Cars have made an impression in human history. They have been used to get from point A to B for decades. They may help us but they also can hurt us. Gas emissions are hurting the environment and smog continues to grow. Some governments have already implimented ways to reduce these emissions. These have helped the problem and it may even be to our advantage. Many cities have already sought out ways to benefit the people that have chosen npt to use their cars. This limiting of car usage has benefited many countries and the trend seems to be catching on. In the first source, Elisabeth Rosenthal writes that it has made peope even happier than if they had had a car. It has also helped reduce traffic in normally busy streets. The most obvious benefit and advantage to having limited car usage is the fact that the reduced car use has reduced gas emissions. These many advantages may make, not using your car, worth your while.

Limiting car usage can be beneficial to the environment and it can also be beneficial to you. It can make for less stressed people. In Source 1, it describes how in a small town in Germany, many people are getting along fine without motor vehicles. As a matter of fact, some even said that they were happier without a car. Heidrun Walter states that "When I had a car i was always tense. I'm much happier this way." It may be less stressful because the goverment there had designed that town so that everything they could need was within walking distance or could be reched with public transportation. Many cities have already adopted this idea including New York. Source 3 has also asked people of their opinion and businessman Carlos Arturo Plaza said "It's a great opportunity to take away stress and lower air pollution." Carlos had said this while riding a two-seated bicycle with his wife. Walking, Hiking, and even bicycling have been generally seen as a way to destress and relax your tensions. Stepping away from the car and just walking may just be the stress reliever you needed.

A usual sight to see in busy cities and on main streets is the amount of cars that jam the street alway the way up during certain hours of the day. This can become increasingly annoying to some people that can be on their way to school or job. A car-free day has had a very succesul turn out in Bogota, Colombia. Source number 3 described the streets of the capital of Colombia to be "Eerily devoid of traffic jams." on that day. So many people might have participated because violators would be fined $25. This car-free day was intentionally placed to promote alternative transportations such as biking or public buses and to also reduce smog. Another example of a type of car limiting was seen in Paris, France. Paris was near a record amount of smog in the air with "147 micrograms of particulate matter (PM) per cubic meter compared with 114 in Brussels and 79.7 in London." - Source 2. Paris took action to try and reduce smog with this simple method: Leave cars with even-numbered license plates at home or face a $31 fine. They proceeded on to the next day with the same concept but this time instead of even-numbered plates, it was odd-numbered plates. This reduced congestion by 60 percent in the capital of France.

One of the more obvious advantages of limiting car usage is the amount of emission that can be prevented from not using your car. In Source 2 it is stated that after 5 days of limiting car usage "the smog cleared enough Monday for the ruling French party to rescing the ban for odd-numbered plates on Tuesday." After just five days of the imposed fines, gas emissions into the atmosphere was reduced significantly enough to lift the ban. If five days made such an impact it can also make a huge impact if many more people were to start limiting their car usage. Car usage has already been falling in the United States. In source 4 it states that "New York's new bike sharing program and its skyrocketing brdge and tunnel tolls reflect those new priorites, as do a proliferation of car-sharing programs across the nation." This is talking about how all these factors have come to reduce car sales and car usage in general. Less cars equals less gas which would then equal less air pollution.

In conclusion, there are many advantages to limiting your car usages. You may not only be helping the environment but you may also be helping yourself. Using your car less may even make you a less stressed individual. It has been shown to reduce congestions in busy streets. It has also helped reduce gas emission. Limited car usage has started a trend in many countries and may even be a trend here. It can give us these advantages and many more.