car exhaust gives seniors pneumonia. h2!!!

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/12/23/pneumonia-traffic-pollution.html

I'm sure we all knew that in some general sense.

If only there was some alternative. There is, there will be.

We just lack the will.

Now: public transit lanes.

Then: H2 fuel.

Now I am not a zealot about hydrogen. The biggest boosters also tend to know the least.

Almost inevitably they have read "The Hydrogen Economy" - and nothing else.

It doesn't mention all the *man* problems.

Though my friend Ryan has managed a much more spirited defence of H2.

The usual first pointless observation of H2 is 'it produces no pollution'!!!

If you mix it with 02 instead of atmospheric air, sure.

But H2 has storage issues- see later.

'n carrying 2x more O2 to in turn mix with it is prohibitive by volume or mass or money.

So in practice, H2 DOES pollute- though much less than, say, gasoline.

I think other than 1/3 the Nox, all the other pollutants were pretty trace.

No particulates to speak of.

So we do come out wayyy ahead.

Even without pie-in-sky naivete.

Ryan countered my H2 storage criticism.

He pointed out all the systems that a car needs due to gasoline.

Initially gasoline (or diesel fuel) seems ideal, due to its compact nature and being liquid

at room temperature.

BUT. Once we factor in all the pollution scrubbing systems necessary, that changes.

Ryan crunched the numbers. Once we pull all those systems in an H2 car, the H2 storage unit is a mass-neutral prospect.

H2 is energy-intensive to make. In general, yes. Particularly if we use cryogenic liquid H2.

However, when solar or wind (or for that matter, idling generators that still consume most of the power to run them!) is not being used, we can store it as H2.

H2 or batteries. H2 is best thought of as a storage medium and not an energy source.

Since H2 is not very usefully available in nature in that form, we must 'process' it.

Mating wind/solar/et al with a H2 combustion generator would address a criticism of alternative power sources- that they are not reliable.

Wind comes and then goes. Solar is strictly daytime.

Whereas, presumably, coal is reliable.

And H2 could do so without needing to send energy long distance on power lines, complete with heat loss.

The loss is less with DC proposals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current

The transit of our society has 2 aspects:

1) personal cars and

2) fuel source.

These lead to the costs of

1) many many accidents and

2) pollution health costs.

As rule of thumb

1) cars kill the young(er)

2) fuel kills the old(er).

Once we factor in the hidden costs, the ones ignored by market forces...

a) is mass public transit and carpooling etc. expensive?

b) are cleaner fuels?

All my earlier research suggests the gas tax should be at least twice as high as it is.

The user should pay.

Not the poor sod walking by on the sidewalk...

UK study: 40kph zones would reduce pedestrian deaths

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210193202.htm

ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2009) — Traffic speed zones with a limit of 20 miles per hour reduce casualties by 41.9% with the greatest reduction in child casualties, according to research published today in the British Medical Journal.

D: not surprisingly.

Every second of additional reaction time would 1/2 accidents.

But roads all made for full-width emergency vehicles 'feel' safe at higher speeds.

Without traffic enforcement or 'calming measures', that means folks will drive as fast as they feel safe.

I'd like to see smaller emergency vehicles. Suddenly tight narrow back streets with severe turn ogives on corners would take care of speeding.

You gonna do it if yer tire will clip the curb?

Wide lanes and gradual ogives allow hi-G non-stop turns.

cities with most pedestrian deaths - USA

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/top-10-dangerous-cities-pedestrians/story?id=9048748

The authors offer some solutions that parallel a national trend toward reconfiguring streets to make them safer and more appealing to pedestrians without adversely impacting traffic flow.

By using traffic calming techniques like reconfiguring road alignments and installing barriers like roundabouts to slow drivers, streets become more accessible. Expanding the Safe Routes to School program, which installs or improves crosswalks, signals and other features, would make walking and biking safer for children.

----

Many of the deaths occurred on streets that have few provisions for pedestrians, cyclists or those in wheelchairs. According to the report, of the 9,168 pedestrian fatalities in 2007-2008 where the location of the accident is known, more than 40 percent were killed in a spot where there was no crosswalk.

