In this video, join us as we delve into the compelling reasons why cars should be banned in cities and the myriad benefits it can bring. Discover the detrimental impacts of excessive car usage, including congestion, air and noise pollution, and the strain on urban infrastructure. Explore the advantages of embracing alternative modes of transportation, such as walking, cycling, and public transit, which promote healthier lifestyles, reduce environmental harm, and foster more vibrant and liveable urban spaces. However, the crucial question remains: what solutions can address these problems? To gain insight into this matter, watch this video by Dhruv Rathee to find out!
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00:00Hello friends, every one of us hears the sound of traffic every day.
00:13According to the TomTom traffic index 2022, Bangalore is the second most traffic congested city in the world.
00:19At peak times, the traffic is so bad that it takes an average of 18 minutes and 40 seconds to drive 5 kilometers.
00:27This statistic is so amazing because if you go on a cycle for 5 kilometers, it will take less time.
00:33But this is not just about Bangalore, this is the story of all the big cities in India.
00:37This traffic, time waste, noise pollution, air pollution, overcrowding,
00:41this is such a big part of our daily life that very little discussion is done.
00:47How is the condition of our cities very bad?
00:49But how will it sound if I tell you friends?
00:52There is a very simple solution to all these problems, ban cars.
00:59I am not kidding, this is an actual solution that has already been implemented in many developed countries.
01:05And I believe that its effectiveness will be even more in Indian cities.
01:09Let's understand all these problems and solutions step by step in today's video.
01:14First of all, let's look at the problem of air pollution.
01:21What is the reason behind the air pollution in our cities?
01:24If we talk about Delhi, the blame is often put on the burning of Haryana and Punjab.
01:29The fire that is put in the farms, this is no doubt a very big source of air pollution.
01:33But according to the study of the Center for Science and Environment in 2022,
01:37if we talk about local sources, then the biggest contribution here is actually of vehicular emission.
01:43The smoke coming out of cars, 51% air pollution is happening because of this in Delhi.
01:48Before this, the studies done in 2018 by ARAI and TERI, they also held motor vehicles very responsible.
01:55And this is just a direct contribution.
01:57If we look at the 2022 analysis of CSE, they said that 4% air pollution has come from road dust.
02:027% has come from construction activities.
02:05These things are also indirectly related to cars.
02:08Road dust comes from the roads.
02:10In construction, there is a lot of construction of highways and roads.
02:14Now this same story is even more valid for other Indian cities.
02:17Like Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata where the issue of stubble burning does not exist.
02:21Look at this article of Gaon Connection.
02:23The transport sector is the biggest contributor to air pollution in Mumbai.
02:27And now if we talk about noise pollution instead of air pollution,
02:30then last year, the United Nations Environment Programme had released a report
02:34of the world's noisiest cities.
02:36And it won't be surprising for you to see that India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal,
02:41which is our South Asian region, are found to be the world's noisiest cities mostly in this region.
02:46No. 1 is the noisiest city in the world, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
02:50No. 2 is the city of Uttar Pradesh, Muradabad.
02:52And what is the reason behind this?
02:54In another report, it was said that motor vehicles are the number one source of noise pollution in cities.
02:59You can also observe this personally that the sound of the horn
03:02that we hear in the cities of the Indian subcontinent,
03:05is not heard in any other region of the world.
03:08So there are no two ways about it, whether it is air pollution or noise pollution.
03:11The biggest contribution here is motor vehicles and cars.
03:15What should be done?
03:16Many people tell us that we should start using electric vehicles.
03:20But if we take a look at developed countries,
03:23then you will see that electric cars are not a solution either.
03:26Look at this report, it is from the UK in 2023.
03:29According to this, in countries like the United Kingdom,
03:32the smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe is no longer the main source of air pollution.
03:36The main source is actually tyre dust.
03:39The 52% small particle pollution that is happening due to road transport,
03:43is actually happening due to tyre and brake wear.
03:46When the car is driving on the road,
03:48the small particles of the road that form in the air due to the rub of the road,
03:51become air pollution.
