Automobile dependency became a huge issue in the United Stated. People conduct most of their commute on private vehicles. This presented us with problems in economics, social aspects, and environment. Traffic congestion caused by overcapacity amount of cars on roads provides losses in productivity time, decrease mobility, and increase in energy consumption. In terms of social aspect, drive alone and spend more time by themselves in a car, not all people can afford owning a car. Majority of CO2, greenhouse gas, comes from fossil fuel combustion, and major source of it are private vehicles. However, recent phenomenon in the United States, increase in carsharing, provides an opportunity to address these issues. Carsharing provides access to carless households, decrease CO2 emissions, and reduces the amount of cars on the streets. Use of carsharing is has been increasing for the last 15 years in the United States. According to Navigant Research there were 2.3 million members of carsharing programs worldwide in 2013. They predict that this number will grow to 12 million by 2020. Another study by Susan Shaheen2 found that there are about 800,000 people belonged to car-sharing services in the United States, which represents 44 percent increase from 2011 (Stephanie Steinberg and Bill Vlasic, 2013). AS such, our relationship towards possession of physical assets is changing. With the development of Information Technologies (IT), it has become easy to access and share what we own. Internet based services such as Netflix, ITunes, and Hulu allow us to share digital contents such as movies, music, photographs. Not only that, IT allowed us to share and access many other forms of physical assets. And now, we are also changing our relationsh...
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... Bonsall, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, 2002
10. Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car Sharing, Fleura Bardhi and Giana M. Eckhardt, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 39, No. 4 (December 2012), pp. 881-898
11. Liquid Relationship of Possession, Fleura Bardhi, Giana M. Eckhardt, and Eric J. Arnould, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 39, No. 3 (October 2012), pp. 510-529
12. Carsharing’s Impact on Household Vehicle Holdings, Elliot Martin, Susan A. Shaheen, Jeffrey Lidicker, online link: file:///C:/Users/Asus%20user/Downloads/PTDM_Impact_on%20Vehicles.pdf
13. North American Carsharing: 10-Year Retrospective, Susan A. Shaheen, Adam P. Cohen, and Melissa S. Chung, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2110, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2009, pp. 35–44.
"Economic Analysis of the Car Allowance Rebate System." White House. White House, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .
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.
Automobile production was not the only major element of the automobile revolution. In fact, the automobile led to many other things. For the first time, most automobiles were bought on credit. By 1926, two thirds of purchased cars were bought on installment plans. This led the way for credit purchases of other major appliances. Automobiles also e...
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...
Since the early 1990s, the car market has become saturated with sport utility vehicles. While SUV’s have been enthusiastically received by a wide spectrum of the demographic – everyone from teenagers to soccer moms -- not all are excited by its arrival. Some of the current complaints with SUVs have to do with their ridiculous size and relative fuel inefficiency. Others criticize the vehicles as being unsafe, and certainly unnecessary, for the tasks for which they are commonly used. But even with the recent campaigns to educate the public on the possible physical and environmental risks posed by the automobiles, SUV purchases continue to be on the rise. Indeed, with car sales on the decline, and the SUV being seen as a possible savior -- or at least band-aid -- for the struggling motor industry, any movement to ban SUVs in the near future is unlikely.
Purchasing a car is one of the hugest or biggest accomplishments that a person can achieve on their own. However, what happens when that purchase turns out to also be the worst decision that was ever made? The purchase was a success and a goal was achieved, but the moment the key is turned and the engine is started the contribution to environmental harm begins. As the car is driven, the gasoline fumes that are released from the car contribute to the other many factors and pollutants that damage the environment. Not only is the purchase now a contributor to the depletion of clean air, but it could also play a part in the depletion of someone’s health. For example, asthma or bronchitis could develop in an adult or child as a direct result of breathing in noxious automotive fumes. Depending on where one lives, there could be strict regulations on air pollution. One must be accountable for any and all contributions made to the demise of what was once a healthy Earth. One must be accountable for his or her own carbon footprint. Some individuals have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints and cause less harm to the environment by purchasing electric cars.
Today, people use their own personal vehicles to travel more than ever before. Personal transportation is no longer considered a luxury; it is now considered a necessity. The number of cars in the United States has been growing steadily since the 1970s. The number of miles traveled by cars has risen nearly 150 percent, yet the United States population has only grown roughly 40 percent during that time (hybridcars.com, Driving Trends). Although it may seem like we are advancing into the future, in reality, we are moving backwards from the effects these vehicles have on our bodies and the environment. The pollution produced by these vehicles has brought us to the day where we must find other modes of transportation that cause less harm to the world in which we live. Advances in technology have developed hybrid vehicles to try and slow down the amount of pollution. Driving a hybrid vehicle, instead of a conventional gas powered vehicle, can reduce the amount of pollution that affects our lives and the environment around us.
Think for a second here, what do you use almost every day to get to where you need to go? An automobile is probably what you are thinking of because just about everyone has one. Automobiles have become so common; nine out of every ten families in the United States own some type of vehicle. Now Imagine going through everyday life without one it would be nearly impossible! Automobiles have had a very positive impact on the world and on many people’s lives. However they have also taken quite a negative effect on the world and in life. Automobiles make it very easy to get to and from where you are going. Although automobiles have polluted the world and have taken lots of natural resources to keep going they are still a nice luxury many cannot live without. Automobiles are very reliable if they are kept in good condition and would not have to rely on public transportation.
"The Social Effect of Electric Vehicles." Electric Car Forum EV Electric Vehicle Community RSS. 16 July 2013 .
Automobiles and its related manufacturing contribute to the degradation of the environment causing great concerns from consumers, governments, policy makers and environmentalists, regarding the economy and global warming. This resulted in market changes, due to new environmental laws, legislations, standards, product requirements and consumer wants. The gasoline engine produces emissions that are deadly for the environment, hence the big race by the automobile producers to develop an efficient alternative fuel/energy for powering its vehicles. Deloite (2014) ‘In 2012, new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were released in the U.S. that requires automakers to raise the average fuel efficiency of new cars and trucks to 54.5 MPG by 2025.’ (“Global Automotive Consumer Study”, 2014, p.4) The industry is engaged in research and development to develop more efficient internal combustion engines, electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrids, and vehicles powered by natural gas. The government offers incentives in the form of rebates for the purchase and sale of energy efficient
On the contrary, using private car is the same convenience of travelling as public transport. When people are in a hurry, they can suddenly go ev...
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
Many people sharing one polluting vehicle is better than each driving their own. For many people this is becoming an important issue.
The fast population growth rate of humans means that the necessity for transportation vehicles is also enormously increasing. Studies have shown that in 1999 the worldwide number of vehicles registered was 700 million. From this huge number of vehicles, the US has a large share, which includes 200 million cars and light trucks. The number of cars worldwide also grew three times faster
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.