ACCESS 06, Spring 1995
Lydia Chen
We've previously dubbed this the century of the automobile, and to some degree it has been. It's also been the century of the telephone, the airplane, the movies, the radio, the high-rise office building, and a lot of other wonders. But among the technologies that have marked these 100 years, the automobile has surely been one of the most visible and most consequential.
Genevieve Giuliano
The precise relationship between transportation and land use continues to elude us. It seems self-evident that transportation facilities and services have enormous effects on land use patterns. We’ve all observed developments occur around freeway interchanges, and we all know the history of automobile-oriented suburban development. However, when we look beyond broad generalizations, we see far more complex and uncertain relationships, as well as a cluster of unsubstantiated beliefs.
Daniel Sperling
In response to these opportunities, the Clinton administration has pointed to the EV as one of 22 critical technologies for the nation's economic revitalization. Battelle Technology Management Group, a private consulting firm, listed fuel cells, batteries, and hybrid vehicles as three of the ten hottest technologies for 2005. Because their principal advantages – improved air quality, reduced emissions of greenhouse gases, and energy savings – initially will be outside the marketplace, only strong government action can give EV technologies a chance in the near term. But public policy must be formulated carefully so that it is flexible enough to permit midcourse corrections and to let the market, rather than government, pick the winners.
Thomas Turrentine
1998 will be a big year for both automakers and clean-air advocates. In less than three years, the seven largest car sellers in California must sell zero-emission vehicles (ZEHs)-2 percent of their sales of vehicles under 3750 lbs loaded weight. Given the size of the current market, that's about 20,000 vehicles and they most likely will be electric cars. By 2003, 10 percent must be zero-emitters.
The crux is that the government requires consumers to buy them. The big manufacturers say electric cars cost too much to make and consumers won't choose them, even if prices were to match those of gasoline vehicles. The automakers have threatened to raise the price of gasoline vehicles to offset their losses. Much of the debate hinges on just how many Californians-or other car buyers throughout the world-will want an electric vehicle (EV).
Joy Dahlgren
Public policy currently promotes high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes and discourages construction of general-purpose lanes. HOV lanes supposedly reduce congestion and harmful emissions because they encourage ridesharing and transit use. Just add a few passengers, and you can be rewarded with a fast, pleasant drive to work. That's the ideal behind HOV lanes. But the reality is not so simple.
Charles Lave
Figure 1 has some interesting patterns and some disquieting implications. The big fluctuation in sales reflects the business cycle. Cars are durable, long-lived goods; they don't necessarily have to be replaced in any given year. So when the economy is down, people can postpone new-car purchases.
Growth is another obvious pattern in the graph. Yearly vehicle sales doubled between 1960 and 1973. Given the enormous size and widespread influence of the auto industry, this boom was a major force behind the growth of the U.S. economy.