University of California Transportation Center

All over the world, public officials and informed publics are alarmed about the growing numbers of automobiles. Some see the situation as akin to a conflagration that's out of control, made all the more menacing because automobiles are proving to be such powerful agents of change. To be sure, there is less anxiety in the United States than elsewhere, and less still in the western United States, because the major cities there grew up in the automobile era and have street systems that are much better suited for automobile use.