Europe Plans to Ban Cars From Cities By 2050

thecarchik writes: Can you imagine a future--thirty-nine years from now--where there are no engines humming, no exhaust smells, no car sounds of any kind in the city except the presumably Jetsons-like beeping of EVs? The European Commission, the governing body of the European Union, can, and it has a transportation proposal aiming to do just that by 2050.

Paris was the first city to suggest a ban on gas guzzlers in their city core, but this ban takes it to whole different level by planning to ban all cars completely from the city streets. While Paris was motivated by reduced pollution, the EU is focused on wider scope of reduced foreign oil dependence, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, increased jobs within the EU, and improved infrastructure for future economic growth.

IC car != car...

[sznupi]

There's also no need to "imagine" [wikipedia.org] (...how pleasant it usually is). Plus, do we have to always go from "EU" to "Europe" and from "proposal" to "plan" when writing TFS?

Pass on the oil?

[DigiShaman]

Unless by then cars are electric, having entire nations pass on oil consumption will not do any good. It will just lower demand and cost enough for it to be absorbed by other nations. In other words, if the EU reduces it's share of oil, countries like India, China, Middle East, and yes...America will consume more of its share. If the EU wants to economically "slit it's own throat", be my guest. But this idea of banning cars from their cities is just folly.

Re:

[sznupi]

...which would make consuming places all the more disadvantaged, behind, later in a rush to switch over their infrastructure in times of oil "really" running out. Plus as far as countries of America (or, to a smaller extent, Middle East) go - they don't need to go the same route as we did, when growing their infrastructure; need not to repeat the same mistakes.