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Plan to Reduce Air Pollution Chokes in Mexico City

posted by mrpg on Sunday February 05 2017, @05:31AM   
from the smog-is-smug dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Decades ago Mexico City's air pollution was so poor, birds would fall out of the sky -- dead. Locals said living there was like smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, according to one report. In response, Mexico City took several steps to try to improve air quality including restricting driving one or two days during the weekdays. The program has had negligible results.

In 2008, the city added driving restrictions on Saturdays in hopes of moving the needle but according to new research by Lucas W. Davis, an associate professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, extending the program one more day also isn't working.

[...] To determine the impact of Saturday restrictions, Davis analyzed hourly air pollution data from 29 monitoring stations around Mexico City from 2005 to 2012. He studied emission levels for carbon monoxide; nitric oxide; nitrogen dioxide; nitrogen oxide; ozone; large particulates; small particulates; and sulfur dioxide. None of these pollutants decreased as a result of Saturday driving restrictions.

[...] "People have found other ways to get around the driving restrictions," says Davis. "Some purchase multiple cars, others take taxis or Uber."

[...] "Test every car, test every year. If you have a car that's polluting the air, you can't drive it. Period," says Davis.

-- submitted from IRC

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Original Submission

• Stop driving old cars? Stop driving old cars? (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 05 2017, @05:49AM

  by Runaway1956 (2926) on Sunday February 05 2017, @05:49AM (#463030) Journal

  Buy a second car? If your car pollutes, you can't drive it?

  This IS Mexico being written about? Mexico has a lot of great attractions, but, Mexico has also had the shitty end of the stick in many ways. Starting with a capitalistic next door neighboer, and ending with successive corrupt governments, with the drug cartels stuck somewhere in the mix, Mexicans are generally screwed.

  For as long as there have been cars, Mexicans have had to "make do" with whatever they have to work with. New cars, and even car parts, are priced out of the average family's reach. So, they "make do" with ancient vehicles, and whatever bits and pieces will make the car run a while longer.

  Mexico isn't nearly as bad as some third world countries, but they aren't exactly first world, either.

  Good luck with convincing Mexicans to scrap vehicles that can still be made to run.

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• Stop driving [most] cars! (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @10:29AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @10:29AM (#463074)

  Curitiba, Brazil: The City of the Future (for decades now) [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [wikipedia.org]

  In 1964, Mayor Ivo Arzua solicited proposals for urban design. Architect Jaime Lerner, who later became mayor, led a team from the Universidade Federal do Paraná that suggested strict controls on urban sprawl, reduced traffic in the downtown area, preservation of Curitiba's Historic Sector, and a convenient and affordable public transit system.
  [...]
  Curitiba has more car owners per capita than anywhere else in Brazil . The population has doubled since 1974, yet auto traffic declined by 30%, and atmospheric pollution is the lowest in Brazil.

  -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  Parent