[sustran] Re: Transit pass - Best Weapon Against Climate Change?

[Todd Alexander Litman]

There is also research indicating that high 
quality public transit (such as rail transit and 
bus rapid transit) has a leverage effect on 
travel behavior, but stimulating the development 
of more accessible, multi-modal communities where 
people own fewer motor vehicles and drive less 
than in more automobile-dependent communities. 
Research by myself and others indicates that each 
passenger-mile of transit travel can reduce 2-7 
vehicle-miles of driving (see "Evaluating Public 
Transit Benefits and Costs" http://www.vtpi.org/tranben.pdf , Table 6).


Best wishes,
-Todd Litman

At 04:35 PM 10/16/2007, Lee Schipper wrote:
>The transit savings are real as long as no new 
>buses need to be put on line. Until the late 
>1990s (and from the late 1970s), the AVERAGe 
>Transit bus emitted more CO2/pass-km than the 
>AVERAGE car because buses were mostly empty 
>while cars made admirable improvements. Since 
>the run up of oil prices, however transit 
>ridership per bus or train has picked up 
>admirably (albeit tiny compared with Europe) 
>while car emissions per passenger km have stagnated.
>
>
>Now let's look at the numbers. 20 pounds of CO2 
>(call it 8 kg) is what you emit in a car of 250 
>gm/km moving 32 km, which sounds like an average commute for an American.
>
>On the other hand, a more efficient refrigerator 
>also saves capital for power production and 
>saves peak power.. and we can expect that 50 mn 
>more efficient refrigerators and other 
>improvements to our 120 million households over 
>the next ten years will add up to far more, 
>because (sadly) we don't really expect 50 
>million daily commuters to switch to transit, at least not for a while.
>
>In other words, big deal. We need it all!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: 
>sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org 
>[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+schipper=wri.org at list.jca.apc.org] 
>On Behalf Of Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory
>Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:21 PM
>To: Carfree Cities; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
>Subject: [sustran] Transit pass - Best Weapon Against Climate Change?
>
>The new report released by the American Public Transportation
>Association makes some interesting comparisons about various ways to
>reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases.
>
>Excerpt:
>
>"While it is very important to employ environmentally-friendly household
>activities, commuting by public transportation makes a more substantial
>impact. An individual switching to public transit can reduce their daily
>carbon emissions by 20 pounds; that's more than 4,800 pounds in a year.
>This is far greater than the many actions people are being encouraged to
>take, for instance;
>
>     *
>
>       Home weatherizing and adjusting the thermostat for heating and
>       cooling saves 2,847 pounds of carbon per year. Transit use saves
>       almost twice the carbon.
>
>     *
>
>       Replacing five incandescent bulbs to lower wattage compact
>       fluorescent lamps saves 445 pounds of CO2 per year. Transit use
>       saves more than ten times the CO2.
>
>     *
>
>       Replacing an older refrigerator freezer with a high efficient one
>       saves 335 pounds of CO2 per year. Taking public transportation
>       saves more than fourteen times the carbon."
>
>See here: <http://greenideafactory.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post.html>
>
>--
>--------------------------------------------
>
>Todd Edelman
>Director
>Green Idea Factory
>
>Korunní 72
>CZ-10100 Praha 10
>Czech Republic
>
>Skype: toddedelman
>++420 605 915 970
>++420 222 517 832
>
>edelman at greenidea.eu
>http://greenideafactory.blogspot.com/
>www.flickr.com/photos/edelman
>
>Green Idea Factory is a member of World Carfree Network
>www.worldcarfree.net
>
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Sincerely,
Todd Alexander Litman
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org)
litman at vtpi.org
Phone & Fax 250-360-1560
1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
“Efficiency - Equity - Clarity”