Strategies for Reducing Automobile Dependency

Over the last 150 years cities have shifted from centralised centres to transport driven, sprawling urban forms. Land is transformed by the built environment and vast amounts of energy used to drive global systems are inefficiently consumed. Cities began to expand beyond its perimeters in an axial pattern that tied growth in the railways and along arterial roads. Present day development has produced the ‘Automobile City’, with its low density, separate use; decentralised, arterial grid pattern of urban design, the landscape re-modelled to accommodate the car.

Policy makers are developing ways to overcome automobile dependency through urban planning and design. Traditional transport planning had a tendency to create policies that encouraged car ownership and use based on several mutually supporting factors which created and resulted in a self reinforcing cycle. It is hoped that introducing new urban forms and policies that are sustainable will lessen the environmental impacts and externalities associated with urban development and urban living. To decrease car dependency there are several strategies used with the aim to break the automobile dependency cycle.



Automobile Dependency results from a self reinforcing cycle Source

Essential elements including public transport, walking, cycling and regulation of car use (including the space for cars in the city) are part of integrated land use transport policies. Several instruments are used to increase the density of housing and other activities near urban rail, subway and tram stations and thus consolidating inner city connections. This is known as Public Transport or Transit Oriented Development (TOD) which can be found in both the inner city and metropolitan area to catch commuter flows.

Railway station renovations and revitalising the areas surrounding them are measures which coincides with high density and mixed-use development with the goal to create a pedestrian and cycling friendly approach to site development. The more accessible travel modes are and are connected to different locations and facilities, the more alternative transport modes are encouraged particularly for short distances that can be made without the car. Streets need to present an inviting barrier-free environment that considers the comfort, convenience, safety and visual interest of pedestrians and cyclists.

Other measures aim to restrict automobile movement as a form of deterrent so that alternative travel modes are opted. This includes limited park spaces and closing off the inner city so that only pedestrians and cyclists can pass through it leaving roads to the periphery of inner city boundaries. This measure is common in many European cities. Traffic management techniques used in road calming such as speed humps, reduced speed limits and narrowing of streets can provide safety and comfort for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.

For cities the transition to sustainability is fundamentally challenged by how decision and policy makers interpret problems and translate approaches into policy. Overall, site development that uses various measures in support of each other can be used to promote alternative transport modes in order to reduce our reliance on the car. Whatever means is popular for individual cities should then take priority in political agendas. Values of vibrancy, innovation, responsiveness and safety, with relevance placed on community focus, sustainability, best practice and leadership are taking precedence in future city and urban developments.