Critical Crossroad: Advancing Global Opportunities to Transform Transportation

{
  "authors": [
    "Deborah Gordon",
    "Daniel Sperling"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie Europe"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "SCP",
  "programs": [
    "Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics"
  ],
  "projects": [
    "Carnegie Oil Initiative"
  ],
  "regions": [
    "North America",
    "United States",
    "South Asia",
    "India",
    "East Asia",
    "China",
    "Western Europe"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economy",
    "Climate Change"
  ]
}

In The Media

Critical Crossroad: Advancing Global Opportunities to Transform Transportation

Emerging countries must decide if they want to follow developed, auto-dependent nations down an unsustainable path or if they will instead transform their national transportation system to encourage environmentally and economically sound choices.

By Deborah Gordon and Daniel Sperling

Published on Oct 20, 2011

Source: European Financial Review

Critical Crossroad: Advancing Global OpportunitiesThe world is rapidly motorizing. At the start of the twenty-first century, some one billion vehicles occupied the roads. But this number will likely double in the next decade. By mid-century the Earth could be home to billions more cars, trucks, and motorized two-wheelers, which will collectively have profound effects on global oil demands, energy security, climate stability, and urban mobility.

We are at a critical crossroad. The global proliferation of vehicles presents many risks and opportunities. One seemingly easy way forward is to adopt last-century approaches that seek to accommodate the high demand for vehicles through cheap oil, free roads, sprawled development, and subsidized home ownership. A preferred alternative course beckons, however, one that promises new, low-carbon, location-efficient, economically productive mobility. Government, industry, and consumers—especially in emerging economies—can reinvent transportation models and employ innovative solutions to avoid a foreboding car monoculture.

About the Authors

Deborah Gordon

Former Director and Senior Fellow, Energy and Climate Program

Gordon was director of Carnegie’s Energy and Climate Program, where her research focuses on oil and climate change issues in North America and globally.

Daniel Sperling

Former Visiting Scholar , Energy and Climate Program

Sperling was a visiting scholar in the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment. He is professor of civil engineering and environmental science and policy at the University of California, Davis. He is also founding director of the university’s Institute of Transportation Studies.

Economy Climate Change North America United States South Asia India East Asia China Western Europe

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie India

Article
Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026
This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.
Vrinda Sahai
Commentary
India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem Is Maturing—and ASML Is Taking Notice
The ASML MoU with Tata Electronics is an indicator of how far the Indian semiconductor ecosystem has come. This ecosystem has been years in the making and represents real commercial logic.
Konark Bhandari
Paper
A Review of India's 2023 Space Policy and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
This paper examines the relationship between India’s evolving space policy and the corresponding growth in private space ventures. It analyzes both the enabling factors created by recent regulatory changes and the persistent challenges facing entrepreneurs in this capital-intensive, highly regulated industry.
Harshan Vazhakunnam
Article
India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways
A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.
Rajiv Bhatia
Commentary
The Unresolved Challenges in U.S.–India Semiconductor Cooperation
The U.S.–India semiconductor cooperation story is well-stocked with top-level strategic intent. What remains unresolved, however, are some underlying challenges that will determine whether the cooperation actually functions. Three such friction points stand out.
Shruti Mittal

More Work from Carnegie India

Article

Managing Divergence: India’s BRICS Presidency in 2026

This piece argues that India’s central challenge is not managing a single flashpoint but resolving the underlying tension between expansion and institutional coherency of the BRICS grouping.

Vrinda Sahai

Commentary

India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem Is Maturing—and ASML Is Taking Notice

The ASML MoU with Tata Electronics is an indicator of how far the Indian semiconductor ecosystem has come. This ecosystem has been years in the making and represents real commercial logic.

Konark Bhandari

Paper

A Review of India's 2023 Space Policy and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

This paper examines the relationship between India’s evolving space policy and the corresponding growth in private space ventures. It analyzes both the enabling factors created by recent regulatory changes and the persistent challenges facing entrepreneurs in this capital-intensive, highly regulated industry.

Harshan Vazhakunnam

Article

India–Africa Strategic Partnership: Challenges, Potential, and Possible Pathways

A partnership between India, a country of subcontinental size, and Africa, a continent of fifty-four countries, may seem asymmetric until one notes that both are home to nearly the same number of people—1.4 billion. This essay spells out the existing challenges to the partnership, its optimal potential, and the possible pathways to realize it over the next quarter-century.

Rajiv Bhatia

Commentary

The Unresolved Challenges in U.S.–India Semiconductor Cooperation

The U.S.–India semiconductor cooperation story is well-stocked with top-level strategic intent. What remains unresolved, however, are some underlying challenges that will determine whether the cooperation actually functions. Three such friction points stand out.

Shruti Mittal