While more people opt for travel by car and private transport, the number of passengers that trains and buses can carry has also been reduced to meet social distancing guidelines. This means that people from different households must keep one to two metres apart. So, once a seat is taken, surrounding seats must be left empty.
This has had a profound effect on the climate impact of train and car travel. When running at normal capacity, public transport is more environmentally friendly than travelling by car. Although a train or bus can produce more C0₂ than a car, they transport far more people, so emissions per person are lower overall.
But under social distancing conditions, and assuming that any unfilled seats correspond to a commuter driving to work instead, diesel-powered public transport produces more C0₂ emissions per passenger than a small car.
Can passengers be seated so public transportation can be more efficient than cars while maintaining social distancing?
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday July 18 2020, @06:05PM (4 children)
Another interesting COVID issue is related to shopping patterns.
"Back in the good old days" if I ran out of something I needed today to cook, I'd hit the store, which is some kind of environmental impact.
Now I just wait for my weekly "curbside delivery" of baskets of food or the UPS driver on his regular route tosses it out of the truck tomorrow, much less gas burnt per calorie delivered.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 18 2020, @06:29PM
The fuck do I care about gas burned per calorie? I want to see and feel the food I purchase, not wait for the daily allocated ration to get dropped off at my house.
(Score: 2) by legont on Sunday July 19 2020, @04:08AM (2 children)
Don't forget impulsive shopping wich used to account for 30-50% of the total. They did move things around in stories for a reason.
If we do get 30% persistent consumption decrease, it will have a huge impact on many things.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday July 19 2020, @10:34AM (1 child)
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 20 2020, @12:14PM