Carbon Neutrality

As scientific evidence of global warming accumulates, the truly worrisome part of it is that its impacts are largely unforeseeable. More civic and political interest in ways to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions comes into play. This is true even as the carbon-oblivious Bush Era draws to a close. Next January’s 2009 TRB – the annual meeting of the U.S. National Academy of Science’s Transportation Research Board – has as its theme Climate Change and Energy Use.

Waste

With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the U.S. is estimated to generate 22 percent of global GHG emissions. As a nation, we do just about everything with motorized devices. We over-consume and waste even more. We fly everywhere for visits, vacations and flings. We hop in cars, trucks, motorcycles, vans and SUVs, routinely filling the nation’s highways and streets with fume-spewing traffic. Personal transport is estimated to generate 20 percent of GHG emissions in the U.S. There is much room for improvement. Electrically powered vehicles are the answer, especially if the source is solar or wind.

Public transport makes up a miserably small portion of U.S. urban travel. It is routinely estimated to be only 2-3 percent of the nationwide total. It is, of course, higher in New York and other large rail-served cities, so that in most other areas – such as suburbs, small towns, and resort/retirement regions it is lower. In large European cities it is 20 percent or more, providing the added benefits that transit-oriented life styles encourage healthful walking. Transit-orientation encourages people to live at energy-efficient higher densities, which translate into shorter trips.

Inter-city and cross-country travel is another major GHG generator. Highways and air travel dominate. Amtrak’s share of the overall market is miniscule. The potential for intercity service based on PRT’s on-demand, non-stop service is huge. A batch of passengers going from Syracuse to Cincinnati could get there in one self-guided vehicle in a few hours. To do it by Amtrak takes perhaps several days!

Closer to home in Upstate New York, last February Cornell University pledged to work towards carbon neutrality as a good neighbor to the very environmentally active community of Ithaca. The second international Podcar City conference will take place there September 14-16. This landmark conference will explore innovative ways to connect urban neighborhoods and districts in GHG-smart ways.

APMs are powerful tools in the menu of policy and project options as part of the response to threats of global warming and climate change. Existing metros can be upgraded to provide higher levels of reliable and comfortable service. APMs can provide effective feeders to metro stations and also act as circulators and connectors with commercial districts. APMs can function in smaller cities and towns where the scale of conventional rail transit is not appropriate. APMs should raise the mode share of transit ten-fold in 20 years, induce walking and biking to further replace car trips and their GHGs.