A new survey of various modes of transport has found a jumbo jet has less environmental impact per mile than an electric commuter train.
One of the most inefficient modes of transport is an off-peak bus.
The great public transport myth is only great if the service is packed and it offers no off peak services at all. Which, of course, defeats the purpose of public transport. Once you add in all the inefficient off-peak runs during the day and evening, the net pollution footprint of public transport far exceeds using the family SUV when you need to.
Go figure.
You'll find lots of analysis of this on slashdot.
Posted by: Sam Vilain | June 08, 2009 at 05:56 PM
Some municipalities that I know of have been using 10/16/24 seat light/mini busses during off peak hours now for at least a decade.
A Wellington bus running on hydro lake generated electricity beats a SUV any hour of the day being it full or empty.
So yes it is easy to point to some selective examples to make your point. The article did make an effort to indicate that the specific trains in the study runs on electricity generated from 80+ % fossil fuel.
The study finding like most done elsewhere needs to be adjusted for local conditions to be particularly relevant.
But then you already know that.
Posted by: cj_nza | June 09, 2009 at 09:52 PM
Dam right public transport aint very green. You go Ian. I really like your books by the way :)
Posted by: John | June 18, 2009 at 06:47 PM