We humans like our wars. We have a war on drugs, a war on terror, a war on crime and now, it seems, a war on cars.

The latter B次元官网网址渨arB次元官网网址� has entered the political vocabulary in Vancouver, where city council has been trying to reduce reliance on private automobiles; in Toronto, where the mayor is driving the agenda in the opposite direction; and in Seattle, where bike lanes and increased parking fees have come under fire. In the U.K., theyB次元官网网址檝e been calling it a war on motorists.

ItB次元官网网址檚 not really much of a war, though. If anything, itB次元官网网址檚 just a bit of catch-up to create better public spaces and to allow room for more sensible forms of transportation in our car-dominated cities. LetB次元官网网址檚 take a look at some of the battlefields B次元官网网址� and the casualties.

In Vancouver, opponents and local media predicted B次元官网网址渃haosB次元官网网址� from a bike lane on the Burrard Bridge, which connects the cityB次元官网网址檚 downtown with the West Side. After the chaos failed to emerge, opponents, rather than learning from experience, went on to predict the same thing for other bike lanes in the city, mostly in the downtown core.

Despite a few bumps, the chaos has yet to reveal itself. At the same time, the provincial government is spending $3 billion on a new 10-lane bridge and expanded highways to move cars and trucks in and out of the city.

In Seattle, in addition to a few new bike lanes and a slight increase in downtown parking rates, politicians are considering spending $7 billion on a new bridge and a new tunnel to keep the cars and trucks moving.

Nowhere has the term been more ubiquitous than in Toronto, where it became a rallying cry leading up to and during last yearB次元官网网址檚 civic election.

Numerous headlines in business-friendly newspapers raised the alarm about the CityB次元官网网址檚 war on cars, with one newspaper even referring to it as a B次元官网网址渘utty war on cars.B次元官网网址�

It was all because the city council of the day was spending money on public transit and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and, according to opponents, not enough B次元官网网址渢o make it easier for cars to move throughout the city.B次元官网网址�

Rob Ford, who won the election to become TorontoB次元官网网址檚 mayor, campaigned on ending the war and, in his first speech after taking office, announced, B次元官网网址淟adies and gentlemen, the war on the car stops today.B次元官网网址�

He had already declared a new war B次元官网网址渙n the streetcarB次元官网网址� and promised to rip up bike lanes.

Part of FordB次元官网网址檚 battle includes ending the CityB次元官网网址檚 transit plan, even though the City has already spent $137 million on it and committed to another $1.3 billion in contracts. The plan, seven years in the making, had also received funding commitments from the provincial and federal governments.

If there is or has been a war on cars, the cars are winning. Cars B次元官网网址� often with a single occupant B次元官网网址� still rule our cities and roadways, and theyB次元官网网址檙e still relatively inexpensive to operate. And despite minor reductions in parking in cities such as Vancouver to make way for bike and pedestrian infrastructure, most North American cities still devote way more valuable land to parking spaces than necessary.

In the U.S., there are eight parking spaces for every car. We also devote an incredible amount of real estate to our ever-expanding road systems, often at the expense of public spaces.

As for casualties, 32 per cent of the 44,192 accidental deaths in Canada between 2000 and 2004 were from motor-vehicle accidents, 70 per cent in the 15 to 24 age group, according to Statistics Canada.

Add to that the numerous injuries caused by vehicle accidents B次元官网网址� often caused when cars come into contact with pedestrians and cyclists B次元官网网址� and you get a pretty good idea of which side has the upper hand in this B次元官网网址渨ar.B次元官网网址� And, much of the health-damaging pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change comes from private automobiles.

So, if there were a war on cars, we would have to conclude that people are on the losing end. Of course, there is no war on cars. The only battle regarding cars is a propaganda war, and, as Guardian writer George Monbiot points out, itB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渁bout private interests trumping the public interest, about allowing people to pursue their desires, regardless of the cost to society.B次元官网网址�

Maybe itB次元官网网址檚 time we really did wage a wars on cars.