OK, so first let me say that this is only an idea and that the wheels are still spinning in my head. I also acknowledge that getting something like this to work might be incredibly complex and difficult, but so be it.
Much concern is often put on how we drive cars. Many would argue we drive them too much, they're too big and there are too many of them. The latter may very well be (among others) a factor of wanting to drive by one's self. If you have four people who don't want to share a vehicle, they could go out and by their own. Now there are four vehicles on the road instead of one.
That's four times the GHG emissions, four times the congestion, four times worse air pollution and probably four times of a lot more other stuff. But what if we could reduce that.
Carpooling is slowly becoming a popular, or at least encouraged, thing to do. Carpool lanes are common on the main thoroughfares in many of North America's major urban centres, although they are often not enforced properly. Carpooling is also encouraged by many workplaces and online carpool networks are in existence where people can find convenient ways to carpool to and from regions.
Still, such methods seem to be of little match for the beast that is North Americans' feeling of entitlement to driving a car by themselves. It is a freeing experience. You can listen to your own music, go where you want, be safe from the weather and ultimately feel in control of your journey.
So what if the government were to implement an aggressive program to not only encourage carpooling or taking alternative transportation, but also severely discourage driving by one's self?
I propose a tax or penalty system. That is, people who drive by themselves would be taxed or fined. A law could be written that would require a special permit to drive by one's self, which could be set at a specific price. If people feel the need to drive by themselves, they could pay for a permit. Vehicles could be identified as having a "single-occupant" permit by placing tags on the license plate, similarly to insurance tags.
If one is caught driving by themselves without a permit, they could be fined at rates similar to speeding tickets or even harsher depending on the level of disincentive needed to change people's behaviour. The program could also recognize the need for people to drive by themselves sometimes, such as an emergency, and each non-permit vehicle could be allocated a series of 'emergency' coupons whereby they wouldn't get fined. However, if found to have been used in a non-emergency matter, serious penalties could be applied as to discourage misuse.
I can immediately tell that criticism to such an idea might stem from the issue of enforcement. It is true that such a policy might be difficult to enforce. But if tags are clearly displayed, police officers on routine patrol would easily be able to tell whether or not someone is legally driving by themselves.
All the permits sold could be put directly into alternative transportation projects, such as public transportation or bike lanes/paths. The revenue from fines could also be allocated to such programs but also be shared with the police service as to encourage effective enforcement.
Special exemptions could be made for particular businesses that are deemed to require travelling by one's self, such as electricians' vehicles or other workers who may need to carry a lot of equipment.
This could be done as a municipal bylaw (which would be difficult to enforce because of out-of-town travellers) or as a provincial or national law (which would work well with the car licensing programs).
I imagine there would be a lot of opposition (automakers, for one) to such a policy, but it could be effective.
What do you think?
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