A New Era

Times are changing, and changing fast. While the car may once have been the ideal accessory to a rapidly changing world, people have now found that the opposite is now true. Limiting car usage is cheaper, better for the enviorment, and is quickly becoming the "cool" thing to do. America's facination with the 1950's fords are over, and a new era is upon us.

Cutting down on car usage is much cheaper. Between the expensive vehicle itself and enormous gas bill, It's more fiscally responsible to carpool, use public transportation, or even walk. Places like Vauban in Germany are just the start of a quickly growing social trend to make cars more expensive. As stated in Source 1, "There are only two places to park-Large garages at the edge of the development, where a car-owner buys a space, for $40,000, along with a home". Places like Paris have even been known to enact partial driving bans at times, with 22-euro fines enacted for those who failed to follow the ban. Driving, an already expensive task, is increasingly becoming a task only the rich can afford.

Removing some of our outrageous motor vehicle usage is also good for the enviorment.  As mentioned in Source 2, Smog that was already prevalent in places like Beijing, China has found it's way into modern European cities like Paris, with more to follow if we do't cut back, and soon. Paris has known to have over 147 Micrograms of pariculate matter per cubic meter, with other cities like Brussels and London having 114 and 79.7 respectively. If that didn't seem bad enough, it's worse in other areas. In some areas of the United States, passenger cars are responsible for up to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Having a lower dependence on cars isn't just good for the enviorment, it's now become "cool". The amount of driving done by young people has decresased by 23 percent between 2001 and 2009, and even big companies are starting to notice. As stated in Source 3, Bill Ford, the executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, acknowleged the growing change, and even offered suggestions to help. He proposed a better system to save time and resources while improving gas emissions and public safety. Meanwhile in Bogota Colombia, Millions of citizens in participated"Day Without Cars," A yearly program set up in the city.

While 10 years ago might have painted a different picture, the writing on the wall is clear. There's a global trend for decreasing dependency on cars, and it's not looking to stop anytime soon. A once needed tool is quickly becoming less and less relevent, due to cheaper costs, less strain on the enviorment, and the always prevalent "cool factor." It's not the golden age of cars anymore, and about time changes were made to match modern day thinking.