...states simply aren't spending enough to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility.

Less than 1.5 percent of total transportation funds are spent on such measures, even though pedestrians comprise 11.8 percent of all traffic deaths and nearly the same percentage of all trips taken.

---

D: Gee, do you suppose those 2 factoids are related?

In K-W town, I've seen a coupla improvements in the past year.

A coupla bike lane 'pinch points' have been fixed at intersections.

Caroline St. behind uptown Waterloo's mall, for example, at William St.

cost of traffic jams

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/11/10/oecd-traffic.html

"The OECD estimates a loss of $3.3 billion in lost productivity annually because of traffic congestion on streets and highways, coupled with the growth problems associated with Toronto's public transit system.
...

The report estimates that 71 per cent of commuters are still dependent on the car.

To reduce the congestion the report suggests toll lanes and congestion charges, as well as fuel and parking taxes."

-----------

D: as usual, no mention of car pooling.
Bus-only lanes and roads.
Et al.

In other words, more of the same.
Cuz, you know, the same has worked sooo well to date...
Yes, that was sarcasm.

article, century-long plot by GM to destroy public transit

http://www.ejnet.org/rachel/rehw439.htm

D: Dunno if I buy it, but it does make an interesting story...

"Beginning in the 1920s, General Motors began investing in mass transit systems. According to historian Marty Jezer (and Congressional hearings held in 1974), between 1920 and 1955, General Motors bought up more than 100 electric mass transit systems in 45 cities, allowed them to deteriorate, and then replaced them with rubber-tired, diesel-powered buses. [1] Buses are more expensive, less efficient, and much dirtier than electric/rail systems. (And of course automobiles are even less efficient than buses, by far.) In 1949, General Motors, Firestone Rubber, and Standard Oil of California were convicted by a federal jury of criminally conspiring to replace electric mass transit with GM-manufactured diesel buses..."

D: my mother thinks the loss of viable train systems was subject to a similar conspiracy.
At any rate, vested interests and alotta money backing corporate interests clearly will not serve the public good.

See my earlier entries on why "E-cars" won't solve our present problems.
Rare earth metals for hybrids, platinum for fuel cells, whatever.
Supply and demand and finite resources says "an e-car for every gargage" is doomed to failure.

As an aside, indium has increased in price due to finite supply.
This material, presently needed for better solar cells, is being used up in... television sets.
And we don't even consistently recycle this e-trash...

why a hybrid car in every driveway cannot happen

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/goodbye-fossil-fuel-dependence-hello-rare-earth-dependence.php

D: supply already matches demand.

"A typical hybrid car, such as a Toyota Prius, contains around 25 pounds of rare earth metals -- mostly lanthanum in its rechargeable battery and neodymium in its drive motor."

D: plus the platinum in the fuel-cell dream is subject to similar market pressures on price.


http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16275-platinumfree-fuel-cell-promises-cheap-green-power.html

"Platinum has so far been the metal of choice because the membranes used in fuel cells create a very acidic environment, and the metal is stable in such corrosive conditions."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17924123.600-platinum-crisis.html

"But even if only 1 million fuel cell cars were built per year, each with between 70 and 140 grams of platinum, the worldwide supply of platinum would be insufficient."

D: Various nations are experimenting with no-car residential zones.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/car-free-suburb-planned-for-melbourne-australia.php

Barring a scenario with 95%+ of people in the world suddenly vanishing, we just cannot give every home a sedan of their own...

impact on health of 10% reduction in gas use

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2009/05/27/biofuels-and-human-health/

Nonetheless, McKone and Lobscheid were able to prepare an LCIA for reduced gasoline use based on the damage to human health that emissions from gasoline burning can cause. For a baseline, they used a 10-percent reduction in gasoline use. In assessing the impact of these emissions on human health they looked at “disability adjusted life years or “DALYs,” which is a combination of two common damage factors in LCIAs - years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs) and the equivalent years of life lost due to disability (YLDs). One DALY is equal to one lost year of “healthy” life. To put this into perspective, the total annual disease burden in the United States is about 30 million DALYs.

