The fundamental aims of sustainable urban development and the pro-automobile
oriented economic development are on a collision course. It is obvious that
automobile-dependent urban development is under heavy/powerful influence of
the automobile lobby (automobile and oil industries, along with
construction). In this domain famous land-use-transportation studies (or
?grand transportation studies?) are, unfortunately, still prevailing - a
vicious circle of self-fulfilling prophecy of congestion, road building,
sprawl, congestion and more road building. Until recently, it was commonly
thought that investment in public transport was not economically sustainable
and that focusing on the development of the automobile industry and financing
the construction of roadways stimulated economic growth. In this paper we
clearly show that automobile industry is now overcapitalized, less profitable
than many other industries (and may become even less profitable in the
future), that transport market is characterized with huge distortions (more
than a third of motor-vehicle use can be explained by underpriced driving),
while new road investment does not have a major impact on economic growth
(especially in a region with an already well-developed infrastructure), and
that pro-automobile transport strategy inexorably incurs harmful global,
regional and local ecological consequences.
Will Bus Subsidy in Indonesia Sustainable?