Automobiles are also known as motor vehicles. Motor vehicles include several types such as motorcycle, Sedan cars, sports cars, SUV, MPV, 4x4 jeep, trucks and etc. This project focuses on the problem of too many vehicles in Brunei.
Problems:
Social and Cultural Aspect
Many locals use big cars such as SUVs and four wheel drives which can carry a lot of passengers. Small size cars are popular in Brunei as they consume less fuel than bigger sized cars. The small sized cars have small capacity engines limit the fuel usage and combustion while big cars tend to have large capacity engines. Large capacity engines will consume a large amount of fuel as well as produce more soot and carbon dioxide to the environment.
High capacity engines will work at great performance but they need large amounts of fuel in order to carry out their functions. The latest cars now have several features to save on fuel. Fuel injectors limit the burning of fuel in the engine and indirectly reduce the rate of combustion of the fuel. Fuel saving system provides more efficient fuel saving. Catalytic converters can also be fitted into newer cars which convert harmful gases into safer gases but do not reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the car.
However locals keep buying cars. Travel demand in the country grows as the population increases and correspondingly, vehicle numbers increase annually. Bruneians are not used to public transport and prefer to have their own car to travel to destinations near or far. Plus, in Brunei the taxi service is expensive and the buses are not well maintained and on time.
Economic Aspects
In Brunei, most cars are imported from Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Europe. The majority are imported from Asia, perhaps due to the lower prices. The quality of cars made from Europe may be considered better due to technology and designs of European cars, which also makes them expensive.
Currently, small cars tend to be the top selling as the price is low. Low fuel prices encourage locals to use private cars rather than using public transport. This is possibly why Brunei has a high rate of fuel consumption.
Infrastructure, Governance, Legal Aspects
In Brunei, there is no law which limits the amount of cars that a family can own. Therefore most people own more cars than they need.
Environmental Aspects
The number and size of cars in the country can have an adverse effect on the environment. Cars produce carbon dioxide and the bigger the vehicle, the more gas is produced, therefore contributing to global warming unneccessarily. Some prefer to use big cars with diesel fuelled engines. Combustion of diesel produces more soot particles and more carbon dioxide than cars using petrol as its fuel.
Solutions:
Social and Cultural Aspects
More locals should use public transport, this helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions and can help save money from buying fuel and paying for vehicle maintenance. It is also useful to encourage people to share (car-pooling).
Infrastructure
The Land Transport Department can possibly limit the number of cars that a family can have. Before buying a car, a simple family data and detailed documents of cars already owned by the family should be proposed. Other than that, the Land Transport Department can also put in force for all car dealers to import new cars that emits less global warming gases, such as hybrid cars.
Economics
The payment of road taxes and insurance should depend on the car engine. The higher the engine capacity, the more the owner should pay. Since these types of cars are only capable of being purchases by well financed people, they should be able to pay for the amount of carbon dioxide they produce as well.
Environment
Carbon dioxide is taken up by trees or plants in a process called photosynthesis. All the trees that have been cut should be replanted back.
