The first part of this two-part paper raises some questions about the meaning and implications of 'car dependence', and argues that we are not dependent upon the car as such, but rather on what it provides. We err if we try to understand movement in isolation from everything else that a person, household or firm does. Reducing car use involves understanding and changing the choices made by people. This goes well beyond travel behaviour. These realities are not acknowledged in physical planning policies, which currently focus on creating greater accessibility so that the need to use private vehicles is reduced. The planning principles involved in these policies are not new, and the paper asks what is different now that will make them more successful than they were in a less mobile era. (a).
Abstract