Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 19, 1992 TAG: 9201200210
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEFFEN U. BROCKS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
UNJAMMING TRAFFIC II
ISSUES that came to light recently at a meeting of Mason's Cove residents, local bicyclists and police representatives reflect the dilemma of an automobile-dependent society. It is a dilemma that, left to its own devices, is subject only to self-perpetuation, as seen by our society's prevailing attitudes.Automobiles account for 13 percent of the total carbon dioxide - the greenhouse gas responsible for half of all global warming - emitted through the burning of fossil fuels. This figure is projected to increase to 75 percent within the next 20 years.
Automobiles account for 35 percent of the nitrogen oxides that cause acid rain, which is killing life in our lakes and rivers. The nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons react with sunlight to form ozone, a gas that experts say reduces crop yields between 5 and 10 percent.
While the United States is at the forefront of automobile technology in emissions control - catalytic converters and increased fuel economy - this technology is not keeping pace with the 79 billion miles by which automobile usage increases annually.
Our automobile dependency has had a definite impact on vehicular congestion on the roadways. Increased congestion means more pollutants spewed into the atmosphere as more time is required to reach destinations. More automobile traffic will see an increase in auto-related accidents and traffic-control requirements.
Our automobile dependency costs money. The average person pays $1,700 per year to commute to work in gasoline, auto-maintenance and insurance costs, or $34 dollars for every 100 miles traveled - a sum that does not even reflect the environmental costs.
Studies have shown that 40 percent of police-department costs are the result of automobile accidents, auto thefts and traffic control.
An answer does exist to our automobile dependency; alternatives exist to this exponentially growing monster. Viable alternatives are walking, bicycles and mass transportation: Why not, considering that half of all commutes in the United States are 5 miles or less?
Our population centers must be made friendlier to environmentally aware transportation for people who commute. One step would be creation of safe and efficient pedestrian, bicycle and mass-transportation traffic ducts, where city plans include these ducts as part of an integral network of pedestrian, bicycle, bus and light-rail traffic systems.
As cities grow, taller population centers need to be constructed. According to an Environmental Protection Agency study, apartment and townhouse complexes, with single-family homes, can be built with 30 percent of the area devoted to open space, a considerable improvement over the average 9 percent we have now in modern suburbia.
These are population areas where the reliance on automobiles is greatly diminished, as alternative transportation can meet the needs of most commuters. The implementation of light-rail and bus systems would reduce hydrocarbon emissions by as much as 500 times, while bus lanes could accomplish the task of carrying three times the number of people per hour as individual automobiles.
The problem of automobile dependency needs to be confronted before our quest for freedom consumes our natural resources and our world. The cost of automobile usage must begin to reflect the actual cost of its environmental impact.
What once existed as alternative transportation sources must be advocated as part of the mainstream now. Walking, bicycles, buses and light rail must exist as viable alternatives to automobile dependency.
Steffen U. Brocks is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech.