SOCIALLY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY APPROPRIATE URBAN FUTURES FOR THE MOTOR CAR

In its relatively short life, the automobile has provided a level of m obility unlikely to have been feasible with a reliance on conventional forms of land based public transport. It has contributed in both a po sitive and negative way to the quality of life, transforming our citie s, our way of life, and giving us a greater command over time and spac e. Concern over the undesirable social and environmental impacts has i ncreased over time, with calls for governments to take action to reduc e the automobile's dominant role. New investment in fixed-track public transport and bus priority systems together with strategies to discou rage travel have been proposed to improve accessibility and to aid in cleaning up the physical environment. This paper reviews some of the i ssues facing society as it works to identify policies to achieve an ec onomically and environmentally sustainable future. There is a need for a broader set of policies to facilitate alternative land use-transpor t lifestyles while facing appropriate pricing signals. Some of the key issues are adjustments in the relative prices of location and transpo rt, spatial incentives to make public transport economically viable (i .e. changing urban densities, zoning/incentive changes to allow more i nfill), road pricing (i.e. charging cars the economic cost of using th e roads), new information technology systems (e.g. IVHS) to improve th e efficiency and effectiveness of transport infrastructure, major impr ovements in the fuel efficiency of fossil fuelled vehicles, and altern ative-fuelled vehicles (''clean-air vehicles'').