Cars are going out of style. In Vauban, Germany, cars are not owned, save the occasional one that can be afforded; Paris,France banned certain cars from driving certain days; Bogota, Columbia has a car-free day; and America is seeing a decrease in their car sales. The reason behind it: smog and greenhouse gas emmissions. The reduction of car use has helped these things immensely in more ways than one.

"Passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emmissions in Europe...and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States," says experts in Elisabeth Rosenthal's

"In German Suburb, Life Goes On Without Cars."

Europe, the United States and other places are starting a movement called "smart planning." It is a plan to seperate suburban life from auto useage. There has been efforts these past two decades to make cities better suited for walking. In Vauban, 70 percent of families do not even own cars, they walk everywhere. It is similar in Bogota, where the people ride bikes and hike to work whether it is in the shining sun or in the downpour of rain. Even here in America, driving has decreased. In 2013, studies show that the numbers of miles driven was nearly equal to the numbers from 1995. The percentage of people under the age of 40 getting their license has dropped 23 percent between the years 2001 and 2009 according to Rosenthal's article

"The End of Car Culture."

Last year, Paris had to enforce a ban to clear the smog from the city; many people got fined for ignoring it. Five days after enacting the ban, congestion went down 60 percent. In Bogota, less streets were being built while more and more sidewalks and bicycle paths (118 miles worth) were under construction. President Barak Obama has made plans to cease the greenhouse emmissions and, with the recent changes in transportation use, his plans could work. As stated in Rosenthal's first article "The Environmental Protection Agency is promoting 'car reduced' communities and legislators are starting to act." It is predicted that public transportation will become much more popular in the next few years.

Cars have polluted so many areas of our world and at this point of time, our world is changing. Less car useage means more money that is not being spent on gas and less pollution to our environment. The executive chairman of Ford Motor Company has a business plan to create cities where "pedestrian, bicycle, private cars, commercial and public transportation traffic are woven into a connected network to save time, conserve resources, lower emissions and improve safety." It is beneficial to our new world that it stays intact for the future generations to come.