Cars getting cleaner, but driving choices worsen
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 1999-02-13
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than 100 U.S. cities exceed the EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Nine cities, home to 57 million people, are considered "severely" polluted and experience peak ozone levels that exceed the standard by 50% or more.
The recent trend to larger vehicles, particularly pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, has been raising a lot of hackles recently. It seems that much of the improvements to modern automobiles in terms of fuel efficiency and cleaner exhaust are being lost to this trend, and to increased automobile use. Some of the increased use is quite frivolous, such as using a four-wheel-drive pickup for the urban commute to the office.
To combat this trend, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the EPA are teaming up to educate the public and enroll them in the effort to use highway transportation more efficiently. The initiative is part of a drive to meet the goals of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (known as TEA-21) and the Clean Air Act.
As part of this strategy, communities across the U.S. are setting tough new air quality standards, and they're realizing that public cooperation is going to be needed to meet them. The result is the DOT-EPA sponsored "Public Information Initiative on Transportation and Air Quality.
Three pilot communities were chosen to test public service messages and evaluate the responses: Dover, Delaware; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and San Francisco, California. Equals Three Communications Inc. was hired to conduct focus group research to identify issues of concern to the public and also strategies for getting the environmental message across.
What the Focus Groups Revealed
- People don't respond well to general requests to change their behavior, but they do tend to respond to suggestions about small steps they can comfortably take.
- People don't like negative statements about cars and travel.
- The driving public is not aware of all their transportation options and, in many cases, there aren't many options available. Also, they don't realize how their individual choices affect pollution.
- The public generally believe that government and industry should share responsibility for improving air quality.
What all this boils down to, and what the DOT-EPA campaign is focusing on, is that it's easier to change our driving behavior if we concentrate on short term benefits that we can easily implement.
Top 10 Ways to Improve
- Combine trips (in other words, planning!)
- Use mass transit more (hint: use an average of about 44 cents per mile (including ownership and maintenance) as a cost comparison
- Use a bicycle (good for fitness, good for fun)
- Walk the short-distance trips
- Car maintenance can cut emissions in half (and breakdowns greatly increase traffic congestion and pollution).
- It's cool to get fuel...when the temperature is cooler.
- Refueling during the evening hours, for example, can prevent gas fumes from heating up and creating ozone.
- Don't top the tank. This releases gas fumes into the air and cancels the benefits of the pump's anti-pollution devices.
- Telecommute as much as you can. Saving a trip to work saves time, money
and emissions.
Check traffic and road information before you leave. - Spread the word about the above.
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