While electric vehicles are an important part of the solution to greenhouse gas emissions, what we need are fewer cars and less driving, efficient transport alternatives and more liveable cities. live. Sports stars and famous owners of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have been prominent in the news, promoting the ability of these cars to reduce their carbon footprint.

Diarmaid Ferriter, writing in the irish timecriticized Land Rover ambassadors Donal Skehan, Diarmuid Gavin, Brian O’Driscoll and Kathryn Thomas for promoting the vehicles, some of which weigh well over two tonnes, as sustainable alternatives.

Kathryn Thomas, while promoting her Range Rover Evoque plug-in hybrid, tells affluent young mums it’s a cool car to drive. What would make a huge difference in the culture of hybrids and SUVs as cool cars would be for popular celebrities and sports stars to hand over their car ambassador badges and promote active travel instead – bicycling to the work and school, and the pedestrianization and greening of cities as good for children, good for families, good for the environment.

Rugby stars, fond of promoting high-end cars to their impressionable fans (young and old), could have a real impact by changing the culture around Ireland’s passion for large, unsustainable cars, hybrid or otherwise.

Recent research from the Center for Sustainable Studies at Lund University found that the most effective measures to reduce the number of cars in cities included measures such as congestion charges, parking and traffic control and restricted traffic areas.

Congestion charges

The most effective measure to reduce the number of cars in cities is congestion charging, where drivers have to pay to enter the city, with the revenue generated being donated to sustainable alternative means of transport. London has cut city center traffic by a third since introducing congestion charges in 2003. Other cities have followed suit with similar success rates in Milan, Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Congestion charging has been recognized as an effective means of reducing traffic by Dublin City Manager Owen Keegan, setting out his vision for Dublin City traffic last month.

He suggested that a hefty toll could be applied for rush hour driving with a charge high enough to ensure only a manageable level of daytime traffic, which would result in faster and more reliable bus travel on less congested roads. Late at night with fewer cars on the road, it could be free to drive. Fewer cars on the roads would free up space for wider paths and separate bike lanes, which would improve the city’s quality of life.

Oslo replaced car parks with pedestrianized streets and cycle paths, reducing car use in the center of the Norwegian capital by up to 19%.

Half a century ago, Copenhagen was dominated by cars. But following grassroots campaigns to change policies and streets, including replacing car parks with safe and separated cycle lanes, Copenhagen has increased its share of cycling in all trips from 10% to 35% today. In 2016, for the first time, more bikes than cars traveled the city in that year.

A very effective carrot identified by the review was a campaign to encourage the use of public transport in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The local government worked with private companies to provide free public transport passes to employees, combined with a private shuttle to connect public transport stops to workplaces. This program, promoted by a marketing and communication plan, has reduced the share of commuters going to the city center by car by 37%.

The introduction of workplace parking fees is another effective method. Car journeys to work have been reduced by 20% to 25% in Rotterdam under a scheme that charged employees to park outside their desks, while also offering them the option to “cash in” their parking spaces and use public transport instead.

Similar travel programs have been effective in reducing car use at universities by promoting public transportation and reducing on-campus parking.

car sharing

Car sharing has been a more effective measure in some cities than in others. Where members have access to easy car hire for a few hours, promising results have been achieved in cities such as Bremen in Germany and Genoa in Italy, with each shared car replacing between 12 and 15 private cars.

The approach is proving successful, with an increasing number of shared cars and stations being integrated with residential areas, public transport and cycling infrastructure.

Other effective measures include personalized travel plans – providing advice and route planning for residents to walk, cycle or use public transport; and programs to encourage parents to walk, bike and carpool to school.

mobile technology

Mobile technology is a growing aspect of strategies to reduce car use with apps being developed so that teams of employees can track their movements and earn points for walking, cycling and using public transport. common way to get to work, with rewards offered by companies for reaching points targets. This “gamification” of active travel could be popular in Ireland, supported by incentives from multinational corporations as well as the public sector.

Cars are inherently inefficient and inequitable in their use of land and resources. On average, they spend 96% of their time parked, occupying valuable urban space that could be used for more beneficial purposes such as housing, public parks, walking paths and bike paths.

Electric cars are necessary, but they are not a panacea. Regardless of how a car is powered, is it possible to use resources and space efficiently to spend up to 95% of that energy moving the weight of the vehicle itself rather than passengers and goods ?

Cork City is at the forefront of taking cars out of cities, with 18 pedestrianized city center streets and the recent declaration of the city center as a clean air zone – simultaneously tackling the air pollution, active travel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.

The evidence is clear. We have become accustomed to traveling in a way that is a huge waste of resources and contributes significantly to poor physical and mental health by removing the alternative of active travel, is extremely expensive and likely to be more so, while contributing to global health. insecurity and climate crisis.

We know exactly what works to get people moving and cars out of cities. All we need is the political will to make it happen.

• Dr Catherine Conlon is Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Public Health at St Finbarr’s Hospital, Cork and former Director of Human Health and Nutrition at Safefood. His book Modern culture and well-being: towards a sustainable future was released by Veritas in 2020.