The Carolinas

Minimizing Traffic: Tips for Reducing Cars on Charlotte and Raleigh Roads

Question: what do the following statistics have in common?

The second-largest (and growing) source of climate pollution in The Carolinas... A principal cause of stress-inducing noise pollution and life-shortening air pollution in South Carolina and North Carolina cities... A leading driver of the widening gap between rich and poor urban residents in The Carolina regions.

Answer: the vehicles on our streets, primarily the not-so-humble passenger car.

Fact: most cars in the cities of South Carolina and North Carolina spend 96% of their time parked.

Despite the (slow) migration to electric-powered cars, consumer trends are making driving even more wasteful and unequal. A recent analysis found the emissions saved from electric cars have been more than cancelled out by the increase in gas-guzzling Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs). Around The Carolinas, SUVs are causing a bigger increase in climate pollution than heavy industry.

While cars are sometimes necessary for people’s mobility and social inclusion needs – not least those with disabilities – car-centric cities particularly disadvantage the already-marginalized. While many other car-limiting initiatives have been attempted around The Carolinas, city officials, planners and citizens still do not have a clear, evidence-based way to reduce car use in cities.

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Cars are inherently inefficient and inequitable in their use of land and resources. On average, they spend 96% of their time parked, taking up valuable urban space that could be put to more beneficial uses such as housing and public parks. In Charlotte NC, car users on average take up 3.5 times more public space than non-car users, primarily through on-street parking.

Electric vehicles are necessary, but they’re not a total solution. Since cars tend to be on the road for a long time, the migration to electric vehicles is very slow. Some studies anticipate relatively small emissions reductions over the coming decade as a result of electric vehicle uptake. And even if there’s nothing damaging released from an electric car’s exhaust pipe, the wear of car brakes and tires still creates toxic dust and microplastic pollution. However a car is powered, can it ever be an efficient use of resources and space to spend up to 95% of that energy moving the weight of the vehicle itself, rather than its passengers and goods?

Thoughtful travel policies to reduce unnecessary travel, and opportunities for faraway participants to fully participate in meetings and conferences digitally, could slash emissions by up to 94%. Those who work remotely three or more days per week travel less overall than their peers. But long car commutes can quickly wipe out such emissions savings, so living close to work is still the best option.

The research is clear: to improve health outcomes, meet climate targets and create more livable cities, reducing car use should be an urgent priority. Yet many governments in the US and Europe continue to heavily subsidize driving through a combination of incentives such as subsidies for fossil fuel production, tax allowances for commuting by car, and incentives for company cars that promote driving over other means of transport. Essentially, such measures pay polluters while imposing the social costs on wider society.

The most successful cities in The Carolinas typically combine a few different policy instruments, including both carrots that encourage more sustainable travel choices, and sticks that charge for, or restrict, driving and parking.

South Carolina and North Carolina city leaders have a wider range of policy instruments at their disposal than some might realize – from economic instruments such as charges and subsidies, to behavioral ones like providing feedback comparing individuals’ travel decisions with their peers. More than 75% of the urban innovations that have successfully reduced car use were led by a local city government – and in particular, those that have proved most effective, such as congestion charges, parking and traffic controls, and limited traffic zones. The most successful cities typically combine a few different policy instruments, including both carrots that encourage more sustainable travel choices, and sticks that charge for, or restrict, driving and parking.

Here are the 12 best ways to reduce South Carolina and North Carolina city car use

  1. Congestion charges
  2. Parking and traffic controls
  3. Limited traffic zones
  4. Mobility services for commuters
  5. Workplace parking charges
  6. Workplace travel planning
  7. University travel planning
  8. Mobility services for universities
  9. Car sharing10. School travel planning
  10. Personalized travel plans
  11. Apps for sustainable mobility

Mobile phone technology has a growing role in strategies to reduce car use. To meet the planet’s health and climate goals, the South Carolina and North Carolina city governments need to make the necessary transitions for sustainable mobility by, first, avoiding the need for mobility; second, shifting remaining mobility needs from cars to active and public transport wherever possible; and finally, improving the cars that remain to be zero-emission.

Radically reducing cars will make cities better places to live – and it can be done. The positive impact from reducing cars in cities will be felt by all who live and work in them, in the form of more convivial spaces. The air is cleaner, better … People turn their streets into sitting rooms and extra gardens. The cities in The Carolinas need to re-imagine themselves by remaking what is possible to match what is necessary. At the heart of this, guided by better evidence of what works, they must do more to break free from cars.

Credit: The Conversation via Reuters Connect

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