The Business of Cars

    America is very focused on having cars as the most common method of transportation. America is built around the access of cars. All of the streets are built to fit cars, and business are made to be accessible by cars as well. While some may love to have their own personal vehicle to have privacy getting to where they want to go, the impact of this has caused massive amounts of issues with the way our country is operated. While cars have their benefits to them, they are catastrophic with the way we interact with the world around us. The negative impacts of cars reach to the environment, the efficiency of transportation, and the way we interact with the world around us.

    Cars emit so much carbon emission which further exacerbates the impacts of climate change and global warming. Many people believe that cars are good for the economy because people have to spend absurd amounts of money on their vehicle, maintenance, gas, insurance, tickets, tax, etc. However, more money spent on cars means less money being spent elsewhere. Additionally, cars are a very bad way of transporting people in large quantities. Living in Los Angeles, everyone here understands how awful it is to drive in the city. It is always busy with traffic, and it is nearly as fast to bike places with shorter distances. If Los Angeles adopted some of the methods of transportation as some other countries, the cities would be less crowded, more walkable, and less polluted. Trains are the ultimate method of transportation as they transport the largest number of people very quickly and cheaply. They emit less emissions, and the make cities more walkable.

    We are at a point where people are so affiliated on owning a car and continuing with driving in the United States. However, there is so much potential for the country to improve its walkability and friendliness for pedestrians. People would save money by using transit or bike as their method of transportation. Money would be spent elsewhere and likely to smaller business owners rather than big corporate businesses such as car manufactures or big gas brands. I believe America turned its roads into train tracks and made places more walkable, the effects would be so beneficial for long term success for the economy.