Whenever I have dinner at a restaurant, I feel happy to see a large hanging sign in front of the restaurant saying “free parking in rear”. It means I can save a couple dollars for parking and enjoy the dinner. I believe most of people have the same experience of finding a free parking space. However, parking is never free, even it labeled with free parking. We have already paid something but we just do not realize it.
In 2013, Paul Kennedy argued in his presentation program CBC radio Ideas that “parking causes huge economic, environmental, and even social problems” (“Paying for Parking”). In 2009, a research shown there were 607 motor vehicles owned per 1000 people (“The World Bank”). Vehicle is one of the major transportation tools that widely used in Canada. We can see parking lots everywhere including schools, shopping malls, hospitals and airports in North American. Huge amount vehicles require more and more lands are designed for parking in cities. It shapes our cities, house costs, causes the air pollutions and wastes our time (“Paying for Parking”). The current urban planning and parking regulations are the necessary and remote factors that eventually causes economic and environmental problems.We should change the parking policy to prevent the environmental problem happens.
If we look at the big picture of parking technology, the concept of “cultural determinism” can be applied (Slack & Wise 45). The first world parking metre was invented in Oklahoma City because of the oil field workers took the parking spaces in front of the stores where shoppers usually parked. Such an invention caused a great effect that customers could easily find a parking spot. More and more parking metres were required to install in front of...
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“Paying for Parking.” Narr. Paul Kennedy. Ideas with Paul Kennedy. CBC. Vancouver BC,
28 Jan, 2013. Radio.
Quan-Haase, Annabel, Technology and Society: Social Networks, Power, and Inequality.
Don Mill, Oxford UP, 2012. (SCOT theories, Panopticon as a means of surveillance )
Slack, Jennifer Daryl, and J. Macgregor Wise. Culture and Technology: A Primer. New
York: Peter Lang, 2005. Print. (identity matters, technologies are unequally delegated, prescription)
“The World Bank” Motor vehicles (per 1,000 people). The World Bank
Web. 19 Mar 2014. .
Winner, Langdon. “Artifacts/Ideas and Political Culture.” Society, Ethics and
Technology. 3rd ed. Ed. Morton E. Winston and Ralph D. Edelbach. Belmont:
Thomson, 2006. 91-97. Print. (artifacts are hidden.)
In the July 1997 issue of Commentary, James Q. Wilson challenges the consensus among academia’s finest regarding the automobile in his bold article, Cars and Their Enemies. Directed towards the general public, his article discredits many of the supposed negatives of the automobile raised by experts, proves that the personal car is thriving and will continue to thrive because it meets individual preference over other means of transportation, as well as presents solutions to the social costs of cars. Wilson emphasizes that no matter what is said and done in eliminating the social costs of the automobile, experts are not going to stop campaigning against it.
The infrastructure in West Main Street is not dissimilar to City Road in regards to the street bollards which have been introduced to stop vehicles parking on the pavements. Pedestrian islands are another similarly regular sight throughout the street. (‘The Street’, 2009, Scene 1) Both these material things are there to ensure the safety and ease of pedestrians while drivers may find these a nuisance as they are restricted to the small amount of parking bays along the street instead of parking on the pavement for convenience, consequently resulting in an inequality amid the public. There is a steady flow of traffic through the street of which most are cars but there are a lot of busses as well. The busses seem to be in favour of...
commuters waste 38 hours per year stuck in traffic. In Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, the situation is even more serious with drivers squandering 67 and 61 hours, respectively, staring at the license plate of the stationary vehicle in front of them” (Keeping, n.d.). Henceforth, it is my speculation that a negative response to the issue of car congestion will generate some serious consequences for the foreseeable future. It is my prediction that a refusal to resolve this dilemma, will spawn complete chaos and anarchy upon the globes highways and byways. Therefore, it is vital that some type of action is taken beforehand in order to alleviate this issue before it gets out of hand. By and large, this final phase of this paper drives this assignment to its conclusion. Ergo, the ensuing portion of this case assignment will elaborate on highlights of this
The parking control office is currently operating with thirteen full time employees and approximately ten part-time student assistants. Of these twenty-three people, only two are able to work the counter where tickets are paid and appeals are made. With the increasing number of students and visitors on campus, more traffic is coming through the parking control office. There is often a long wait in line, which eventually leads to hostile attitudes from the customers. These problems only slow the process down even futher. This increasingly slow process is beginning to cause time related problems on part of the students, visitors and the staff of the parking control office.
Atlanta is one of the most visited cities in America. The most common place people like to visit when coming to Atlanta is Downtown. Downtown Atlanta is a huge place located at the center of the city. Downtown has everything to offer from shopping centers to historic buildings. These are the many things that Downtown Atlanta has to offer. Downtown being the most busies place in Atlanta creates a lack of parking that has become a big issue for the visitors and residents. Downtown Atlanta does offer free parking but those are limited to the public. There is also a parking meter which only allows visitors to park for a maximum of two hours. With that being said, many people thing that parking in Downtown Atlanta should be free to the public. This is one of the biggest problems with Downtown Atlanta. To offer free parking will be a costly investment for the city of Atlanta. Parking in downtown Atlanta should not be free because it can be a costly investment for the city.
Automobiles play a major role in today's society. Almost every American owns at least one motorized transportation vehicle. Some say they make our lives better by reaching places faster than before. Others say they are a harmful to the environment. Have they made our society better or worse? They may be fast, but do we as humans want our environment to suffer because of time. Face it, cars pollute. And they release destructive chemicals into the air. Air pollution can threaten the health of many subjects in the environment including human beings.
Automobiles play an essential role in American society. As if being the major means of transportation was not impressive enough, automotives can be seen on T.V., in movies, in magazines, and can sometimes be indicative of a person’s wealth and social status. On average, Americans drive nearly 40 miles and drive for just over 50 minutes driving per person per day (http://www.bts.gov). That means a person spends roughly one-sixteenth of a day driving. It would make sense, then, to make such an essential part of society as efficient, cost effective, and clean as possible. However, that is not the case. As the years have passed cars have actually begun to move away from efficiency. Hawken writes, “[The automobile] design process has made cars ever heavier, more complex, and usually costlier. These are all unmistakable signs that automaking has beco...
Melosi, Martin V. “The Automobile Shapes the City.” Automobiles in American Life and Society. 2004-2010. Web. 26 November 2013.
The free rider is a menace in our society and we do not need to let him take our money and put it to his use. We have found ways such as government intervention and price lids to help control the problem but we have yet to find a solution. Once a solution is found we will have fewer worries and possibly a true free market. These are very difficult problems to stop and may never be stopped. It will take a long period of time to begin the process to bring it to an end, but it will be nice to maybe some day have a true free market without the problem of a free rider.
Finding an empty parking space is a common problem in most urban areas which especially occurs in popular areas and tourist attraction spots. This situation has become more serious especially during their peak time, be it holiday seasons ,carnivals or any other festivals. The limited availability of vacant parking spaces often result in traffic congestion. Limitation of a driver’s capability of finding a vacant parking spaces and absence of efficient management are also at fault causing this problem.
Traffic jam is one of the most serious problems of urbanization, almost all the modern cities are facing different levels of traffic jam problems. In general, people can ease the traffic jam and not compromise the quality of life by a policy of sustainable development in two aspects including formulating a more efficient transport pattern and changing the urban construction.
Economies thrive on the ability of mobility. Mobility allows people to go to work, attend school and travel far and wide by using some form of transportation. It allows people and ideas to mix more freely. Over time, mobility has taken many forms, from the backs of animals, to carriages and now the automobile. Since the invention of the automobile, we have been able to decrease transportation costs, travel vast distances and decrease travel times. We are able to facilitate relationships, foster trade between places and find better jobs. However, due to the inaccurate pricing of the roads, driving cars has turned from an innovation to pure frustration. The problem is traffic congestion; the increased usage of cars has created slower speeds and longer travel times due to greater demand for the road than the road has to offer. Roughly 3.4 million Americans endure extreme commutes, in which the trip to work and back eats up at least three hours of each day (Balaker, Staley 2006). Congestion slows life down by causing massive delays, eating away at valuable time and productivity. This has become a major issue because people are stuck in traffic when they do not need to be and conditions will only continue to get worse without government intervention. Many solutions have been offered and discussed but few have been implemented. This paper will serve to outline the economic theory behind traffic congestion, alternative policy options there are for dealing with traffic congestion and ultimately what the best strategy is to solve this problem. The solution I propose is to price the highways accurately to achieve the optimum number of vehicles on the road.
Newman, P. (1999). Transport: reducing automobile dependence. In D. Satterthwaite (Ed.), The Earthscan reader in sustainable cities (pp. 67-92). London: Earthscan Publications.
Both of the two auto vehicles are brought into the human industry as the use of benefit students’ lives become more convenient traveler. In commons, the two automobile created opportunities jobs in the economic companies’ nation. Plus, several students did not noticed that both cars and public transportation have one major similar concept where two of the transit vehicle produce environmental pollution, traffic congestion, and oil consumption problems. Encounter, the public transportation and cars can cause a huge impact to the environmental which it can lead human health problems. Mostly, both of the automobile still release noxious gases into the air, and over time the built up can change the environment global warming to like an unhealthy
In this modern era, the level of pollution worldwide has been increasing consistently which in turn has brought harm to humans via many different ways. Consequently, the government must find a solution to solve this problem as speedily as possible. However, banning the ownership of private vehicles is not the only and definitely not the best way to decrease pollution. Although carbon emissions from vehicles do contribute towards a significant amount of pollution, banning the ownership of private vehicles in modern day society is unnecessary because pollution can also be caused by many other factors such as bad lifestyle choices on humanity’s part, lack of stricter or enforcement of environmental laws by governments as well as the fact that vehicles are an essential part of modern city life.