Reducing Car Use? Just Do It!

Abstract

The dependence on the car in everyday travel has increased enormously in the lastdecades. This has serious and growing consequences for the environment and healthand for many communities affected by road traffic. At the same time, these consequences are very expensive for business, environment and society. Ways have to be found to overcome this car dependency so that people use other modes of transport.The steep increase in the use of motorised private transport has resulted in greater transport distances for the inhabitants of European cities but not in any substantial mobility gain. The time spent on transport has to a large extent remained steady, atabout one hour per person per day (“active mobility”). But at the same time the consequences connected with this increase (“passive mobility”) have become much greater.