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Car or Community? |
Nottingham |
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Road traffic problems - and what we
can do to solve them.
"The growth in vehicle
use and the decline in the use of public transport is a major issue in Nottingham. Despite
relatively low levels of car ownership, car use continues to grow, and the local road
system is expected to reach saturation point by the turn of the century. A lot of effort
is being made to improve public transport and provision for walking and cycling in
Nottingham, but persuading people to alter their travel habits remains a major
challenge."
From Nottingham City Council's "Changing
Times" Local Agenda 21 action pack.
The Problems:
- Air Pollution - In 1997, air pollution in Nottingham
City Centre went above health limits on 28 occasions. 24,000 people die prematurely each
year in the UK as a result of air pollution, according to a recent government report.
Children are particularly sensitive to air quality; as their lungs are still developing,
exposure to pollution can seriously harm their long-term health.
- Accidents - 3500 people are killed each year in the
UK in road accidents.
- Dangerous climate change - cars are responsible for
14% of UK emissons of carbon dioxide, the main "greenhouse gas."
- Destroying the countryside - road building and
road-related quarrying continues to threaten Sites of Special Scientific Interest,
National Parks, and other wildlife sites.
- Destroying community life - community support
patterns, friendship, interaction and neighbourly activity are all under threat from the
wide roads and streams of traffic that divide communities.
- Social inequality - 33% of households do not have
access to a car. Non-car owners have become increasingly immobilised as public transport
has declined.
- Costing the economy - road traffic congestion costs
the economy £19 billion a year.
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The Government has recently admitted that even if
the Transport White Paper of July 1998 is put into law, car traffic levels could be 37%
higher in 2010 than in 1990. It has also admitted that carbon dioxide emissions from road
traffic are likely to rise.
ACTION IS NOT JUST AN OPTION. FOR THE SAKE
OF THE HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF EVERYONE IN NOTTINGHAM, IT IS ESSENTIAL.
Follow this link to
see what we can do...
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Last updated 25 February 1999