Automobiles In Australia - Assignment Example

 Summary Being one of the strongest economies in the world, Australia is characterized by millions of cars. Almost seven of every 10 Australian families have a car that is used to run errands. It is almost unimaginable to think of life without an automobile in our lives. The Australian economy, people and the entire system depends on automobiles a lot. Workers have to move to their various places of work and back to their homes. Because of their convenience, many people have the desire to own their own cars that they can use at their own convenience to go to any place they want and to run any errand that they want at any given time. This leads to a heavy dependence on automobiles by our current generation. What most people tend to forget is the cost that owning these automobiles have on the planet as a whole. This is a critical paper that examines the various way that can be used to effectively remove the over reliance of these private owned motor vehicles on the Australian people. Introduction Over reliance on private motor vehicles has a lot of impact on the environment as a whole as well as other economic factors. The carbon dioxide that is realized by this huge number of cars is so high compared to the amount that would be used had these people relied on available public means. For example, if a group of twenty people with their own cars goes to work every day then they tend to use more fuel and at the same time omit a lot of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere compared to twenty workers who board one bus and use it to go to work. It is for this that proper planning is needed to help people reduce their reliance on private means of transport. If this number can be reduced by 60%, then there will be a 60% reduction on the amount of pollution caused by motor vehicle. Reducing over reliance on private motor vehicles does not just happen once rather it requires a lot of planning to enable the people to see the sense of using other modes of transport that is less destructive to earth’s resources. It is however important to note that the shift is not a short-term process since it requires a lot to shift1. It therefore calls for proper planning and patience for the country to realize the shift and be able to appreciate the importance of not relying on private motor vehicles for transport. Below are some of the planning steps that can be effectively used by the government to ensure that the whole process is a success. 1. Investment in bike facility Apart from being a recreational activity, bike riding can also provide a good means of transport. Bike riding is not only beneficial to the environment since it does not need or emit any fuel; it also provides exercise to the person riding the bicycle. If the government wants to see an increase of many people shifting to bicycle riding, then a number of issues have to be solved. First, there needs to be a bike track. This will mean that every major road has a bike track in which someone can effectively ride their bike to and from work without having trouble with big cars in the major roads. It will also mean that the traffic on most roads will be reduced since bikes do not require a lot of space and are known to cause less destructive accident. Focusing on mobility should also be reduced and instead people should be educated on how to focus on accessibility. To encourage bike riding, the people need good education on why it is important and healthy to use bikes. With this not only will the people be able to reduce traffic and pollution, they will also be able to live a healthy life2. 2. Reducing the number of car parking spaces Almost every part of the Australian cities is characterized by large parking spaces that depend on private motor vehicles. It will be hypocritical to think of minimizing the number of private motor vehicles while constructing larger parking spaces for the same cars. If a plan could be made to ensure that instead of directly stopping the importation of private cars, the government could reduce the number of parking spaces. This will mean that the available parking spaces will be expensive and hard to find. Because of this, many people would prefer to leave their cars home and use public means of transport or use other means of transport such as bikes. As a result, the number of private motor vehicles will be reduced to the minimum. This process is however challenging since the destruction of current parking spaces will be expensive not only to the direct amount of money lost during the destruction but also to the number of jobs that will have to go with these parking spots3. 3. Educating people on the importance of cost sharing Education is one of the best ways to ensure a positive shift from private motor vehicles to using other forms of transport. Despite many Australians having good education, most of them do not realize the importance of reducing the number of private owned vehicles and using other means of transport. This is because most people feel that having their own cars is much more prestigious as compared to using either Public means or any other means of transportation4. To help these kind of people, proper education is needed in forms of interviews that are aired on national televisions as well as having several advertisements that discourage the use of private means of transport but instead encourage people to use public means of transport that will lead to much saving. With proper education of people on this, it is possible to reduce the over reliance on private motor vehicles and instead concentrate people on using other means of transport. 4. Increasing the amount of tax on private motor vehicles There is no better way than this method. In this plan, the tax levied on each private car has to be increased. With this kind of price increase, it will mean that the motor vehicles will sell at a very high price compared to the current prices. Due to the economic difficulties faced by most Australian middle class, it means that most of them will opt to buy expensive cars as opposed to using either public transport or using other means of transport5. This is however not done to increase government revenue rather it is done to ensure that people are discouraged from buying private cars. On the other side, taxes on other means of transportation such as bikes and public transport vehicles have to be reduced. This will in turn encourage people to use public means of transport or buy other cheap means of transport such as bikes. 5. Setting the minimum amount of private motor vehicles per location Reducing the total number of cars per location is also a considered plan. However, it is very important to have in mind that this is a very long-term process that has to be passed by the legislation. First of all, there has to be a procedure for finding the minimum number of cars allowed per location and this will depend on the population and the area of a given city or location. After coming up with the maximum number of cars per area, it is then implemented. The implementation process will mean that the manufactures reduce the amount of automobiles that they produce within a given time. After this, they have to ensure that a person is allowed a given number of cars to purchase. This will reduce instances where people buy as many as three cars that they do not use6. Conclusion The above given plans are just but some of the suggestions that can be used to reduce the over reliance of private motor vehicles by the Australian population. Being one of the most developed countries in the world, it is characterized by millions of private motor vehicles that may be replaced with fewer public means of transportation. If these steps are implemented then not only will the people reduce the number of negative cases brought by this large number of vehicles but they will also be able to live a positive healthy life. It is however important to note that these steps are long term and one has to be patient for them to be fully implemented otherwise they can lead to a worse economic impact. Bibliography Catalyst, inc. 1973. Urban planning. New York: Catalyst. Cavin, Andrew I. 2003. Urban planning. New York: H.W. Wilson. Levent, Tüzin Baycan. 2008. Urban planning. Cheltenham, Glos, UK: Edward Elgar Pub. Catanese, Anthony James, and James C. Snyder. 2008. Urban planning. New York: McGraw- Hill. Walker, Robert Averill. 2009. Urban planning. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press. Howland, Marie, Dennis Cokely, and Diana Tighe. 2007. Urban planning. [Burtonsville, MD]: Sign Media. Read More