Citation

Tranter P. World Transp. Policy Pract. 2008; 14(1): 56-64.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Eco-Logica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

This article presents an argument that one of the primary reasons for a feeling of hurried and overscheduled lives in the Western world is the dominance of cars in the transportation system. The authors contends that, when all the time costs associated with cars are taken into account, cars, rather than saving time, are in fact stealing both time and money. The author describes the concept of "effective speed," which includes a determination of the total time devoted to the mode of transport being discussed. For car drivers, the most time consuming task associated with their car is the time spent at work to earn the money to pay for all the costs associated with the car (depreciation, fuel, insurance, registration, parking, tolls etc). The author uses this holistic approach to understanding the time requirements of transportation modes to explain why walking school buses (WSB) or even letting children walk to school on their own, may be a good investment, even for parents who never seem to be able to get everything done, or get to places quickly enough. Two specific scenarios are discussed, one a city in which every household with children drives their children to school and to other activities, and where every household has two or more cars; and one a city in which children walk to school and where most households have no car or only one car. The author also briefly considers the positive health and environmental impacts of encouraging a return to more children walking to school. (TRID abstract)