Even though the global transition to electric vehicles is moving forward at a seeming snail's pace, recent consumer trends have shown that driving is more wasteful and unequal than ever before.
A recent study by the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that the emissions saved from the use of electric cars have been more than cancelled out by the increase in Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) that are heavy on fuel, causing high emissions.
The study said that globally, SUVs alone emit more carbon pollution than Canada or Germany, and are causing a bigger increase in climate pollution than heavy industry.
While cars are sometimes necessary for people’s mobility and social inclusion needs, especially those living with mobility disabilities, car-centric cities particularly disadvantage the already marginalised.
The study found that in the UK, women, young and older people, those from minority communities and disabled people are concentrated in the lowest-income households, of which 40% do not have a car. In contrast, nearly 90% of the highest-income households own at least one car.
In essence, this means that the driving habits of a minority impose high costs on society, and this is especially true in cities. Researchers said that Copenhagen, for example, has calculated that whereas each kilometre cycled benefits society to the tune of €0.64 (R11), each kilometre driven incurs a net loss of -€0.71 (R12), when impacts on individual wellbeing (physical and mental health, accidents, traffic) and the environment (climate, air and noise pollution) are accounted for.
Each kilometre, where a car is replaced by a bicycle generates €1.35 (R23) of social benefits, of which only a few cents would be saved by switching from a fossil-fuelled to an electric-powered car, according to this analysis.
Half a century ago, Copenhagen was dominated by cars. But following grassroots campaigns to change policies and streets, including replacing car parking with safe, separated bike lanes, the city has increased its biking share of all trips from 10% in 1970 to 35% today.
In 2016, for the first time, more bikes than cars made journeys around the city over the course of that year.
In total, the study analysed nearly 800 peer-reviewed reports and case studies from throughout Europe, published within the last 12 years, seeking those that quantified where and how cities had successfully reduced car use.
The most effective measures in reducing vehicle usage within urban areas, according to our review, are introducing a congestion charge, which reduces urban car levels by anywhere from 12% to 33% and creating car-free streets and separated bike lanes, which have been found to lower car use in city centres by up to 20%.
So here are the 12 most efficient ways to reduce vehicle use in a city, according to Kimberly Nicholas, associate professor of sustainability science at Lund University:
1. Congestion charges
The most effective measure identified by the study entails drivers paying to enter a city centre, with the revenues generated going towards alternative means of sustainable transport. The city of London, as an early pioneer of this strategy, reduced city centre traffic by a massive 33% since the charge’s introduction by the city’s mayor, Ken Livingstone, in February 2003.
The fixed-charge fee (with exemptions for certain groups and vehicles) has been raised over time, from an initial £5 (R100) per day up to £15 (R300) since June 2020. Importantly, 80% of the revenues raised are used for public transport investments.
2. Parking and traffic controls
Several European cities have installed regulations to remove parking spaces and alter traffic routes, and in many cases, replace the space formerly dedicated to cars with car-free streets, bike lanes and walkways which has proved highly successful.
The city of Oslo in Norway replaced parking spaces with walkable, car-free streets and bike lanes which reduced car usage in the centre of the capital by up to 19%.
3. Limited traffic zones
Rome, traditionally one of Europe’s most congested cities, has shifted the balance towards greater use of public transport by restricting car entry to its centre at certain times of day to residents only, plus those who pay an annual fee.
This policy has reduced car traffic in the Italian capital by 20% during the restricted hours, and 10% even during unrestricted hours when all cars can visit the centre. The violation fines are used to finance Rome’s public transport system.
4. Mobility services for commuters
The most effective measure identified by the review study is a campaign to provide mobility services for commuters in the Dutch city of Utrecht. Local government and private companies collaborated to provide free public transport passes to employees, combined with a private shuttle bus to connect transit stops with workplaces. This programme, promoted through a marketing and communication plan, was found to have achieved a 37% reduction in the share of commuters travelling into the city centre by car.
5. Workplace parking charges
Another effective means of reducing the number of car commuters is to introduce workplace parking charges. For example, a large medical centre in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam achieved a 20-25% reduction in employee car commutes through a scheme that charged employees to park outside their offices, while also offering them the chance to “cash-out” their parking spaces and use public transport instead.
6. Workplace travel planning
Programmes providing company-wide travel strategies and advice to encourage employees to end their car commutes have been widely used in cities across Europe. A major study, published in 2010, assessing 20 cities across the UK found an average of 18% of commuters switched from car to another mode after a full range of measures were combined – including company shuttle buses, discounts for public transport and improved bike infrastructure – as well as reduced parking provision.
7. University travel planning
Similarly, university travel programmes often combine the carrot of promotion of public transport and active travel with the stick of parking management on campus. The most successful example highlighted in the review was achieved by the University of Bristol, which reduced car use among its staff by 27% while providing them with improved bike infrastructure and public transport discounts.
8. Mobility services for universities
The Sicilian city of Catania used an incentive-based approach for its students. By offering them a free public transport pass and providing shuttle connections to campus, the city was found to have achieved a 24% decrease in the share of students commuting by car.
9. Car sharing
According to the study, car-sharing proved to be a somewhat divisive measure for reducing car use in cities. Such schemes, where members can easily rent a nearby vehicle for a few hours, have shown promising results in Bremen, Germany and Genoa, Italy, with each shared car replacing between 12 and 15 private vehicles, on average. Their approach included increasing the number of shared cars and stations, and integrating them with residential areas, public transport and bike infrastructure.
Both schemes also provided car-sharing for employees and ran awareness-raising campaigns.
But other studies point to a risk that car-sharing may, in fact, induce previously car-free residents to increase their car use. We, therefore, recommend more research into how to design car-sharing programmes that truly reduce overall car use.
10. School travel planning
Two English cities, Brighton & Hove and Norwich have used the incentive measure of school travel planning which provides trip advice, planning and even events for students and parents to encourage them to walk, bike or carpool to school, along with providing improved bike infrastructure in their cities. Norwich found that it was able to reduce the share of car use for school trips by 10.9%, using this approach.
11. Personalised travel plans
Many cities have experimented with personal travel analysis and plans for individual residents, including Marseille in France, Munich in Germany, Maastricht in the Netherlands and San Sebastián in Spain.
These programmes, which provide advice and planning for city residents to walk, bike or use discounted public transport, were found to have achieved modest-sounding reductions of 6-12%. However, since they encompass all residents of a city, as opposed to smaller populations of, say, commuters to school or the workplace, these approaches can still play a valuable role in reducing overall car use.
12. Apps for sustainable mobility
Cellphone technology has a growing role in strategies to reduce car use. The Italian city of Bologna, for example, developed an app for people and teams of employees from participating companies to track their mobility. Participants competed to gain points for walking, biking and using public transport, with local businesses offering these app users rewards for achieving points goals.
There is great interest in such gamification of sustainable mobility – and at first glance, the data from the Bologna app looks striking. An impressive 73% of users reported using their car “less”.
But unlike other studies which measure the number or distance of car trips, it is not possible to calculate the reduction of distance travelled or emissions from this data, so the overall effectiveness is unclear. For example, skipping one short car trip and skipping a year of long driving commutes both counts as driving “less”.
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