Wheels of Trouble: The True Cost of Car Dependency

How does car dependency impact the environment, health, and communities?

Cars have become the dominant mode of transportation in our cities, towns, and rural areas, while trains, buses, bicycles, wheelchairs, and even walking are often viewed as “alternative” modes of mobility.

This article explores how car dependency shapes the use of space, impacts public health, communities, local economies and the environment.

1. Use of space

While cars help bridge distances between destinations, they also contribute to increasing them by encouraging sprawling development.

Streets, originally meant to be shared among various users, are now dominated by cars, which take up significantly more space per person then bicycles, pedestrians, and buses.

When in motion, cars require approximately 1.39 m² per hour per person, compared to just 0.52 m² for bicycles, 0.27 m² for pedestrians, and 0.07 m² for buses. The imbalance is worsening as vehicles grow larger. In fact, SUVs now make up 46% of global car sales.

Parking takes up even more space and is often percived as “free” outside city centres. Yet there is no such thing as free parking. In reality, everyone pays for parking − whether they drive or not – through higher costs for goods and services or through taxes.

Minimum parking “requirements” also inflate housing prices and drive up land consumption, contributing to urban sprawl.

2. Public health and well-being

Motorized car traffic is a major contributor to causes of death and health issues. In 2023, around 20,400 people lost their life in road crashes in the EU (European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport), with pedestrians and vulnerable road users accounting for nearly 70% of fatalities in urban areas.

Older people, aged 65+, face greater risk as they represented 29% of all road deaths while they account for 21% of the population. Similarly, young people aged 18-24 accounted for 12% of road deaths but 7% of the population.

Sedentary lifestyles, caused in part by car dependency, are linked to diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.

Sedentary lifestyles increase the risk of all types of mortality, cause 70% of deaths worldwide and are an independent risk factor regardless of body mass index.

With as many as one third of adults over 15 years of age worldwide suffering from a sedentary lifestyle and 81% of adolescents not moving enough, lack of exercise-related diseases is also becoming more prevalent in children.

Air pollution is the second highest risk factor for noncommunicable diseases and causes respiratory problems, including lung cancer, and also affects the brain, heart and blood vessels, causing type 1 and type 2 diabetes and asthma in children.

In Europe, 98% of the population lives in areas with excessive air pollution and the WHO estimates that as many as 400,000 people die prematurely each year as a result.

Environmental noise, which includes sounds from road, rail, air traffic, industries, and neighborhoods, is the most common source of noise pollution and is primarily associated with non-auditory negative health effects. The European Environment Agency reported in 2014 that a minimum of 125 million people were exposed to road traffic noise above 55 dB.

Approximately 20% of the population of the EU inhabit regions where environmental noise is harmful to their health and that traffic noise causes more than 10,000 premature deaths a year (European Environment Agency).

Car traffic, roads, and parking contribute up to 30% of heat emissions in cities, creating heat islands and worsening urban overheating. Prolonged heat waves and poor nighttime cooling can lead to serious health issues, particularly for vulnerable groups like the elderly and children.

In summer 2023, the Barcelona Institute for Global Health reported that 4% of all summer deaths in EU cities are related to heat islands.

In car-dependent areas, people often face isolation from essential services and social connections due to long distances and barriers like highways. Research shows that isolated individuals are at higher risk for cardiovascular diseases, cognitive decline, and higher mortality rates.

3. Social tissue and community

Car-dependent communities prioritize roadways and parking over pedestrian-friendly spaces, leading to a lack of social interaction and physical separation of neighborhoods.

This discourages walking or biking and limits spontaneous encounters, diminishing civic pride and collective responsibility, while transforming childhood experiences by reducing opportunities for outdoor play and local exploration.

Car-centric urban planning reinforces social inequalities, making essential services, jobs, education, and healthcare less accessible, especially for low-income groups, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

4. Local economy

Car dependency negatively impacts local businesses by prioritizing drive-in customers over pedestrians, reducing foot traffic, and shifting consumer habits towards larger retail chains with easier car access. This makes it harder for small businesses to compete, often leading to closures.

The lack of pedestrian-friendly public spaces discourages community engagement by making it harder for local events to succeed, reducing opportunities for businesses to connect with customers and build long-term loyalty.