Since the rise of suburbs nationally and globally, car culture has been an important component of our history and of the typical human experience. Every teenager anticipates the excitement and freedom of a driver's license, our country is "the birthplace of the Model T" and "the home of Detroit," and mothers across the globe rely on SUVs and station wagons to haul their children to and from school, soccer practice, Sunday mass, and the like (Source 4). In recent years, however, there is a growing trend of limited car usage around the world as countries promote vehicle-free neighborhoods and as in nations like the USA, "there has been a large drop in the percentage of 16- to 39-year olds getting a license," (Source 4). This trend, while seemingly alarming in our technology-dependent universe, offers several advantages, from a better environment to healthier citizens and communities, and encouraging and promoting this pattern may just be as revolutionary for the planet as the introduction of the first car over a century ago.

From France to Colombia, first of all, governments have been encouraging limited car usage as a means to better the environment through the reduction of toxic emissions into our atmosphere - after all, "passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe...and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States," (source 1). As debates have run rampant around the world about global warming and air pollution, several nations have taken initiative and experimented with the effects of this idea. In the district of Vauban, Germany, for instance, "street parking, driveways and home garges are generally forbidden," and as a result of expensive parking spots for those who do choose to operate their vehicles - upwards of $40,000 a pop - "70% of Vauban's families do not own cars," (Source 1). Limited car usage and public transportation is alternatively being promoted in Germany and elsewhere as an attempt to live our day-to-day lives in a way that is healthier for ourselves and the planet. France is one such example - in Paris, for instance, "one of the most polluted cities in the world," "near-record pollution"  led officials to impose a driving ban to help clear the air, and almost 4,000 were ticketed with a $31 fine as a result of not following orders (Source 2). Free public transit was offered, and a result of the actions of the ruling party, "congestion was down 60 percent in the capital of France, after five-days of intensifying smog," (Source 2). Likewise, Bogota, Colombia annually hosts a program known as the Day Without Cars that has attracted interest from neighboring countries and cities and provides an opportunity to "take away stress and lower air pollution," according to businessman Carlos Arturo, who spent the day bicycling with his wife (source 3). Globally, limiting car usage has resulted in exciting changes for not only the environment, but, surprisingly, public health as well.

The obesity crisis and lack of healthy social interactions, secondly, both are looming global issues due the rise of supersized fast food and innovations in social media and the Internet, and this trend of limited car usage serves as an unseen, advantageous remedy by promoting healthier people and communities. Without cars, people must find alternative forms of transportation, and in Bogota, for example, during the Day Without Cars, "millions of Colombians hiked, biked, skated...to work," and since this campaign began in the mid-1990s, it has seen "the construction of 118 miles of bicycle paths" and has resulted in parks, sports centers, and broad sidewalks; considerably less traffic; and the emergence of "new restaurants and upscale shopping districts," (Source 3). A mother of two in Vauban, Germany, Heidrun, Walter, claims that, "When I had a car I was always tense. I'm much happier this way," (Source 1). Alternative forms of transportation also allow for increased social interaction - walking with your neighbor on the way to work, your kids interacting while en route to school, or striking up a conversation with a stranger on a public bus or tram are all examples of making connections with others that do wonders for our mental and social health.