03:52And then comes the smoke coming out of the exhaust,
03:55which is only a 15% contribution to the air pollution.
03:59Isn't this amazing?
04:00This means that if we use electric vehicles,
04:03then only the 15% pollution will be reduced.
04:06The air pollution of tyre dust, brake wear and road abrasion will still be the same.
04:10This is the reason, friends, that during the pandemic,
04:12when we saw the lockdown,
04:13the air in many cities became so clean,
04:16which was not the case in the last few decades.
04:18In the city of Nepal, Kathmandu,
04:19people saw the view of Mount Everest from the city after many decades.
04:23In the city of Manila, the Philippines,
04:25we saw a famous mountain from a distance.
04:28In Spain, we saw wild boars roaming on the roads of Barcelona.
04:32In San Francisco, we saw coyotes.
04:34Near the White House, we saw deer grazing.
04:37Why did all this happen?
04:38Because the cars had disappeared from the cities.
04:40In the Indian cities,
04:41we saw almost a 50% reduction in PM 2.5 levels during the lockdown.
04:47Now let's talk about the third problem, which is traffic.
04:50What is traffic?
04:51And why is there traffic?
04:52Some of you will say that there is traffic because of small roads
04:55or because of bad roads.
04:57But I will say that there is traffic because of cars.
05:01Think for yourself, what is traffic actually?
05:03Traffic is a collection of cars, two-wheelers, buses, and trucks.
05:07And the number one reason behind traffic is actually cars.
05:12Because cars occupy a lot of space on the road.
05:15To visualize this, I would like to show you a video.
05:19In this video, 5 different modes of transport have been shown.
05:22If we start from the left, cars, buses, trains, cycles, and walking.
05:28This video shows us that if we have to take 200 people from point A to point B,
05:32how much space will be required?
05:34If 200 people walk, then this small space is enough.
05:37If we use a train or a metro, then one train or one metro is enough.
05:41If we take a bus, then only 9 buses will fit.
05:44But if these same 200 people take a car,
05:47then see how much more space is needed.
05:50How much more space will be required for the roads?
05:53How many more roads will have to be built just to accommodate cars?
05:57And in India, where the population density is already very high,
06:00this issue becomes even more critical.
06:03Because the importance of space increases even more.
06:06Should we use space in our cities to make good places for parks, gardens, and people to walk?
06:11Or should we use that space to make roads for cars?
06:15There is a simple logic.
06:17If people in our cities use buses, metro, cycles, or walking instead of cars,
06:23then the traffic will be as less in our cities.
06:26And the more people use cars, the more roads will have to be built.
06:31And less space will be left for other things.
06:34Now I will show you an amazing data.
06:36National Family Health Survey 5 was conducted between 2019 and 2021.
06:42According to this survey, only 8% of the families in the country have their own cars.
06:47Can you imagine this number?
06:49Only 8% people own cars in India.
06:53And then the traffic on the roads is so bad.
06:56Imagine, if this number reaches 50-60% instead of 8%,
07:01then how many more cars will we get to see in our cities?
07:04How many more roads will have to be built for them?
07:06And how bad will be the situation of overcrowding, traffic, and air pollution?
07:10According to this survey, more than 50% of the households in our country own a cycle.
07:15And more than 50% own a motorcycle or a two-wheeler.
07:19This is a very good news from this perspective.
07:22Because cycles and motorcycles don't take up that much space.
07:25Watch the comparison video again.
07:27If 200 people have to go from here to there, how much space is being taken by cycles?
07:31Now the problem of space becomes even more extreme
07:34when you pay attention to how many cars are actually used.
07:37According to studies, if we talk about private cars,
07:40they are used only 5-6% of the time.
07:4395% of the time, cars are only parked in the parking lot.
07:48Either cars will be parked in the house or in the office.
07:52That means, empty cars are actually occupying more space
07:56as compared to cars that are driving on the roads.
07:58Compare a private car to a taxi.
08:01How much does a family usually use their car in a day?
08:04For 3 hours, to go to the office from home or to go shopping from home.
08:09Out of 24 hours, the remaining 21 hours the car is parked.
