1. A (hu)man with a Plan.
If you’re not sure you can do the public transportation thing, start small with one a goal of taking public transportation at least one day a week until you figure out the system. Before you know it, you’ll be making friends and riding along with everyone else.
2. Come Fly With Me.
Try to reduce the number of plane trips you take and try not to use a plane for any trips under 1000km. Plane trips are way more environmentally destructive than automobile trips.
3. Get On the Bus.
Write to your city representatives to request that your community upgrade their diesel buses to fleets of LNG or biodiesel buses. This will reduce the CO2 emissions generated, reduce dependence on imported oil dependency, and in the case of biodiesel engines actually run cleaner and more efficient than petrochemical diesel.
4. Try the bus or train for longer trips.
Buses, trains, light rail and ferries generally have dedicated travel paths that are quicker than sitting alone in your car, which can cut down travel times.
5. Walk to school.
Most children live close enough to walk school, but few do. Instead of driving your children the few blocks, walk with them or allow them to take the school bus.
6. Catch a taxi.
Really these are a form of public transport because you don’t own them, and when you don’t need the service they are made available for others to use. Look out for hybrid or pedi-cab taxis for an even greener option.
7. Telecommute.
Don’t drive to the office, or fly to that conference, if you can arrange to complete your work/presentation electronically, or via video conferencing. Video conferencing can reduce 99% of the energy used for a trans-continental flight.
8. Buy fare saver tickets.
Return, weekly/monthly, or off-peak bus/train tickets are often significantly cheaper than single ride tickets, which will encourage you to use said bus/train more often.
9. Plan your trip.
Obtain timetable and route-maps for your journey to know what to expect in advance. Many municipal public transport systems now have free online databases than will take your staring point and destination and calculate the fastest times and best route for your trip. This can take the uncertainty out of public transport travel.
10. Be a Change Agent.
If you don’t use public transport in your local area because the service doesn’t work for you, for whatever reason, then get it changed. Write letters to your city newspaper, comment on their online stories that address urban travel, join a public transport advocacy group, and meet with your local government representative. Things won’t change, until you inform people you want them to.
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1. Buy Carbon Offsets for your trips.
There are several new groups out there offering carbon offsets to cover a variety of your carbon concerns. One example is a British Airways partnership with Climate Care to offset passenger emissions for air travel.
2. Don’t own a car.
Plan your life so you live near where you work, or on a public transportation route, and also where you can get too all needed services without the use of an automobile.
3. Get Loud.
While public transportation is a good idea, some buses are not clean. If you live in an area with bad transportation, make your voice heard with the people that make decisions and pay the bills, that you want a clean fuel or hybrid bus. Not only is the exhaust from that old bus a nuisance, its also bad for your public health. Tell that dirty bus to hit the road.
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1. 14: million Americans that take public transportation daily.
2. 40: percentage of US reliance on foreign oil would decrease if one in ten Americans used public transportation daily.
3. 79: the number of times safer that riding a bus is over riding in your own automobile.
4. 855: the millions of gallons saved (equal to 45 million barrels of oil) from people taking public transportation each year.
This is roughly the energy needed to power ¼ of all American homes annually.
5. 6,000: the difference in pounds of global warming pollution that a diesel school bus emits over a natural gas school bus.
6. If one in five Americans used public transportation daily, the carbon monoxide emissions saved would be greater than the combined emissions from all chemical manufacturing and metal processing industries.
7. While a full airplane and car emit roughly the same CO2 per person/km, the plane goes a much further distance, thus a greater impact. (The same does not hold true when comparing a SUV/truck with plane travel).
8. Treehugger Instant Survey: Your Commute
9. Treehugger Instant Survey: Airplane Travel
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1. 14: million Americans that take public transportation daily.
2. 40: percentage of US reliance on foreign oil would decrease if one in ten Americans used public transportation daily.
3. 79: the number of times safer that riding a bus is over riding in your own automobile.
4. 855: the millions of gallons saved (equal to 45 million barrels of oil) from people taking public transportation each year.
This is roughly the energy needed to power ¼ of all American homes annually.
5. 6,000: the difference in pounds of global warming pollution that a diesel school bus emits over a natural gas school bus.
6. If one in five Americans used public transportation daily, the carbon monoxide emissions saved would be greater than the combined emissions from all chemical manufacturing and metal processing industries.
7. While a full airplane and car emit roughly the same CO2 per person/km, the plane goes a much further distance, thus a greater impact. (The same does not hold true when comparing a SUV/truck with plane travel).
8. Treehugger Instant Survey: Your Commute
9. Treehugger Instant Survey: Airplane Travel
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Treehugger.com has been a leader in promoting the green lifestyle and has numerous resources on how others have done just that. For more information, you can begin by checking out the Transportation, Bicycle or Eco-travel sections on Treehugger.com. Below is a collection of transportation related articles.
1. Treehugger recently asked readers to chime in on whether and how they have reduced their dependence on cars. Some of the strategies are pretty creative while others are really informed critiques on plans devoted to improve travel which are doing anything but.
2. Taxis are a smaller form of public transportation, and even they are getting in on the hybrid act.
3. Alternative fuel buses are popping up all over the world, including biodiesel buses in Toronto, diesel hybrid buses in London, hydrogen buses at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Games in Berlin, and Volvo plans to begin producing hybrid trucks and buses.
4. Train travel is better than flying, well, from an emissions standpoint it is and it’s a lot more peaceful. Japan has even begun converting its diesel-electric trains to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. That’s the spirit.
5. Public Transportation Maps: Google is now offering public transportation maps for cities, beginning with Portland, OR and with more cities to follow.
6. Ferries: San Francisco may soon have a new attraction – 600-passenger hybrid-electric Solar Sailors to ferry people back and forth to Alcatraz. These ships come complete with solar wings, which cut fuel needs in half. The other plan is to use these aquatankers ship water to drought-plagued areas of Australia. While Staten Island ferries are being retrofitted to reduce particulate and Nox emissions.
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In addition to Treehugger.com, other organizations have put together resources that may be helpful as you continue to green your life.
1. For more information on public transportation options and ballot initiatives in your community, see this interactive map provided by Center for Transportation Excellence.
2. Homepage of the American Public Transit Association – an organization.
3. Google Curitiba, Brazil for a wealth of information on a city that is a leader in putting public transportation above private transportation. Their rapid bus transit system has allowed fast, efficient public transportation to dominate.
4. George Monbiot article, “Flying is Dying.” – flying is really destructive on the planet, namely it is highly destructive when it comes to the amount of emissions it produces, thus leading to global warming.
5. ChooseClimate.org allows you to calculate your CO2 emissions for any flight around the world.
6. Climate Action Network Europe provides a comparison of several modes of public transportation and how widely used they are among European countries.
7. Climate Care is partnering with British Airways to cover carbon emissions from air travel.
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1. Where to Get This Stuff
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1. Where to Get This Stuff
Start Global Cooling (Clif Bar)
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1. Where to Get This Stuff