 |
|
Getting people out of cars
Parking and traffic might be more important than the price of gas.Couple of driving-related tidbits from the past week: Washington, D.C. just built a brand spanking new ball park. They didn’t build many parking lots to go alongside the ball park, opting instead to provide a free bike valet, enhance the nearby subway station, and add a ton of bus service. They also ran an advertising campaign asking people not to drive to the park. Many predicted various bad things that would happen as a result of the lack of parking. Here’s what actually happened: on opening night, 21,492 baseball fans (out of a total of 25,000) took a train to the ball game and watched the Nationals beat the Braves in an auspicious debut for their new stadium. Nearby parking lots remained conspicuously unfilled. Meanwhile, further north, the New York City Council finally approved Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan. There’s still one more hurdle to clear, but it looks increasingly likely that New York will be the first U.S. city to institute a fee for driving in the city center, modeled on similar successful plans in Europe. (The mayor of London just proposed raising the congestion fee to $50 for some gas guzzlers.) I mention these two things by way of echoing Ryan Avent’s point that gas taxes are not the only or even necessarily the best way to reduce driving. There are other costs of driving — parking and traffic among them — and these costs right now tend not to be borne by drivers. Parking is heavily subsidized, and congestion affects other people more heavily than it affects the person causing it. Simultaneously making parking and congestion more expensive while also enhancing public transportation can make a real difference. Image by Flickr user Ardyiii. Tags: Congestion pricing, Driving, Gas, Parking
Further reading
Like this article? Get weekly updates by email!
CommentsThe environmental impact of driving is classic tragedy of the commons material. Making individuals accountable for their actions - via higher costs to that individual - is the only way to counteract the tragedy. Please take a look at our petition to ask Google to add bicycle directions to google maps. thanks. I think it is a great idea as I am a HUGE baseball fan as well. But I am also doing my part as I bought a new item on the market and tested it myself at my buddy gas station. My emissions were crazy high in NOx and HC’s after only 5 tanks of gas my emissions went down over 80% and I will be checking it again to see how much more they might drop. I am very impressed as I like to stay ahead of the curve on technology and these guys I believe have done that with Going GREEN . Oh I also increased my MPG by almost 25% on my Chrysler Cirrus. Check out the site at www.VortexFuelSaver.com If you want to be GREEN and walk the walk it is a no brainer. Congestion pricing’s already made a nice dent in London’s congestion — more people are Tubing it or biking it (the Brompton folding bike being the commuting tool of choice among many biking Londoners; electrified bikes are also getting popular). 6.
Comment by Maggie Riley
@ Apr 9, 2008 10 AM
 I agree that congestion and parking are big issues - they affect quality of life and idling engines concentrated in cities and traffic jams cause increased and unnecessary pollution (what exactly is necessary pollution, I wonder?), gas consumption, CO2 emissions, etc. The excess pavement causes more heat to be reflected, changing city micro-climate, and prevents rainwater from infiltrating the soil, contributing to local drought as aquifers are drawn down. More public transit and better city planning will certainly help - and this stadium story is a great example! Planning transit to connect with large event venues, connecting commuter trains to airports, major shopping areas, etc. Also continuing the current trend of mixed use zoning - apartments/condos above retail - is great! I used to live in downtown Pasadena in one of those apartments - last Christmas I did all my shopping on foot! That made it so much less stressful, let me tell you. Another wonderful tool in the arsenal of battling these environmental and life quality issues is one that gets disparaged often as a Yuppie toy, but should be looked at seriously be environmentally conscious folks as an alternative to short commutes/trips to the store, etc. The Segway! My husband commuted to work on his Segway for several years in Pasadena, and by doing so he reduced emissions (we had green power at home to recharge it - and it took very little energy to recharge its batter), congestion - he rode it on the sidewalk, parking problems - he took it right into the building, up the elevator and parked it by his desk! Some people would argue against these great devices saying that you “should” just ride a bike or walk - I don’t understand this, as they are not in competition with biking or walking! They simply offer another alternative. Still, although most people’s response to the Segway was overwhelmingly positive, my husband had the occasional bicyclist hurl an insult at him as they sped by. My husband is disabled and cannot ride a bicycle, nor can he walk very far. If these “holier than thou” (“greener than thou”?) cyclists would think first, they would see how he is one less car on the road polluting, competing with or endangering them. I just don’t get that attitude. The Segway offers another great appropriate technology alternative to getting around in the city (or elsewhere)! 7.
Comment by Rebecca
@ Apr 9, 2008 3 PM
Too bad NYC’s congestion pricing plan failed recently. On the brighter side, the Yankees have also upped their take public transit measures this year, in part due to reduced parking availability by the stadium (because of construction on the new stadium). Post a comment |
|
Congestion pricing trades cost & convenience for environmental benefits. The Bloomberg’s Broadwater gas project trades (uncertain) cost & convenience for environmental harm. It’s an embarrassing contradiction which helps explain why the mayor is absent in the heated Shell Broadwater debate. Keep Shell out of Long Island Sound!
More on congestion pricing: fraudwater.blogspot.com
More on Bloomberg’s Broadwater:
www.fraudwater.com