08:13Either in the house or in the office or somewhere else.
08:15But a taxi roams for at least 8-12 hours on the other side,
08:19stays in operation and does the work of transporting people.
08:22So from this perspective, you will know
08:24how much the problem of overcrowding in a city is increasing due to private cars.
08:28Now the fourth problem is flooding.
08:30You must have experienced it personally.
08:32In the rainy season, the roads of our cities are often converted into rivers.
08:37There is a big reason behind this that there is no proper drainage system.
08:41But apart from this, there is also a big reason
08:43that there are fewer places to go inside the water in cities.
08:47The more concrete is laid on the ground,
08:50the more roads will be laid,
08:52the water will not be able to flow inside the ground from there.
08:55The rainwater will only go into the groundwater
08:57when there is soil, grass or any natural landscape on top.
09:00So this means that building big roads, highways, flyovers in cities
09:05will always increase the chances of flooding.
09:08Then the fifth problem is road accidents.
09:10If you look at the statistics of murders in India,
09:12according to the data of NCRB 2021,
09:14on average, there were 82 murders in India every day.
09:18Which is a very big number.
09:19But now see how many people were killed on average in road accidents every day.
09:24This number is 422 deaths every day.
09:27That is, more than 5 times more people are killed in road accidents every day in our country
09:33as compared to the number of people who are killed in murders.
09:36There can be many reasons behind this.
09:37Overspeeding, distraction while driving, drunk driving.
09:41But the root cause behind all these reasons is cars.
09:44The less people travel by car, the lower the rate of accidents.
09:50Road traffic injuries are the 8th leading cause of death in the world.
09:54Almost 14 lakh people die every year because of this.
09:57But if this is not talked about in the media, people are never worried about it.
10:01There is an exponentially higher chance of a common man getting killed in a road accident
10:06as compared to many other risks that people understand more.
10:09Imagine if the death of road accidents on our news channels
10:13would get the same coverage as the rest and crime-related news.
10:18People would be so scared that they wouldn't even step out of their homes.
10:25The problem here is that people consider these deaths to be accidents.
10:28But the truth is that 300 years ago, when there were no cars, these deaths didn't happen.
10:33And finally, the problem is climate change.
10:36Look at this graph.
10:37It shows the total greenhouse gas emissions from various economic sectors in America in 2021.
10:45The transportation sector is the number one contributor with 28%.
10:49And what is the contribution of cars in this contribution?
10:53For that, look at this pie chart.
10:55It shows the distribution of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the transportation sector worldwide in 2021.
11:01As expected, the biggest contribution is that of passenger cars.
11:05At 39%.
11:07This shows that cars are the biggest reason behind climate change.
11:11You must be wondering, what do you want to say?
11:15Should all cars be banned in the country?
11:17Should the Prime Minister come one day and say that all cars are banned from 8 pm?
11:22No, that won't be right.
11:24That will be a little too much.
11:25Because such instant decisions always have a negative impact.
11:29Like bankruptcy, this will also be a good way to crash the economy.
11:33Oh my God!
11:34These actual solutions, friends, are going to be taken step by step.
11:37And there are many.
11:38Come, let's discuss all these solutions one by one.
11:40So that our cities can be made better.
11:43And can be made more livable.
11:45The first solution is to identify the most overcrowded and popular areas of a city.
11:50And to make those areas car-free.
11:53That is, to ban cars from those specific areas.
11:55A typical example of this can be any busy market where a lot of people come.
12:00Because of which a lot of traffic is created.
12:03And there is a lot of overcrowding inside.
12:05The second step will be to identify roads in a city where there is less traffic.
12:10To ban cars from those roads specifically.
12:13And to make those roads for pedestrians and cyclists.
12:18I told you in the beginning of the video that this is a problem that many developed countries have already identified.
12:23And are working on solving it.
12:25So let's see some positive examples of this from cities all over the world.
12:28Look at this road in Poland.
12:30Cars were allowed here in 2013.
12:32In 2022, it was made only for pedestrians and cyclists.
12:36Another such example.
12:38Look at how many cars are parked on the side in 2009.
12:41And in 2023, trees were planted here.
12:44And such a good road was made for walking and sightseeing.
12:47Look at this road in Glasgow.
12:49In 2016, there were 3-4 lanes for cars.
12:51Two lanes were removed and a lane for cyclists was made here.
12:54Trees were planted.
12:56By narrowing the roads, there was more space in the city to plant trees.
12:59This is a third solution friends.
13:01Which sounds quite counter-intuitive.
13:03We should make the roads bigger, right?
13:05But narrowing the roads is a solution.
13:07If the roads are narrowed for cars, we will get more space to plant trees.
13:12Greenery will grow in a city.
13:13People will have more space to walk.
13:15Look at this very popular road in Spain.
13:18Where so many cars used to come and go at one time.
13:20Now, it has become a wonderful street for people.
13:24Another example of Spain.
13:25Look at this road in the 1980s.
13:27Today, many roads are seen in India.
13:30And look at the transformation of 2020.
13:32How beautiful a city looks.
13:34If cars are banned.
13:37And more space is made for people to walk.
13:40Look at the example of the Netherlands.
13:42Cars were banned from the entire road.
13:44And it was opened only for cyclists.
13:46A lot has been done in the Netherlands.
13:48How much more greenery was planted on this road?
13:51The next photo is from Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana.
13:54Cars were banned from this bridge.
13:56Only people can walk.
13:58Imagine how healthy people will be.
14:01The good news is that there are some positive examples in India.
14:05Which can be inspired.
14:07Look at this JM Road in Pune.
14:10Cars were banned from a popular road.
14:12More space was made for people to walk.
14:15Such a small change.
14:16And how big is its impact.
14:18How beautiful this road looks now.
14:20Look at the next example from Delhi.
14:22Where a big stretch.
14:23Only for pedestrians and cyclists.
14:25And a big green area in the middle.
14:27Which keeps the footpath away from cars.
14:29So that there is less air pollution while walking on the footpath.
14:33The first solution I told you about.
14:34The biggest example of that is in Delhi.
14:37Chandni Chowk area.
14:39Earlier, cars were allowed in that area.
14:41It was jammed.
14:42People couldn't move from here to there.
14:44When I went there in 2019, I made this video.
14:47Recently, the government renovated it.
14:50And banned cars from the entire section inside.
14:53Look at the result.
14:54It's a very open place to roam around.
14:56Less noise pollution.
14:57Less air pollution.
14:58And it looks so beautiful.
15:01An interesting thing to note is that
15:03the more roads you see in a city,
15:05the less people will want to use cars.
15:08The more people will want to walk or cycle.
15:13When there are so many green roads.
15:15There will be less traffic.
15:16Cars will be noisy.
15:18Now you will say that in every situation,
15:19it is not possible to walk everywhere.
15:23That's right.
15:24That's why the fourth solution.
15:25The money that the government is spending.
15:28Taxpayer's money.
15:29It should be used less to build roads for cars.
15:32But more on public transport.
15:34And metro lines should be built.
15:36And trains should be built.
15:37And buses should be built by the government.
15:39This is a medium-term to long-term process.
15:42It will take some time to implement.
15:43But the government's intention should also be right.
15:46According to the 2021 budget,
15:47we have spent Rs 2.2 trillion
15:50in the development of roads.
15:52Because the money spent on hospitals,
15:55plus the money spent on power generation,
15:57plus the money spent on irrigation,
15:59plus the money spent on railways,
16:01combined, is more than that.
16:04In this graph, you can see
16:05from 2001 to 2019,
16:07the total length of urban roads in India
16:10is increasing.
16:11We are building more roads.
16:13Compare this graph with the other graph
16:16which shows the number of vehicles in operation in India.
16:20From 1951 to 2020,
16:22the number of vehicles on our roads
16:26has been increasing.
16:27And the rate of this increase is also increasing.
16:29Along with that, the speed of road construction
16:31is also increasing rapidly.
16:32Although it hasn't increased that much.
16:34But because of this reason,
16:36in your city,
16:37every month or two,
16:39you see new road constructions being built here.
16:41A new flyover is being built here.
16:43A new highway is being built here.
16:45Unfortunately,
16:47only 8% of the families still use cars in the country.
16:50If we keep on telling everyone to own cars,
16:54keep on increasing the number of highways,
16:56then even in the next 100 years,
16:58this construction will never stop.
17:00A concept is often mentioned here
17:02which is called Induced Demand.
17:04As I said a while ago,
17:05the better the roads are for walking and cycling,
17:08the more people will be attracted
17:10to walk and cycle.
17:13A similar impact can be seen
17:15with the construction of roads.
17:17The wider and bigger the roads are,
17:19the more people will be attracted to them.
17:22People will start using cars more.
17:24This is the reason that in cities like Los Angeles,
17:27where 10 lanes of highways have been built,
17:30the traffic never stops.
17:32Big traffic jams can also be seen there.
17:35Because in simple words,
17:36cars are a very inefficient use of space.
17:39To deal with this problem,
17:41some countries have adopted very innovative solutions.
17:43Like Singapore,
17:44they have set a limit
17:46that they won't allow more cars on the roads in their country.
17:50On the other hand,
17:51some countries try to disincentivize cars
17:54by imposing parking charges.
17:56So that there is no free parking in any area of the city.
17:59People should always be charged for parking.
18:01So people will use their cars less,
18:03and will use taxis and buses more.
18:05Which will be a good thing overall,
18:07if we look at it from the perspective of space.
18:09The next solution is related to the design of a city.
18:12Think for yourself,
18:13when you use a car,
18:15where do you use it to go?
18:17To go from your home to the office?
18:19To go from home to school?
18:21Or to go to a shopping mall, market or cinema?
18:25For each of us,
18:26the use of a car,
18:28in 95% cases,
18:30is used for these 3-4 things.
18:32Now think about it,
18:33if these 3-4 things
18:35are available at the walking distance of your house,
18:38what will happen?
18:39If your office is 200 meters away from your house,
18:41where you can walk every day.
18:43If you want to buy groceries in the market,
18:45at a walking distance.
18:46If you want to go to a clothes shop or barber,
18:48to get a haircut,
18:49you can walk for 10 minutes.
18:51This concept, friends,
18:52is called the 15-minute city concept.
18:55And cities like Paris,
18:57are trying their best to implement it today.
19:00There is an easy way to get rid of cars from a city.
19:03In a city,
19:04almost everything for everyone,
19:06is available only at a distance of 15 minutes,
19:08where you can walk,
19:10ride a bicycle,
19:11and go.
19:12The use of cars will automatically reduce.
19:14If we look at our history,
19:16this 15-minute city concept,
19:18was seen everywhere in our history.
19:20Look at the old city of Jaipur,
19:22or the old Delhi area.
19:24The old city area of Varanasi,
19:26is a very good example of this.
19:27Historically,
19:28the people who used to live in these cities,
19:30everything for them,
19:31was available at a distance of 500 meters or 1 kilometer.
19:34But the unfortunate thing is that,
19:36since we have seen modernization,
19:38in our new cities,
19:39we have started to separate out things,
19:41from a distance.
19:43New cities like Gurgaon,
19:44all the offices there,
19:46are present in one area.
19:48The residential areas,
19:49are present in a large area,
19:5110 kilometers away.
19:53If you want to go to a shopping mall,
19:54go 10-15 kilometers away,
19:56in that direction.
19:57In the name of modernization,
19:58we have forcibly made cities,
20:00in such a way,
20:01that people have to use cars,
20:03to go from one place to another.
20:05To do the work of their daily life.
20:08Although, this shouldn't happen at all.
20:10The capital of France, Paris,
20:11has made a new plan,
20:13that they will make a school,
20:14for the children,
20:15in the middle of every neighborhood.
20:16The parking of cars will be removed,
20:17the roads will be cleared,
20:19and gardens and parks will be made.
20:21Every person who lives in the city,
20:22there should be some green area,
20:24parks,
20:25good playgrounds,
20:27it should be easy to go to school nearby.
20:30Imagine a city,
20:31how golden it will be,
20:33if this happens.
20:34All the solutions that I have told you,
20:36were the supply-side solutions.
20:38Where the government needs to take action,
20:40to bring change.
20:41Now let's talk about the demand-side solutions.
20:44Where the public can take action.
20:46Ordinary people,
20:47like you and me,
20:48can take action to bring change.
20:50The first and the easiest thing,
20:51if possible for you,
20:53instead of using your own cars,
20:54use public transport.
20:56Buses, metros or trains.
20:59In carbon dioxide emissions,
21:00the contribution of buses is 33%,
21:02the contribution of cars is 31%.
21:04But buses carry 58% of the passengers,
21:07and cars only 4% of the passengers.
21:10In a bus,
21:1120 times more passengers can be carried.
21:14How much space is left here?
21:16The more people use public transport,
21:19the more money the government should spend on it,
21:22to make it better.
21:23Second,
21:24if it is possible for you to use a cycle,
21:26then use cycles.
21:27And if you sweat in cycles,
21:30then e-cycles or e-scooters can be used.
21:33Third,
21:34change your perspective on cars.
21:36In India,
21:37people often see cars as a symbol of success and pride.
21:40People show off that,
21:41look, I have this car.
21:43Look, I'm going to buy this car.
21:45It's a matter of feeling so proud.
21:47You are feeling proud about such an iron box,
21:49whose job is to transport you from A to B.
21:52By the way,
21:53it's not entirely your fault if you feel this way.
21:55Because such a perception has been made.
21:57These car-making companies,
21:59have repeatedly shown you in their advertisements,
22:02that you should feel proud.
22:04That buying a car is the definition of success for you.
22:06You have been emotionally misled to feel this way.
22:09Have you ever noticed that these car ads,
22:12when the cars are shown off,
22:14how they are shown off at empty locations,
22:16that cars are running in the mountains.
22:18How you are driving a car in the clean air,
22:21in the middle of the jungle.
22:23What a golden experience,
22:25owning a car and driving a car.
22:27But what is the reality?
22:2999% of the time,
22:31when you buy a new car,
22:33and drive it,
22:35the glass is above you,
22:37you are consuming the smoke of other cars,
22:39and you are stuck in a traffic jam.
22:41But these car-making companies,
22:43will never show you such ads.
22:45If they do, no one will buy a car.
22:47The thing is,
22:48if you can avoid buying a car,
22:50if a car is not of much use in your life,
22:52and you only use it 3-4 times in a month,
22:56then it's better for you,
22:57that you don't buy a car.
22:59And use taxis in 3-4 cases.
23:01This will save you a lot of money,
23:03and a lot of hassle.
23:04And finally, the last solution is,
23:06to talk more about these problems.
23:08To spread awareness among people.
23:10Which you can do by sharing this video,
23:13with your friends,
23:14with your family members.
23:16So that they too,
23:17get to know about these issues.
23:19The more people talk about these issues,
23:21the more pressure will be on the government,
23:23so that the government takes action,
23:25related to these problems.
23:26My personal opinion,
23:27if you ask me,
23:28then I imagine a future,
23:30where cars are banned in cities.
23:32Cars should be used,
23:34only to travel from one city to another,
23:36or to a village.
23:37Where,
23:38other means of transportation are not possible.
23:41Cars fit there,
23:42where the population is less.
23:44But in cities,
23:45where the population density is very high,
23:47there, buses, trains,
23:49metros, trams,
23:50cycles,
23:51and walking,
23:52and taxis,
23:53should be allowed.
23:55In my opinion.
23:56It seems difficult to imagine a future,
23:58but there are many cities in the world,
24:00which are getting closer to this future.
24:02And those cities,
24:03are among the most developed cities in the world.
24:05A very good example of this is,
24:06in the Netherlands,
24:07the city of Amsterdam,
24:09which started this transformation,
24:10many years ago.
24:12If you want to know its entire story,
24:14I had made a ground report on this city.
24:16You can click here to watch it.
24:17It's a very interesting story.
24:19Let's meet in the next video.
24:20Thank you very much.
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