Automobiles are a major contributor to global warming. Their pollution also causes severe health problems for many. Traffic congestion, is already costing us an estimated $168 billion annually in lost productivity, and it is expected to triple in coming years, wasting more productivity and fuel and worsening our air quality. (Barker, 2003, p.162). Our auto habits have caused increasing dependency on oil imports, much of it coming from unstable parts of the world. Today, we import more than 54% of our petroleum needs, and this number is estimated to reach more than 60% by the year 2010. The cost of oil imports to U.S. consumers totals some $50 billion annually. In addition to the cost of oil imports, the cost of productivity loss, and the cost of congestion, we must add the other social costs of transportation, such as traffic deaths and injuries and pollution. (Barker, 2003, p.162). Some communities have found a promising new course for their transportation problems. They intend to invest in Eco-friendly vehicles that either run on two sources of fuel which includes fossil fuels, or vehicles that run solely on cleaner energy sources, such as hydrogen, electric, bio-diesel, etc.
Types of green vehicles include vehicles that move fully or partly on alternative energy sources rather than fossil fuel. Another option is to use alternative fuel composition in conventional fossil fuel-based vehicles, making them go partly on renewable energy sources. A conventional vehicle can become a greener vehicle of a sort by mixing in renewable fuels. Typical gasoline cars can handle up to 15% ethanol. There are some places that have built cars that run strictly on ethanol, but another option is a flexible-fuel vehicle, which allows a varying mixture (often up to 85%, sometimes up to 100%).
An electric car is a type of alternative fuel car that utilizes electric motors and motor controllers instead of an internal combustion engine (ICE). The electric power is usually derived from battery packs in the vehicle. In general terms an electric car is a rechargeable battery electric vehicle.
Vehicles using both electric motors and other types of engine are known as hybrid electric vehicles and are not considered pure electric vehicles (EVs) because they operate in a charge-sustaining mode. Hybrid vehicles with batteries that can be charged externally to displace are called plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and are pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs) during their charge-depleting mode. Electric vehicles include automobiles, light trucks, and neighborhood electric vehicles.
A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen as its on-board fuel for motive power. The term may refer to a personal transportation vehicle, such as an automobile, or any other vehicle that uses hydrogen in a similar fashion, such as an aircraft. The power plants of such vehicles convert the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy (torque) in one of two methods: combustion, or electrochemical conversion in a fuel-cell: In combustion, the hydrogen is burned in engines in fundamentally the same method as traditional gasoline (petrol) cars. In fuel-cell conversion, the hydrogen is reacted with oxygen to produce water and electricity, the latter of which is used to power an electric traction motor.
Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel consisting of short chain alkyl (methyl or ethyl) esters, made by transesterification of vegetable oil or animal fat (tallow), which can be used (alone, or blended with conventional petrodiesel) in unmodified diesel-engine vehicles. Biodiesel is distinguished from the straight vegetable oil (SVO) (sometimes referred to as "waste vegetable oil", "WVO", "used vegetable oil", "UVO", "pure plant oil", "PPO") used (alone, or blended) as fuels in some converted diesel vehicles. "Biodiesel" is standardized as mono-alkyl ester and other kinds of diesel-grade fuels of biological origin are not included.
Public Transport
Public Transportation, while maybe not as enjoyable as commuting in your own personal vehicle, does ease congestion, reduce emissions, and give you plenty of quality time to people watch, as well as get to know your “neighbors.” In addition, public transportation allows you to relax, read or nap during that commute instead of fighting and stressing and feeling the road rage.
Public transportation or mass transit are transport systems that transport members of the general public, usually charging set fares. Public transport may be regulated as a common carrier and usually provides scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis, although share taxis provide an ad-hoc form of flexible public transport and taxicabs provide a pre-bookable form of public shared transport. Taxicabs and other vehicles for hire are generally fully flexible. The majority of transit passengers are traveling within a local area or region between their homes and places of employment, shopping, or schools.
Personal rapid transit (PRT), or podcar, is a public transportation concept that offers on-demand, non-stop transportation, using small, independent vehicles on a network of specially-built guideways. Several different designs have been proposed, and as of 2008, at least one, a pilot project at London Heathrow Airport based on ULTra, is under construction. All current designs are powered by electricity or magnetic levitation.
Public transportation:
- Offers freedom of mobility, accessibility, opportunity, and choice for people in all walks of life;
- Benefits communities through increased business revenues, growing property values, and more tax revenues;
- Creates and sustains jobs -- 47,500 for each billion dollars invested—and yields a six-fold return on public investments;
- Supports healthy, livable communities with vibrant business and employment centers;
- Provides environmentally responsible and safe mobility choices that reduce traffic congestion, noise, air pollution, and associated public health risks;
- Supports mixed land use and sustainable development that combat sprawl;
Improves a community’s ability to respond to emergencies and security threats; and - Makes the entire transportation system work better for all its users—people and freight.
With these striking benefits, we need to make public transportation more widely available. Nearly half of U.S. households do not have access to satisfactory public transportation services. With the growth and aging of our population, public transportation becomes ever more important to support and maintain the mobility of all our citizens.
Alternative Transport
Carpool
Whether you are a student, faculty or staff member, carpooling can save you time and money. You save time when you share the ride in freeway carpool lanes. By sharing the cost of a gas and other car-related expenses, you save money. Find carpool partners who live near you and commute similar hours by registering with the UCLA-exclusive online carpool matching system. Then apply together for a reduced fee carpool parking permit and you'll really get more smiles-per-gallon.
10 Tips for Successful Carpooling
- Determine your route and schedule. Establish the morning pickup point(s) and designate a place(s) to meet for the trip home.
- Draw up a schedule for driving responsibilities. If all members of your carpool alternate driving, decide among yourselves if you want to alternate on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
- Establish a method for reimbursing driving expenses. If all members of your carpool do not share the driving equally, come to an understanding of how the costs will be shared and agree on payment dates.
- Be punctual. Decide how long the driver is expected to wait. When home pickups are utilized, do not disturb everyone in the neighborhood by honking if a rider is running a few minutes late.
- Establish policies. Smoking or nonsmoking; music and volume; food and drinks. Your carpool will have a better chance of success if possible irritants are discussed.
- Make carpooling serve its purpose. If it is for commuting to and from work or school, do not let it become a shopping or errand service.
- Establish a chain of communication. If a driver is ill, or will not be going to work one day, an alternate driver should be notified to ensure that other members of the carpool will have a ride. If a member is ill or will not be working, the driver must be contacted as soon as possible. Carry a card with every member's name, work and home phone number.
- Drive carefully and keep the vehicle in good repair. This includes keeping the vehicle clean and safe. There are others involved. There should be no excuse for excessive speed, use of alcohol, or reckless maneuvers.
- Respect your fellow carpooler's wishes, especially in the morning when some people like a time of quiet.
- If you lose a member of your carpool, change your ride status in AlterNetRides to OPEN for help in finding a replacement.
Biking / Walking
The potential for bicycling and walking as alternatives to auto-travel mainly depend on three factors: trip distance, route-safety, and weather conditions. In the U.S., biking and walking are primarily used for recreation, exercise, and non-utilitarian travel. Bicycling and walking represent viable alternatives to most single occupancy vehicle trips. Each trip shifted from a single occupancy vehicle to a bicycle or to walking results in a 100 percent reduction in vehicle emissions for that trip. A shift of automobile trips to either bicycle or walk trips has a direct, positive impact in that trip emissions are reduced by 100 percent. Bicycling and walking realistically can substitute for relatively short trips which make up approximately 60 percent of all trips (i.e., generally less than five miles in length). Although the amount of saved vehicle miles traveled (VMT) may be small, the air emissions benefits can be quite large because cold start and hot soak emissions comprise a large proportion of emissions from a vehicle trip. Cold start and hot soak trip-end emissions comprise 75 percent of a 5-mile auto trip, 61 percent of a 10-mile trip, and 45 percent of a 20-mile trip of the vehicles total emissions.
Biking and walking are cost-effective solutions to society at large and to individuals. Society and individuals benefit from every commute trip shifted from single occupancy vehicles to bicycles or walking because of reductions in the following:
- Vehicle expenses
- Costs associated with municipal services devoted to vehicle traffic
- Air, noise, and water pollution
- Resource consumption
- Barrier effect (the effect motor traffic imposes on pedestrian and bicycle mobility)
- Land use impacts waste disposal
References
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Studies: Concepts, Connections, and Controversies
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