What is presently a necessity will become a forbidden luxury if the European Commission succeeds on its plan to impose a complete ban on automobile travel in all EU cities by 2050, making petroleum and diesel-powered cars a thing of the past. The ambitious project aims to cut emissions at the expense of private car owners and frequent air travellers.
Under the emission-control plan, 50% of all the journeys exceeding 186 miles should be by train. Forcing drivers to leave their vehicles to use public transport is estimated to cut CO2 emissions by 60% over the next four decades.
EU Transport Commissioner Sim Kallas said that the environmental directives and new tax penalty will force car owners to resort to environmentally-friendly means of transportation. Kallas is confident that the EU can run its transportation sector with minimal use of oil without hurting the economy and personal mobility.
The no-car policy is met by strong opposition from the transport groups. Christopher Monckton, spokesman for Ukip, is skeptical of the project, calling it expensive and unrealistic. The Association of British Drivers calls the plan a “crazy” restriction on mobility and an economic burden. Hugh Bladon of BDA vented out his anger and called the commissioner a lunatic for leading EU to “the new dark age.” But Kallas maintains that the no-car policy will not hurt the economy or restrict personal mobility. Kallas affirms that the motorists can conveniently travel the same distance with the use of public transportation.
The Commission wants to reduce the number of city cars by 50% by 2020 before enforcing a total ban in 2050.