people's car vs environment

January 2007 started with a sensational event in the field of transportation which created ripples amongst city dwellers in India who were dvided amongst those who could hardly contain their excitement and those who shook their heads in despair. The happy ones saw big possibilities in a small car, the Tata nano, and the others saw another bundle of problems being added to the already choked roads. concerns were raised about pollutions, road safety, parking spaces and most of all implications for climate change. The concern emerged from the fact that greater car ownership would increase the demand for petrol and lead to increased emissions.
The fears of the group of people concerned with the city environment seem to be largely unfounded. The small car may in fact help to improve traffic situations thus reducing emissions. The traffic scene in India can at best be described as chaotic for most towns. This is largely due to non -segregation of slow and fast moving modes of traffic. The merger of the two modes creates a stop and go situation with continous stops and accelerations which greatly increase fuel consumption and emissions. Replacement of two wheelers and three wheelers, which are the main slow modes, with a small car would greatly improve flow conditions on roads and reducing fuel consumption and emmissions. Secondly the small car promises a higher mileage pr litre of petrol than any of the existing cars. This factor also contributes to lower petrol consumption. Thirdly availability of a fast and smooth means of travel may prompt users to look for residential options in the suburbs which offer a better and cheaper quality of life.Such a phenomenon has already occured in the west when horse drawn buggies were replaced by cars. A fourth advantage is that due to its small size the car would not be space intensive which is as it is a scarce commodity in cities. Finally due to its low purchase cost (2500$) and running cost(20 km to a litre) it may be a popular travel option for students who could carry their grouping tendencies to travel and resort to car pools.
Considering the above the future seems to be bright for urban roads and urban environment with major auto makers competing to match the achievements of an Indian car company.