Pollution Free Cities

Friday, May 10, 2013

Are HOT Lanes the Best Way to Introduce Congestion Pricing?

Metrolinx: HOT lanes should be used to break the ice for VMT charging(Grush Hour, Apr. 18, 2013)

Also discussed here: Politicians fear tolls will make them road kill(Martin Regg Cohn, Toronto Star, Apr. 19, 2013)

Today we review a post from Bern Grush, founder of SkyMeter, a GPS-based tolling company, analyzing the benefits of a focus on HOT [High Occupancy Toll] lanes as a first and relatively economic step toward full-scale VMT [Vehicle Miles Travelled] pricing across the Greater Toronto Area in the search for ways to reduce congestion and generate $50 B revenue for public transit over the next 20 years. Resistance by the public to increased taxes without direct and visible benefits has been a major obstacle in the US and Canada to road and congestion pricing, unlike some cities in Europe, such as London and Stockholm, where congestion pricing has been successfully implemented with public support. The introduction of GPS-based tolling lowers the overhead significantly and, as Grush points out, could allow introduction of HOT lanes across southern Ontario (and elsewhere) in the very near future.

Key Quotes:

“VMT charging on a wide area basis has not been achieved anywhere in the world”

“Until we remove the frightful taboo on road tolls — and congestion charges that ration the use of scarce road space — all the pious talk about easing gridlock will remain a dead end”

“[HOT lanes are] a stepping stone. …[they] get people acclimated to paying a fee for use of a section of roadway at a peak period of time. I believe that eventually … we will go to a vehicle miles traveled form of pricing.”

“High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on Ontario’s 400-series highways can be readily metered for use as HOT lanes without capital cost to the Government. This is done with wireless in-car location technology and without the use of gantries as are used on the 407 or similar RFID/DSRC installations, such as E-ZPass.”

“This wireless technology, developed in Toronto, uses several sensors including GPS, digital maps of the roadways that are toll-enabled and a body of algorithms to determine which lane a participating vehicle has traveled in each road segment”

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

How Well do Heat Wave Warnings Work?

U.S. Heat Wave and Earth’s Energy Balance (Photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video)

Are heat warning systems effective?(10 page pdf, Ghasem (Sam) Toloo, Gerard FitzGerald, Peter Aitken, Kenneth Verrall and Shilu Tong, Environmental Health, Apr. 5, 2013)

Today we review an analyses of a number of case studies or reports on the effectiveness and cost of “heat warning systems” (HWS) or “heat health warning systems” (HHWS). Those studies which had cost benefit estimates showed that having an effective warning system more than pays for itself. Further, the main factor that prompted the public to take action was the perceived threat of a heat wave which would encourage agencies responsible for public warnings (such as the national meteorological service) to improve how they communicate the warnings. Underlining the need to improve heat warning is the greater frequency of heat waves, as climate warming proceeds, especially in large cities where there may be twice or triple the number experienced now.

Key Quotes:

“Heatwaves kill thousands of people around the world each year. In addition, more adverse health conditions including heat-related illnesses (e.g., heat stroke, dehydration, acute myocardial infarction) and heat exacerbated illnesses (e.g., renal disease, ischaemic heart disease and mental health disorders) are associated with heatwaves”

“With higher frequency of heatwaves projected to occur as a result of climate change [12], locally tailored action plans are implemented in many affected areas to minimize harm to those most at risk.”

“One study also estimated the costs of running heat warning systems at US$210,000 compared to the US$468 million benefits of saving 117 lives.”

“Perceived threat of heat dangers emerged as the main factor related to heeding the warnings and taking proper actions.”

Monday, May 6, 2013

Traffic-Related Pollution and Early Childhood Cancers

UCLA researchers find potential link between auto pollution, some childhood cancers(UCLA Press Release,Apr. 9, 2013)

Also Quoted Here: Exposure to Air Pollution During Pregnancy Linked to Increased Incidence of Specific Pediatric Cancers

(Science Daily, Apr. 9, 2013)

And here: Road Traffic Pollution as Serious as Passive Smoke in the Development of Childhood Asthma(Science Daily, Mar. 21, 2013)

And here: Many US Public Schools In 'Air Pollution Danger Zone'(Science Daily, Aug. 20, 2008)

Today we review a paper presented at a conference of the American Association for Cancer Research (but not published as yet) on the links between exposure of a fetus and first year of life to traffic-related air pollution in California. Results indicate a statistical link with 14 to 19 % increased risk for pediatric cancers affecting white blood cells (leukemia), tumours and the eyes. More research is called for to establish a cause and effect link, such as between traffic-related pollution and asthma for children.

Key Quotes:

"Much less is known about exposure to pollution and childhood cancer than adult cancers,"

"We studied pregnancy exposures because the fetus is likely to be more vulnerable to environmental factors during that time, and we also know that certain childhood cancers originate in utero."

“higher exposure to traffic-related air pollution increased the chance the child had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (white blood cell cancer) by 4 percent. There was also a 17 percent increased risk in germ-cell tumors (cancers of the testicles, ovaries and other organs), and a 14 percent higher risk of retinoblastoma (eye cancer). Children with retinoblastoma had a 19 percent increased incidence of bilateral retinoblastoma -- where both eyes are affected -- if they were exposed to high levels of pollution”

“No specific period looked at was linked to higher incidences of these cancers, so scientists were unable to determine if a certain time during development was more dangerous to be exposed to pollution than others.”

