One more reason why restricting cars is a good idea..
http://www.downtoea rth.org.in/ full6.asp? foldername= 20090315&filename=led&sec_id=3&sid=1
..Now, Thane has announced an ambitious plan to have a cycle track. The lobbies of truckers and personal vehicles are quite clearly up in arms. Their resistance to the cycle track should be seen in the context of what has happened in the town of Fazilka in Punjab (see ‘Come without your car’, Down To Earth, January 1-15, 2009). The trader lobby, the interests of which are aligned with the interests of truckers, was dead against restrictions on cars in the main market of the town. They feared the inability to park cars close to the shops would dissuade their clientele. But after the ban on cars came about, shopkeepers said they registered an increase in sales.
There is no mystery at work here, no surprise. When citizens have greater mobility, economic activities only increase. People of Fazilka realized mobility was not the same thing as automobility- private vehicles, when uncontrolled, cause more congestion and immobility than their adverts would have people believe.
Urban planners and city managers in India have for too long mistaken automobility for mobility. This is because they have identified too closely with the interests of the minority that gains from concessions to private vehicles, because urban voters were indifferent. Urban voters did not form as big a part of the polity as they do now, given rapid urbanization. This shift is leading to new strategies among all political parties....
..Now, Thane has announced an ambitious plan to have a cycle track. The lobbies of truckers and personal vehicles are quite clearly up in arms. Their resistance to the cycle track should be seen in the context of what has happened in the town of Fazilka in Punjab (see ‘Come without your car’, Down To Earth, January 1-15, 2009). The trader lobby, the interests of which are aligned with the interests of truckers, was dead against restrictions on cars in the main market of the town. They feared the inability to park cars close to the shops would dissuade their clientele. But after the ban on cars came about, shopkeepers said they registered an increase in sales.
There is no mystery at work here, no surprise. When citizens have greater mobility, economic activities only increase. People of Fazilka realized mobility was not the same thing as automobility- private vehicles, when uncontrolled, cause more congestion and immobility than their adverts would have people believe.
Urban planners and city managers in India have for too long mistaken automobility for mobility. This is because they have identified too closely with the interests of the minority that gains from concessions to private vehicles, because urban voters were indifferent. Urban voters did not form as big a part of the polity as they do now, given rapid urbanization. This shift is leading to new strategies among all political parties....