“We found that for the vehicle operation phase of our LCIA, the annual health damages avoided in the U.S. with 10-percent less gasoline-run motor vehicle emissions ranges from about 5,000 to 20,000 DALY, with most of the damage resulting from primary fine particle emissions,” said McKone. “While county-specific damages range over nine orders of magnitude across all U.S. counties most of the damage, as you would expect, is concentrated in urban populations with the highest impact in the Los Angeles, New York and Chicago regions.”
Large urban regions also suffered disproportionate health damage as a result of benzene emissions at service stations and during the transporting by truck of gasoline to service stations - approximately 930 DALYs.

D: note that the health costs are borne by the nearby populations, not the purchaser of gasoline.

Again, gas ought to be 2x the price, if negative externalities were incorporated...

a robot battery swapper for electric cars. on driving.

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/05/robotic-battery-swappers---the.html

"The time taken by the proof-of-concept in the video compares favourably with the time spent filling a car with petrol and paying for it afterwards.

...

Better Place thinks that the battery problem can be alleviated by setting up a system of battery-swapping stations, where you can rapidly swap your depleted energy store for a full one."

D: auto manufacturers have tentatively agreed on a battery standard.

------
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/are_electric_ve.php

However, it seems one critical piece of the electric car puzzle has been notably absent - how do you fill 'er up? Sure, if you live in an area where you can recharge through an outlet in your garage, things look good. However, for the rest of us, electric cars are impractical without some sort of infrastructure to get electricity from the grid into our batteries. Luckily, charging stations may be on the horizon. Yesterday, Project Better Place announced plans to provide a system of charging and battery exchange stations throughout the world.
------
D: as much as I like the idea of cleaner and more efficient cars, there is a problem.
These merely tactical tweaks to the standard car model ignore strategic concerns.
Such as our obsession with suburbs, long commutes, box-shaped cars, and 1-2 people in a 4-5 person vehicle for long commutes.
The present dystopia is reinforced by well-intentioned or simply thoughtless government zoning bylaws and a reflexive road-lane-building response to traffic problems.

BTW, I just purchased my first car. It is a Honda CX Civic hatchback, a 1998 model.
I use a driving method best thought of as 'hypermiling lite'.
I found it amazing how much driving a steady TEN kph above the highway speed limit can drive most drivers bonkers. Slower than that, and I suppose I qualify as a traffic hazard, with so many people passing me.
But faster than that, and at 15kph over the speed limit, I can receive demerit points on my licence. Not worth it!
Having cycled my whole life, I exhibit a certain paranoia of other drivers.
I also use gas efficiently. I accelerate slowly. I don't mind slowing down a bit uphill, harvesting the downhill energy for the next hill.
I take my foot off the gas pedal as soon as I see an obstacle ahead.
I begin to gradually brake when I see a red, to avoid coming to a complete stop.
My braking at stop lights would not spill a held coffee cup, nor cause motion sickness.

Rant: my step-father (now thankfully "ex-") drove like a madman.
He'd gun the gun right out of a green light, only to haul on the brakes at the next red.
He never got to his destination any faster, but caused much more fuel consumption and vehicle wear 'n tear than my hypermiling does.
Of course, he was an idiot.

When folks pass me, I usually catch up to them at the next red light anyway.
It seems so pointless to speed above 10kph.

Furthermore, Ontario has a new "drag racing" law.
If over 50kph over the speed limit, the police will confiscate your car.
On the highway up north, one can blunder from a 80-90kph highway to a 50-60kph village or hamlet in the blink of an eye.
Add that extra 10-20kph over the speed limit and BAM! there goes your car.

Furthermore, the kinetic energy of velocity increases as the SQUARE power of speed.
That means your car goes from a fender bender to a major repair in c. 10kph, and then to a write-off in 20kph.
It also dramatically increases the lethality of impacts - particularly for pedestrians.
About HALF of all people injured in vehicle impacts were not in vehicles.
This is particularly harmful to the child demographic.

