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Sara Novak reports that according to a recent study, “badly tuned” cars and trucks make up one quarter of the vehicles on the road, but cause 95 percent of black carbon, also known as soot, 93 percent of carbon monoxide, and 76 percent of volatile organic chemicals like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes. “The most surprising thing we found was how broad the range of emissions was,” says Greg Evans. “As we looked at the exhaust coming out of individual vehicles, we saw so many variations. How you drive, hard acceleration, age of the vehicle, how the car is maintained – these are things we can influence that can all have an effect on pollution.”
Researchers at the University of Toronto looked at 100,000 cars as they drove past air sampling probes on one of Toronto’s major roads. An automated identification and integration method was applied to high time resolution air pollutant measurements of in-use vehicle emissions performed under real-world conditions at a near-road monitoring station in Toronto, Canada during four seasons, through month-long campaigns in 2013–2014. Based on carbon dioxide measurements, over 100 000 vehicle-related plumes were automatically identified and fuel-based emission factors for nitrogen oxides; carbon monoxide; particle number, black carbon; benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX); and methanol were determined for each plume.
Evans and his team found that policy changes need to better target cars that are causing the majority of the air pollution. “The ultrafine particles are particularly troubling,” says Evans. “Because they are over 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, they have a greater ability to penetrate deeper within the lung and travel in the body.”
(Score: 4, Informative) by Thexalon on Friday May 08 2015, @12:11PM
Yes, I think it's quite possible, so long as you meet 3 conditions:
1. Keep it cheaper than driving.
2. Go to where people need to travel.
3. Be reliable on your scheduling.
There are public transit systems that mostly succeed at this, New York City being the most notable example.
I've commuted by bus before as well, and was on time at about the same rate as those who drove and saved myself about $50 a month even not accounting for the cost of owning a car.
But you're right that it is at least partially psychological rather than practical. There's a widespread belief among white-collar people that the public transit is just there for those who can't afford a car. In some areas, that translates to "I won't go near a bus, there might be those people on board." (varying definitions of those people, but it definitely comes up when I've discussed this issue). There are cities and counties where they've refused to allow fantastic proposed public transit service through their area because they're certain that would bring those people into their communities.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by sudo rm -rf on Friday May 08 2015, @01:22PM
>Yes, I think it's quite possible, so long as you meet 3 conditions
>1. Keep it cheaper than driving.
>2. Go to where people need to travel.
>3. Be reliable on your scheduling.
I think Berlin (Germany) does.
There's a nice map [fahrinfo.vbb.de] of Berlin with live data of all public transport. To show the buses, first check the checkbox next to "Bus" in the column "Fahrten", then zoom in. It even shows the delay for every bus. When I need to take a bus - something I strongly recommend¹ to everyone living in or visiting Berlin - I sometimes check beforehand if I would reach the bus.
¹ Several reasons:
All bus lines starting with an M (eg M129) usually come every 5-10 Minutes at least from 08:00 to 19:00.
You will see a lot of the city.
The buses are usually not overcrowded. (Except this week, when the railroad unions are going on strike. That is also the reason you will see only 1/3 of the S-Bahn-transit on the map)
Not very expensive (2.60€ for a single 2-hour trip in one direction).
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday May 08 2015, @01:42PM
When I was visiting Berlin a few years ago, I got around quite happily on the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, including getting out to Potsdam. I'd recommend it to anybody.
However, I'm also enough of an oddball to enjoy walking around the Tiergarten in January.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @04:23PM
"saved myself about $50 a month even not accounting for the cost of owning a car."
Saved yourself $50/month in opposed to ... walking? Renting a car? Taking a cab? Motorcycle?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday May 08 2015, @04:53PM
At the time, I owned a car, so I could have driven it to work. Much of the cost for doing that would have been parking near the office, which was in an urban center, so the calculation was basically parking + gas - bus fare.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.