[url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2011/3206293.htm]Peak oil? Now it’s peak cars[/url]
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Australian and world peak car use per capita was in 2004 and since has shown a slow decline. It marks an end to car dependence. Teenage car use has dropped markedly. Figures suggest a big cultural shift as well as structural change within cities. Some very large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have made it almost impossible to buy a new car. Car transport has reached a limit. Shanghai built a metro system in 10 years which covers 80% of the city and carries 8 million passengers each day. Metros are being built in 82 Chinese cities and 14 Indian cities. Peter Newman compares the cost of constructing roads and railways and says both cost about $50million per kilometre. But rail carries 8-20 times the passengers carried by road. With the price of gasoline heading north people are moving back into cities and not wanting to be as dependant on cars as they were.