
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995                   TAG: 9511170121
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FUTURE SHOCKS

A SMALL car that will use only a fraction of the Earth's nonrenewable fossil fuels and emit only a fraction of the noxious gases that pollute the atmosphere: Borrrrring.

An MG: Cute, sexy, fun to drive.

The MG is small. Does it get more miles per gallon than compact cars? Have lower emissions? No, but who cares? MG-lovers drive MGs because they want to, not because they are socially responsible. In that respect, they are like the vast majority of motorists in this country.

OK, how about a small car that's cute, sexy, fun to drive, and gets 70 to 105 m.p.g.? Now that would meet all kinds of needs.

It's possible, says Robert Q. Riley, an industrial designer writing in The Futurist magazine. And, he adds, it's necessary.

In 30 years, he writes, 1 billion cars will clog the world, compared with today's 400 million, using 21/2 times the energy - and exhausting all the Earth's economically recoverable oil.

Car-pooling and mass transit are environmentally friendly modes, but alone won't solve what looms as a crisis. They require a change in lifestyle for Americans accustomed to the freedom of going exactly where they want, when they want, in their own personal vehicle.

Making those personal vehicles more energy-efficient, but also safe and attractive - the status cars of the 21st century - could cut fuel use and emissions in half, and increase traffic flow in congested urban areas by as much as 70 percent. That's an attractive alternative to continually paving over land for more and wider roads.

The point, worth considering not just for the future, is to look for ways to marry mass transit and flexible freedom. Mass transit, such as passenger rail service or advanced smart roads, could complement the use of small commuter vehicles.

The French are working now to set up a public-private transportation network that would allow commuters to arrive by train, then use small electric vehicles to tool around Paris on their own schedule without having to pay for and maintain a car. It's a great idea. Bikes might do, as well.

by CNB