Originally Posted by
walkerwek1958
We can do little to influence the global warming problems but we can influence local air pollution. This should've been a priority in the recent past but sadly the politicians became obsessed with CO2 reduction, thus encouraging the diesel engines that are so prevelant on today's roads. The problems weren't difficult to predict but the polititians insisted on backing the wrong horse.
Travel and transport problems exist in most areas of the UK. Public transport isn't a viable alternative for many, it simply isn't practical. Ironically, given the huge developments in communication, we haven't seen a significant change in working habits; working from home and teleconferences instead of meetings would take some traffic off the roads but I'm not aware of it happening to a significant extent.
Electric cars will help improve air quality in some areas, that's irrefutable, but the electricity still needs to be generated somewhere. That needs managing sensibly but it's not an insurmountable problem.
I still think we're a long way from seeing electric cars in large numbers, but it'll happen. However, if we all stop buying petrol/diesel how will the government address the shortfall in taxation? Tax revenue from motor fuel is very significant so the money will have to be raised by other means . Looking to the future I guess the technology will exist to electronically tax cars based on mileage covered etc, but that smacks of 'big brother' and poses another set of problems!
If we could turn the clock back to 1960 The Beeching Report would've been thrown in the bin and we'd have far more railways left. Would that have made a big difference?...........I'm not convinced. Most of us are wedded to our cars through a combination of desire and necessity and that's not going to change. People spurn the public transport option for several reasons, many prefer the privacy and social isolation offered by their w wheeled metal box.
If I'm still around in 2040 I doubt whether I'll care about cars, transport or anything else.
Paul