Cars are quite helpful to an extent.  According to Source 1, "In German Suburb, Life Goes On Witout Cars," the usuage of cars is beginning to derease. "Passenger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe" says Elisabeth Rosenthal. Most of the bills that are being paid show that 80 percent of the Government's money is going towards the production of highways, while only 20 percent is going to other transport.

Although not having cars around may eventually lead to an increase of time that it takes to get to different destinations, it also has many advantages. The smog around Paris has been said to be created by the amount of cars around the area. Paris put a partial ban on driving in order to reduce the amount of smog.  On specific days, even-numbered license plates would not be allowed to travel, the owners of these vehicles were ordered to leave their cars at home athat day. If this order was not followed, the owners would be forced to pay a $31 fine. Drivers with odd-numbered license plates had to follow this same procedure the next day. The people of Paris had to alternate the days they could drive their cars.  As said in Source 2, "Almost 4,000 drivers were fined."

Not allowing many cars on the roads causes there to be a significant decrease in the amount of traffic.  In Paris, after they placed a partial ban on driving, "Congestion was down 60 percent . . ." Bogota then participated in what they call a "Car-free Day." This led to no traffic jams, and only buses and taxis on the roads. The people in Bogota walked, skated, took a bike or a bus to work that day. Once again, violators had to pay a $25 fine. Andrew Selsky states that, "The goal is to promote alternative transportation and reduce smog." This day became a big hit in Bogota, so Cali and Valedupar, two other Columbian cities,  joined them in this successful event.

The United States is viewed as "[O]ne of the world's prime car cultures." The US had the most amount of cars traveling on the roads per day. Slowly, the amount of cars are decreasing due to a rise in tunnel tolls. Also, According to Elisabeth Rosenthal, due to "demographic shifts in the driving population . . . there has been a large drop in the percentage of 16-to 39- year-olds getting a license. . . ."  Between the years of 2001 and 2009, "23 percent of young people driving decreased."