Traffic Jams Can Help the Environment

wsj.com:

Congestion isn't an environmental problem; it's a driving problem. Traffic jams can actually be environmentally beneficial if they turn subways, buses, car pools, bicycles and walking into more-attractive options.

Read the whole story: wsj.com

Comments

[tailgateshirts]

well it would require havng a useful public transportation system in place and I can say, in Miami, I would never take public transport because by the time I actually get to it I'd rather just sit in the car for the rest of the trip

[ReedYoung]

Just the sort of craniorectal insertion-based analysis I've come to expect from the wsj since it was bought by Rupert Murdoch / "News" Corporation / Fox "News."

Details already covered by jsarets, no need for me to be be redundant.

[Philclock]

Now THIS is sustainability I can believe in, it's an undeniable truth of life...

[jsarets]

This is just plain wrong. The vast majority of cars (i.e. excluding hybrids and electrics) consume fuel and emit pollution while idling in traffic jams, increasing the environmental impact of the trip.

Furthermore, most electric train systems are actually less efficient than cars per passenger mile because we can't keep them full of passenger at off-peak hours. Neither can Europe. A half-empty electric train is essentially a motorcade of Hummers that gets half its power from coal.

Asphalt is made from petroleum, but it's also the most recycled substance on Earth by some margin. Hardly any of it winds up in landfills. It's remelted at relatively low temperature and reused.

We can also make a better asphalt-like pavement with recycled LDPE bags/films instead of using new crude petroleum. This is an excellent way to sequester the non-degradable plastic, preventing it from winding up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, while putting it to useful work for society.

The most effective change we can make is to our development policies. The bridge and tunnel crowd is responsible for most road traffic in NYC. As long as it's impractical, for one reason or another, for people to live near their workplace, traffic will be a chronic issue.