"This is the first study that's ever been reported on air pollution as it relates to rarer pediatric cancers, so it needs to be replicated in other states or in other countries….It would be interesting to determine if there are specific pollutants like benzene or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are driving these associations."

“The study is considered preliminary because it was presented at a medical conference, and hasn't been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal.”

Friday, May 3, 2013

What is the Impact of Toll Roads on Land Use?

When the Road Price is Right: Land Use, Tolls, and Congestion Pricing(54 page pdf, Urban Land Institute, April 2013) Today we review a report which looks at the present state and growth of tolling in the USA and the potential that tolling, as a revenue source, has on land use and urban planning. Development of more efficient technology, such as electronic tolls, and the negative impacts of urban sprawl and downtown congestion are leading to more cities and highway authorities to choose tolling. This report examines a number of case studies that demonstrate different ways to implement tolling and how these affect land use.

Key Quotes:

“Compared with other potential revenue sources, … tolling and related schemes to charge a tax or fee for every mile driven have much stronger potential to affect decision making about land use. Tolling that enables congestion-free travel increases the probability that the tolled road will have impacts on land use and development.”

“The revolution in tolling is spreading. First came the electronic toll systems that made it possible to travel on toll roads without stopping at toll booths. Then came the high occupancy/ toll (HOT) lanes that allowed drivers—for a price—to take advantage of the free-flowing traffic in the carpool lanes that line many of the freeways in congested metropolitan areas.”

"Conclusions:

The potential for tolling…to influence land use is real, but the magnitude of the impacts is likely to be modest.
The most dramatic impacts—and opportunities—are likely to be located in the corridors surrounding tolled roads or highways with the option for congestion-free travel.
The impacts on land use will vary greatly by metropolitan region and will be influenced by the transportation network—including mass transit services—land use patterns, local land use policies, and economic trends.
Tolling … have the potential to interact with land use in ways that support growing market preferences for development in compact, mixed-use, walkable nodes….
Because tolling that manages congestion is permanent and not priced according to the cost of the facility, policy discussions need to include the appropriate uses for “excess” revenue.”

“Tolling and charging per mile—transportation revenue mechanisms expanding or under serious consideration in the United States—have a much stronger link to land use than taxes on motor fuels and other revenue mechanisms such as sales taxes and income taxes.”

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

What is the Silver Bullet for Climate Change – Going Carbon Neutral or Degrowth?

Power Shift Away From Green Illusions(Steve Horn, Truthout, Apr.8 2013)

Also discussed here: Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism(464 pages, Ozzie Zehner, Jun. 2012)

And here: Renewable Energy's Not-So-Bright Side(Paul Krugman, Truthout, Mar.31 2011)

And here: Degrowth(Wikipedia)

And here: The Limits to Growth(Wikipedia)

Today we review a challenge to the conventional answer to the mitigation of climate change by a shift to a green economy with renewable energy instead of carbon fuels, growing more trees and driving in electric cars. The author instead points out that each of these “cures”, when accompanied by more use of energy because of growth driven by population growth and new technology, result in more, not less, greenhouse gas emissions. Governmental policy approaches, even when well-intentioned in terms of the environment, make the problem worse. He calls for “degrowth” or a new environmentalism. “On verra”, as they say in French. At least, it causes one to examine more carefully the alternatives offered and whether, finally, to accept the warnings about global consumptive growth, contained in the book on Limits to Growth, published over 40 years ago by the Club of Rome. In a city context, growth equates to sprawl, whether it is done in a seemingly green way (e.g. electric LRT) and the result is a polluted city.

Key Quotes:

“We don’t have an energy crisis. We have a consumption crisis”

“go to any climate rally and you'll see a strip mall of stands for green products, green jobs and green energy. These will do nothing to solve the crisis we face, which is not an energy crisis but rather a crisis of consumption.”

“[Isaac M. Gaetz, published by Amazon.com]

Increasing energy production sources (by using power from "renewable" wind, solar, geothermal sources etc. or improving fossil fuel technologies) results in a reduction in energy prices..results in a rebound effect in which consumption rises, consuming whatever short term gains were accomplished.
Comparing the environmental impact of renewable energies to fossil fuels is fundamentally flawed because being more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels is a preposterously low bar which to clear. This results in "less bad" technologies being portrayed as "good" because they are slightly better than the previous "bad" options.
Looking exclusively at the power generation side of the equation, whether fossil or renewable, is an approach akin to treating a symptom. Environmentalism would be more productive treating the causal side of the equation, which is consumption.”

“the solar cell industry is one of the fastest growing emitters of virulent greenhouse gases such as sulfur hexafluoride, which has a global warming potential 23,000 times higher than CO2, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”

“the entire life cycle of an electric car and .. its impact to epidemiological …electric cars merely create a different set of side effects. It's just that those side effects don't come out of a tailpipe, where we are accustomed to looking for them…Subsidies for electric cars are ultimately a subsidy to car culture and the infrastructure that goes with it.. Car culture is not sustainable within the limits we face to growth. The more durable transportation options are cycling and walking.”