ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the differences and their social ecological ramifications. Intensified motorization that is, growing vehicle production and consumption per capita takes different forms around the world, as do its local consequence. Among nations the major car consumers are also the major producers, a group situated in more developed countries (MDC). In the group, there is national variability with regard to levels of urban motorized transport, as between the US and Japan. After World War II, the US Federal government promoted motorization through the construction of a vast interstate highway system and the marginalization of alternative modes of transport, resulting in auto-centred transport systems in most metropolitan areas. The systems became the mode of mobility for developing auto social formations, characterized by built environments of single-family dwellings accessed only by car through extensive road networks. Hyperautomobility is also demonstrated by changes in vehicle miles (VMT) or kilometres (VKT) travelled.