Think about that the next time you accelerate to 20-30kph over the speed limit...

germany makes suburbs without cars

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?_r=1

See also: cul de sac video on Treehugger yesterday - new urbanism.

Driveways and home garages are generally forbidden in this experimental new district on the outskirts of Freiburg, near the French and Swiss borders. Vauban’s streets are completely “car-free” — except the main thoroughfare, where the tram to downtown Freiburg runs, and a few streets on one edge of the community. Car ownership is allowed, but there are only two places to park — large garages at the edge of the development, where a car-owner buys a space, for $40,000, along with a home.
As a result, 70 percent of Vauban’s families do not own cars
--
D: local zoning bylaws for residences mandate a certain amount of parking.
Once one has free parking, there is a temptation to use it by buying a car.

It's like there is a 'vehicle casino' and the car dealerships own the casino.
All the odds are on the house.
The house always wins.

Also, why don't buildings use built-in parking garages for high rise developments?
In town here, the city talked about building public parking for some hotel.
Why?
Sprawling parking lots just uses a lot of asphalt and sends the message that land is cheap.
It's not.
Free public parking spaces send the same message.

virtual drivers as bad as drunk while on cell phone

http://www.livescience.com/health/090504-texting-driving.html

Similar studies have found that adults who talk on cell phones while driving in simulators perform as dismally as drunken study participants. Studies from the University of Utah show that hands-free devices do not make it safe to use cell phones while driving.
In January, the National Safety Council called on state and federal lawmakers to ban the use of cell phones and text-messaging devices while driving and also urged businesses to prohibit it.
The problem is acute among younger people.

D: this could very well drive up the cost of insurance for young people.
Think you're paying a lot now - well just wait.

The vid link is a scary vid. The bus driver was texting in highway speed traffic.
And ran full-speed into the car in front.
The IDIOT.

I hope they jail him.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30472366#30472366
D: it took SIX MINUTES of texting.
But texting is just plain nuts at any duration!
And even just talking on a cell phone.
Of course, talking to the passenger is not great either.

That's how I ended up on a car hood a few years ago.
There was no other traffic, visibility was good, and sight lines were good.
D and I waited for the walk signal.
Then the driver gunned it.
She didn't look. She was too busy talking.
I would have been kneecapped, had I not leapt.

I ate van in similar circumstances a coupla years ago.
Again, I had right of way.
My bike was covered with refectors. I had not one but two lights fore and aft.
I had aimed the blinking helmet light directly at the driver.
Visibility was good for a block. There were no barriers approaching the stop on a side street for the van. There was no other traffic.
When the van did a cursory almost-stop and punched the gas, I had no chance to evade it.
I was travelling 30kph forward and did not wish to eat car door.
So I swerved in front - low bumper and only 20kph.
My bike got totalled but I was OK.

In both cases, the drivers lacked good habits.
A habit needs to be reinforced 100x in a row.
It is why I signal in parking lots.

Yesterday a driver decides an advanced green, or even yellow, was not his taste.
Nope, red was his favorite colour.
I was walking my bike across the pedestrian walk.
The light changed so long back that I was able to leisurely walk to the second lane before he reached me. I was watching. If he didn't notice, I would have stepped back, leaving my bike on my right side in his way. I always appreciate somebody buying me a new bike. <:
No rush. Waved, smiled, walked. Slowly. While he jammed the oncoming traffic lanes.
The humiliation does drivers like that good.
God knows nothing else works.

speed limit a waste of time, effort?

http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/april09/speedlimit41009.html

MANHATTAN -- Kansas gravel roads have varying speed limits, but a study by Kansas State University researchers shows that instead of abiding by those limits, people are more likely to use their own judgment to gauge how fast they should drive on the roads.

D: that book "Traffic" had an alternative solution.

Instead of wide lanes, clear of obstacles to the sides, instead make the road seem narrow and hemmed in. Drivers who ought to drive 50kph will only do so when the road only *feels* safe at 50.

I think one city created an extended different-coloured faux gutter that seemed to eat up a coupla feet of road width.

There is the issue of making room for fire trucks.

I wonder if we could use more but smaller trucks for 'burbs.

ocean unexpected source of sulphur dioxide

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090401.wshipping01/BNStory/International/home

The proposal was made public on Monday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which said the move could save up to 8,300 lives annually in the two countries because of the large number of premature deaths caused by smog and other air contaminants from ships

Ships are big polluters because they burn a low quality, asphalt-like fuel laced with impurities such as sulphur left over from the refining process after cleaner items, such as gasoline, are produced. "It's basically garbage that's being sold as fuel," said Beatrice Olivastri, chief executive officer of Friends of the Earth Canada. The shippers are "using our atmosphere as a free garbage can," she said.

D: and after all that effort removing it from auto fuel.

A compromise that involves using dirty fuel on the high seas, but clean fuel near land could work.

brit police chief busted use blackberry during accident

http://i.gizmodo.com/5187752/police-chief-unintentionally-shows-that-blackberry%252Bdrivingcar-accident


D: here is a little food for thought.
If you MUST use a cell phone while driving, talk and don't text!
At least your eyes are on the road then.
Although your eyes will typically rest low and front in a neutral position, without actively scanning.
Don't kid yourself. Over prolonged periods of time, doing anything but driving will be a hazard.

I admit, I see runners and cyclists wearing earbuds.
That strikes me as a very poor career choice.

I hear some of the new electric cars are very quiet.
We are used to listening for engines.
Maybe they'll add a soundtrack loop of "vroom, vroom!"
[=

http://statastic.com/category/economics/negative-externalities/


Why Cyclists Should Love Shared Cars
Thursday, September 7th, 2006
Car-sharing is gaining popularity in cities across the United States. The idea is simple: car-share companies or cooperatives park hundreds of cars in convenient locations that any member can rent by the hour. Most car-share programs cost about $8 to $12 per hour, including gas, insurance and maintenance.
On the face of it, car-sharing is a economical and eco-friendly way to get around. Zipcar has about 40 members sharing each car in their national fleet. That’s certainly better than 1 car per person, right? Perhaps. If your goal is to reduce the total area dedicated to parking a vehicle, it does indeed free up valuable urban space. If, however, your goal is to reduce traffic congestion, smog, or reliance on fossil fuels, the jury’s still out.
Car Sharing Increases Mobility - and Traffic - Amongst Urbanites

D: lotsa pretty charts that break down the numbers.

Car sharing could make suburbs semi-viable.

Tree hugger had rebuilt burb streets last week.
It introduced carsharing and communal aspects into cul-de-sac culverts.

less lanes more safe - study

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/ip-srs032709.php


Hartford was the first US city to develop and implement a comprehensive citywide traffic calming masterplan. Included in the plan were the building of mini-roundabouts, curb extensions, speed tables, parking chicanes, bicycle lanes and the implementation of "road diets" in which excess lanes were eliminated from particular streets.

...

However, there were significant reductions in crash rates on three streets, Franklin, Main and Wethersfield, which the team explains was due significantly to the reduction in speed on these roads achieved by putting them on a road diet.
"Speeds at the study sites were reduced by up to six miles per hour, with an average reduction of three to four miles per hour," the team explains, "The road diets also prevented aggressive drivers from passing more prudent drivers, thus, eliminating one potential source of conflict."
-----------------

Lessons?
1) slower
2) less lanes means less passing.

We all know 50kph means 60-70kph.

I suggest
1) 40kph
2) meaning 50 tops.
That means lotsa traffic cops. Everybody hates them, but without a decent chance to get caught, the occasional speeding ticket just becomes 'the cost of doing business'.
I think up to 14kph over the speed limit does not result in demerit points, just a fine.
So busting somebody at 20kph over for 20 over would start to sting in a hurry...

study on ground level ozone

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090311170627.htm

"Previous research has connected short-term or acute ozone exposure to impaired lung function, aggravated asthma symptoms, increased emergency room visits and hospitalizations, but the impact of long-term exposure to ozone on mortality had not been pinned down until now."

