Urban traffic problems are now crucial in most of the countries in terms of
congestion, road safety and the environment all together. Many cities worldwide are
establishing change of their transport solutions from private convertibles to more
environment-friendly and citizen engrossed means (Hofer et al., 2018). Some cities has
entrenched plans to introduce measures of reducing traffic by for example initiating car
free days and investing in public transports.
This is due to the fact that cars cause significant harm to the public from the
emissions, noise e .t .c. However, it is still a quandary on whether cars should be banned.
This is because they are the main means of transport and banning them could create
considerable transport issues. On the other hand, it could lead to enhancement of
utilization of public spaces due to reduced parking space and major advances in climate
improvement.
Advantages of banning cars in the cities will include; improvement in air quality
due to reduction of emissions from cars, new business opportunities since the people who
use cars will find it hard to walk and may use bicycles or even the electric scooters
instead. Spaces for shops and restaurants would increase and in relation improve security
in the streets, the banning of cars will encourage the investments in green technologies,
and many more (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2016).
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On the other hand, banning of cars has its own disadvantages including; life
would become less efficient compared to life with cars, many taxi drivers would become
jobless, it would also lead to time trouble as well as crowding in public transports which
is likely to cause spread of diseases and with substitution efforts, traffic jam is likely to
be encountered.
In general, banning of cars has significant positive effects on the streets safety.
Fewer cars in the streets means fewer accidents. The limitation of cars will allow for the
improvement of environment and as well increase opportunities of more accessible
options. In my opinion, it is wise to limit the use of cars in favor of public transportation
in cities.
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References
Hofer, C., Jäger, G., & Füllsack, M. (2018). Large scale simulation of CO2 emissions caused by
urban car traffic: An agent-based network approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 183, 1-10.
Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J., & Khreis, H. (2016). Car free cities: Pathway to healthy urban
living. Environment international, 94, 251-262.