1 Billion Cars on the Road

from the Infrastructurist:




A year ago yesterday an unfortunate line of drivers in China spent their ninth straight day stuck in traffic. If the country keeps adding cars to its roads the way it did in 2010, that type of congestion might seem light.

According to the auto industry researcher Ward’s, the global car population topped the 1 billion mark in 2010 — with a 27.5 percent surge in vehicle registration in China leading the way. China added nearly 17 million cars last year, reports Ward’s; it now has roughly 78 million in all and has passed Japan for the world’s No. 2 car population. China accounted for nearly half of the entire global increase of 35.6 million vehicles — the second-largest annual spike in volume ever recorded, says Ward’s.

China was far from the only country to fill its roads. India experienced the second-highest percentile growth, 8.9 percent, pushing the country past 20 million cars in operation. Brazil added 2.5 million vehicles, second most to China in volume. While registration in the United States didn’t even rise a full percentage point, America’s car total still far outpaces the pack, with a vehicle population near 240 million — good for an ownership ratio of one car for every 1.3 Americans.

The global car population only stands to grow. U.S. cities may be reaching peak car capacity, but that’s certainly not the case in China. In discussing the Ward’s figures, Stephen Lacey at Climate Progress cites a report from the International Transport Forum that estimates a global vehicle fleet of 2.5 billion come 2050. Unless you’re Rick Perry, it’s not hard to see how damaging such a world would be to the environment. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.infrastructurist.com/2011/08/24/new-report-global-car-population-tops-1-billion/