"World Health Organization data indicate that about 240,000 people die each year from respiratory causes in the United States," said Jerrett. "Even a 4 percent increase can translate into thousands of excess deaths each year. Globally, some 7.7 million people die from respiratory causes, so worldwide the impact of ozone pollution could be very large."

However, that same gas is toxic at ground level where it can be breathed by humans. Ground level ozone is formed through a complex chemical reaction in sunlight between nitrogen oxides (NOx), commonly spewed from vehicle exhaust, and industrial factory emissions.

D: if a coupla planes hit a tower and kill 4000, we declare war.
Well car accidents and car pollution have killed that many multiple times over by now.
Maybe we should pick a fight we can win?

Finns have serious traffic fines.

http://www.globalmotors.net/finnish-millionaire-gets-111888-euro-speeding-ticket/

OMG. That is about $200,000US for going about 30kph over the speed limit!

Though not popular, MORE traffic cops would deter speeding.
The odds of getting caught plus the punishment would deter.
Right now, people gamble.

Given that accidents are hugely costly to society, and represent a negative externality the driver does not pay, this merely evens the finances.

air pollution steals away our lives prematurely. tanker ship pollution. boxfish car.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090121/air_study_090121/20090121?hub=Health


"LOS ANGELES -- Cleaner air over the past two decades has added nearly five months to average life expectancy in the United States, according to a federally funded study.

...

Scientists have long known that the grit in polluted air, or particulates, can lodge deep in the lungs and raise the risk of lung disease, heart attacks and strokes. The grit -- made of dust, soot and various chemicals -- comes from factories, power plants and diesel-powered vehicles."

D: there will always be some trace background levels from natural sources.
But we are killing ourselves prematurely.
Perhaps worse, we are causing complications and aggravating conditions prior to that.
Asthma in younger people. Heart attacks in middle age.


http://www.reuters.com/article/basicindustries-SP-A/idUSSP18474220070405

D: a particularly bad source is tanker ships.

"SINGAPORE, April 4 (Reuters) - Oil tanker owners are urging the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to lay out a plan by next year for switching all ship engines to use diesel instead of dirty but cheap fuel oil, an industry group said on Wednesday.

As governments worldwide attempt to curb pollution by putting limits on sulphur, the shipping industry -- which contributes up to 7 percent of airborne sulphur emissions -- faces a potentially confusing array of disparate national regulations."

D: when people go on about how alternative fuels and pollution-scrubbing tech is not cost-effective, they tend to ignore these pollution costs.

And economy powered by misleadingly 'cheap' petroleum fuels is simply subsidizing that drag on the economy of the pollution costs.

Similarly, the obsession with a suburban home and resulting long automobile commute to work ignores the cost of traffic accidents to society.

This is a problem with fuel MPG standards. With more fuel efficient cars.
They're still cars. They'll still be used with an average of 1.x passengers for long commutes on a regular basis.

Having said, boy do I like this one car prototype!

http://www.worldcarfans.com/2050607.004 (pic)

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/daimlerchrysler.php

Inspired by the boxfish, DaimlerChrysler's new concept car is a super-aerodynamic (drag coefficient of 0.19, while the Toyota Prius is 0.26

. Even more impressive is how the concept car only used 2.8 liters per 100 kilometers during a test at a constant speed of 90kph (56mph), which translates to 84 mpg (US).

I want one...

amsterdam spends more on public transit, less on roads

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/amsterdam-overtake-copenhagen-in-bike-love.php

The Danes, on the other hand, want to increase their bike commuters to 50 percent by 2015. According to Copenhagenize, a new Danish traffic plan launched January 29 promises that 2/3rds of a $16 billion budget will go towards bikes and public transport, while the other 1/3 will be dedicated to asphalt and roads. Via Dutch Bike Council and Copenhagenize...

D: that is much more than we spend.