How will the EU eliminate cars from cities?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The European Union announced today that it’s aiming to phase out petrol and diesel cars from its city centers by 2050. It’s an ambitious goal, but how will they pull it off? It would be, after all, a logistical nightmare to filter through cars that are petrol and diesel-based versus electric or hybrid. So clearly the EU is banking on alternative-energy cars to be the cars of the future.

But while electric vehicles will clean up the air in cities, they won’t ease the fact that in dense cities, where space is at a premium, individual cars aren’t the most efficient transportation option. Here’s how cities in the EU can eliminate all cars, not just petrol and diesel-based cars.

Road pricing. It’s a fascinating concept. Road space in cities is precious, especially as other modes of transportation are competing for that space, so why should individual cars get to drive through city centers for free? Cities that have already implemented the system have set up cameras along the boundaries of city centers and charge cars that enter during peak hours.

In London, the system has already reduced traffic by 20 percent. And many who used to drive now use a different form of transportation. It’s an option that fits well with the EU’s goals, because they’re not necessarily trying to get rid of cars completely.

“The use of smaller, lighter and more specialised road passenger vehicles must be encouraged,” the report said. “Large fleets of urban buses, taxis and delivery vans are particularly suitable for the introduction of alternative propulsion systems and fuels. These could make a substantial contribution in reducing the carbon intensity of urban transport. … Road pricing and the removal of distortions in taxation can also assist in encouraging the use of public transport and the gradual introduction of alternative propulsion.”

The other option for reducing or eliminating cars is urban planning and design for non-car transportation. This option doesn’t come with the revenue stream that cities get with road pricing, but the results can be just as effective. The idea is that instead of building cities with traditional, car-friendly grids, cities reduce arterial streets and create more intersecting streets with irregular and discontinuous designs. It’s this type of design that drives cars away from the city center without the need to regulate, and police streets to keep out cars. See how it works in Strasbourg, France where less than half of their residents drive.

An obvious, but not to be overlooked, way to transition away from cars in cities is by creating efficient public transportation networks that people want to use because they’re more convenient than cars.

And while European cities are already implementing these strategies to reduce the number of cars in cities, the European Commission’s report isn’t clear exactly how they’ll enforce and encourage measures that lead to car-free cities.

They’re giving themselves plenty of time to figure it out though. Maybe by 2050, there will be an app for that.

http://www.smartplanet.com/people/blog/cities/how-will-the-eu-eliminate-cars-from-cities/347/

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Liberalism: Trying to Enslave Society Since The Fall of Hitler.

[lostinblue 1,989]

"The idea is that instead of building cities with traditional, car-friendly grids, cities reduce arterial streets and create more intersecting streets with irregular and discontinuous designs. It’s this type of design that drives cars away from the city center without the need to regulate, and police streets to keep out cars. See how it works in Strasbourg, France where less than half of their residents drive."

liberals must of thought this one up. Throw a lot of unneeded dollars to solve a problem. The chinese are more practical.....

Shanghai: License Plates Cost More Than A Car

Want to move to Shanghai to cash in on the Chinese car boom? Want to drive a car in Shanghai? Better bring a lot of money.

Prices for a license plate in Shanghai rose to at two year high in the year’s first plate auction, Shanghai Daily reports. The average price of a private car license rose to US$5,617. A new QQ goes for as little as $4,100.

To curb traffic in the notoriously clogged city, Shanghai auctions off around 8,000 plates a month. At yesterday’s auction were 18,975 bidders.

Demand is high because car sales usually spike up during the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 14 this year. There are also rumors that the city may limit car registrations further in preparation for the World Expo 2010, starting in May in Shanghai.

And let’s not forget the most obvious explanation: Demand for cars remains hot in China, with sales projected to be around 15m this year.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/shanghai-license-plates-cost-more-than-a-car/

[JohnSmith2007 353]

It looks like there are some in the UK that does not agree.

EU to ban cars from cities by 2050

Cars will be banned from London and all other cities across Europe under a draconian EU masterplan to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per cent over the next 40 years.

By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels 4:16PM BST 28 Mar 2011

660 Comments

The European Commission on Monday unveiled a "single European transport area" aimed at enforcing "a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers" by 2050.

The plan also envisages an end to cheap holiday flights from Britain to southern Europe with a target that over 50 per cent of all journeys above 186 miles should be by rail.

Top of the EU's list to cut climate change emissions is a target of "zero" for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and lorries in the EU's future cities.

Siim Kallas, the EU transport commission, insisted that Brussels directives and new taxation of fuel would be used to force people out of their cars and onto "alternative" means of transport.

"That means no more conventionally fuelled cars in our city centres," he said. "Action will follow, legislation, real action to change behaviour."

The Association of British Drivers rejected the proposal to ban cars as economically disastrous and as a "crazy" restriction on mobility.

"I suggest that he goes and finds himself a space in the local mental asylum," said Hugh Bladon, a spokesman for the BDA.

"If he wants to bring everywhere to a grinding halt and to plunge us into a new dark age, he is on the right track. We have to keep things moving. The man is off his rocker."

Mr Kallas has denied that the EU plan to cut car use by half over the next 20 years, before a total ban in 2050, will limit personal mobility or reduce Europe's economic competitiveness.

"Curbing mobility is not an option, neither is business as usual. We can break the transport system's dependence on oil without sacrificing its efficiency and compromising mobility. It can be win-win," he claimed.

Christopher Monckton, Ukip's transport spokesman said: "The EU must be living in an alternate reality, where they can spend trillions and ban people from their cars.

"This sort of greenwashing grandstanding adds nothing and merely highlights their grandiose ambitions."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8411336/EU-to-ban-cars-from-cities-by-2050.html

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Liberalism: Trying to Enslave Society Since The Fall of Hitler.

Unfortunately, long prior to that P&V--even before Hitler's birth in fact.

[mawilson 2,133]

The EU sucks.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I'd prefer cities designed away from from autos, then have it regulated through law.