I've been published locally

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by eTiMaGo

Another thing to look at is, on a per-person basis, having 30 people in a bus is a heck of a lot less polluting that a single person in a car, no matter how efficient it is...

I don't know..... older buses can be horribly polluting. Spend some time in an established US urban area behind a bus, especially a diesel bus. I used to use it as a curse, "May you be stuck behind a bus!" When you consider that cars made in 2009 probably are a hundred times less polluting than cars made in the 1980s we're not talking less pollution unless the bus is of recent manufacture.

At least in Pennsylvania I don't think that Mass Transit has to submit to emissions checks. Many of the buses SEEM to be of 1980s manufacture or somewhat later and because they're diesel transport they are not subject to emissions checks. We're talking about partial asphyxiation here if you're stuck behind one for periods of time.

Where mass transit shines is the utilization of capital costs. An automobile spends a LOT of its life parked unless the person uses it for business or work. Buses are usually on the move throughout the day, we hope hauling folks here and there, but at least they're on runs and are available for anyone who wants them.

Where automobiles shine is that they give people a lot more flexibility in their lives. You're not at the mercy of a bus schedule. This is especially important in rural areas where people don't have much access to taxi cabs or buses and almost none in the evenings.

Gene