robert Duffer provides another example of how less car usage would impact the environment in his essay, "Paris bans driving due to smog". According to the article, an intense smog had covered Paris for five days, when the city decided to ban car usage over the course of two days. The cause for the smog was thought to be the high use of diesel fuel in France, with 67 percent of cars using it over gasoline, about 14 percent higher than the rest of Western Europe. The plan for the ban had been that cars with even-numbered license plates to not be used the first day and for ones with odd-numbered license plates not to be used the next day. In actuality, cars with odd-numbered plates were never banned from driving since the smog had cleared just after the first day. This shows the impact of limiting car usage. In just one day, a smog that was comarable to the one in Beijing, China, one of the most polluted cities in the world, was removed considerably after just half the normal amount of cars were used over the course of a day. If this was used all over the world, the result would be even more significant. This evidence supports that limiting car use is good for the environment in more ways than one.

Additionally, the limited use of cars opens many opportunities for cities to improve themselves by adding new features or improving upon old ones. In the article "Car-free day is spinning into a big hit in Bogota" by Andrew Selsky, the changes that the Columbian city of Bogota has gone through in response to less car use are discussed. The changes are a direct result of the city's Day Without Cars campaign, where car use is banned for the whole city for one day out of a year. It reads, "It has seen the construction of 118 mile of bicycle paths, the most of any Latin American city, according to Mockus, the city's mayor. Parks and sports centers have also bloomed throughout the city;uneven, pitted sidewalks have been replaced by broad, smooth sidewalks; rush-hour restrictions have dramatically cut traffic; and new restaurants and upscale shopping districts have cropped up".  These additions are in response to the city's inhabitants using alternative transport. Since cars could not be used, the public had to get to where they were heading by other means. Bogota was able to use the situation to improve itself by either fixing things already in place or adding new ones competely. Another way that a city improved itself as a result of limited car use is shown by Elisabeth Rosenthal in her essay "In German Suburn Life Goes On Without Cars". She writes, "While there have been efforts in the past two decades to make cities denser, and better for walking, planners are now taking the concept to the suburbs". One of the results of applying this idea to suburbs is that stores are placed within walking distance of houses rather than in a mall next to a highway. Vauban, the city where the changes took place, is taking advantage of the opportunities to open new stores. This change would not only create more business for the strore itself but improve the economy of the city by increasing spending. The overall impact that limiting car use has had on citites is that it provides opportunity for the city to improve itself.

There are many advantages to limiting car use. Not only does it improve the environment by removing smog and reducing greenhouse gas emission, but it also allows the area to improve itself by building new features. For this reason, limited car use should be seen as an overall positive idea.