Public Transport and the Environment

I'm more than a little skeptical about environmental issues. To a very large extent, these seem to have been adopted by the political parties as their latest cause celebre, while the government also use them as a handy excuse to riase taxes for this, that and the next thing. And yet, if the issue were really as serious a threat as we keep being told it is, then the measures that are being adopted are laughable. In fact, if climate change were really the threat we keep being told it is, then radical and immediate action would be required, even if that action would wreck our economy (as George Bush said once... something I actually agreed with him on).

However, just because I have my doubts doesn't mean I'm going to take no action at all. There's an awful lot to be said for not causing damage where it can be avoided. So, I try to recycle as much as possible. And I will reuse where possible, to delay replacement (see, especially, the car thing - a brand new car would be more energy efficient, but the costs to actually make that car negate the advantage).

This morning, I have read about another study coming out of America questioning the environmental benefits of using public transport. Apparently, it is more energy efficient to take drive an SUV into town than use some modes of public transport, as low seat usage mean that the cost per commuter on the metro/bus/whatever is considerably higher.

Slightly sloppy thinking there.

The cost of using the SUV is only lower if this is done instead of running the half-empty trains/buses/whatever. However, given that these run anyway, whether they have ten seats filled or a hundred, they represent a fixed cost. That being the case, the SUV can only ever add to the total.

Unless, of course, those SUV owners are going to each ferry one or two of the other train commuters with them when they go?

No, didn't think so.

(Of course, public transport shouldn't be getting a free pass on environmental issues either. They're better than cars, but they could and should be better still. For example, the average bus is basically a big brick on wheels. A more streamlined design would improve fuel efficiency greatly... as would the simple measure of properly maintaining the vehicles. Where possible, vehicles should be powered electrically, and preferably using non-fossil sources. And so on.

Or we could do nothing - it's not like the government is currently looking for good investments for public money, in a bid to help the economy, is it?)