Why is is beneficial to have limited car usage? This is a question that has several answers varying from personal health, to economic gain, to enviromental gain. Though the car has been the symbol of the modern age, there seem to be few 'down-sides' to limiting the usage of these transportation units.

Cars have given mankind the ability to cross great distances in a short amount of time, allowing face to face communication, fast trade between companies and nations, and acess to medical and personal care otherwise out of reach. However, the car has also caused lack of mobility, cutting back on people's exercise as they no longer have to walk very far to get from point A to point B, the overwhelming responsibility and cost of owning a car has also put a mental strain on people, causing needless stress.  Of course there are places to go and things to do that require traveling large distances, and no one could be a expected to walk from New York to L.A., so car usage should not be utterly removed, but rather resricted.

So how do people properly regulate their car usage?  Several different governments and cities have debated this, trying different tactics and having varied results.  As shown in Elisabeth Rosenthal's essay,

"In German Suburbs, Life Goes On Without Cars"

, we are shown the result of a community where 70% of the people do not own cars, but with no less activity than their counterparts in cities wheighed down by cars.  There seem to be several advantages in this city without  cars, one being that people seem to be happier.  Heidun Walter, a media trainer with two children informed Rosenthal, "When I had a car I was always tense. I'm much happier this way,", the lack of cars seems to reduce stress, without restricting life.

So perhaps this is not enough reason for some to limit their usage of the car, alright, there are many more reasons why this is beneficail. One that is quite familiar to all is the issue of greenhouse gas emissions.  The majority of cars produce greenhouse gas emissions, polluting the enviroment and quickening the death of the planet, Rosenthal's essay "

In German Suburbs, Life Goes On Without Cars,

", we are told clearly that, "Passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gass emissions in Europe... and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States. "  This may seem like very little, but with the amount of cars in the world, these numbers add up to staggering damage to the enviroment.  Robert Duffer wrote an essay telling of these harmful effects in a shocking way: "

Paris bans driving due to smog

". This city had so much pollution that they had to ban the use of cars, "Paris had 147 micrograms of particulate matter (PM) per cubic meter compared with 114 in Brussels and 79.7 in London,".  This pollution is not only in France, but across the globe, it is only a matter of time before it destroys the ecosystems on Earth, and cars are one of the biggest contributers to this destruction, coming in second only to power plants.

One Colombian city chose not to wait until such things happened, instead choosing to promote limited car usage in a more peacful manner, as described by Andrew Selsky's essay, "

Car-free day is spinning into a big hit in Bogota

".  This city of 7 million people started a program that chooses one day a year to bann all car usage with the exception of buses and taxis, fining violators with $25. One main benefit has come out of this: People are more active phisically and therefore have less stress.  Selsky's essay can be quoted saying, "- millions of Colombians hiked, biked, skated, or took buses to work during a car-free day yesterday,". The benefits of more physical movement are obvious, but one is not so obvious: It lowers stress.  A businessman by the name of Carlos Arturo Plaza said, "It is a good opportunity to take away stress and lower air pollution". If a simple day can cause such drastic changes in the enviroment, peoples health, and lower stress, why not go ahead and do it?

In summary, while cars help us get from point A to point B quickly, and are very useful when traveling over great distance, they also cause great harm.  A simple cut back on using cars would allow the air pollution to be reduced drastically, promote physical movement and personal health, and help productivity and creativity by reducing stress. Why would you  not wish to live in a world like that?