While cheap U.S. gas encourages driving, in Europe, Canada and Australia motorists pay $2 to $4 in taxes per gallon, restraining driving and boosting the health of cities and economic well-being. Combine true pricing with good transit and you lessen car dependency.


Jane Holtz Kay, an author, journalist and architecture critic for The Nation, has written widely on the built and natural environment. Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America, and How We Can Take It Back. New York: Crown, 1997. p. 346-47