Author Archives: Dillon V

How Do You Get to Work?

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It’s Monday morning and you step out of your house to head to work for the day. What’s your mode of transportation? Do you hop in your car and drive alone? Do you walk to the nearest subway station and head into the city that way? Using www.city-data.com, I found pie charts displaying the different types of transportation people use to get to work every morning in US cities.  Below is a comparison between Richmond, VA and New York City, NY.

 

Over the years, I believe people in most US cities, including Richmond and New York, will cut back on driving a car alone to work. Cities could then use large parking lots and other cement areas as places for parks with trees, plants, and wildlife. The benefits of creating more green spaces within cities should outweigh the costs of using alternative transportation modes instead of a car. What are your thoughts on the issue?

NYC’s Metro Mitt a creative idea, but does it actually do anything?

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Designed to reduce the risk of catching a disease on the subway, these metro mitts are available for free at many of New York City’s subway locations. Not only do the mitts look incredibly tacky, but will this thin sheet of plastic really help prevent people from all of the germs in the subway? Although the Metro Mitt will help reduce the risk of germs on your hands, there still remains thousands of other ways to contract a disease on a subway.

photo retrieved from http://gawker.com/5788169/the-disposable-subway-riding-glove-is-completely-idiotic

Environmental Benefits of Sydney’s CityRail system

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The CityRail website discusses the environmental benefits of Sydney’s rail service compared to other modes of transportation in Australia. Over one million people travel to and from one of the train’s 307 stations daily. The rail consists of 1,595 km of track and a fleet of over 1650 carriages. The site lists several reasons as to why traveling by rail compared to other types of transportation remains better for the environment. Some arguments include energy consumption, carbon emissions, efficiency, cost, safety, community benefits, and climate change initiatives. With a straightforward set-up and quick-read style, the website produces quick knowledge for not just the Sydney rail network but environmental railway facts in general.

One of my favorite aspects of the site, the carbon calculator, can calculate the carbon emissions of your travel to and from any destination, and compare these numbers to other types of transportation including bus, small car, and large car. From playing around with the calculator, the benefits of taking the rail system became staggering when comparing carbon emissions.

Although the website provides great information about environmental benefits of the rail system, it does not include any of the negative effects rail systems can have on the environment. This may be because the CityRail Company produces the site, and they use the website to promote their business.  However, the site remains useful for those looking to explore the environmental benefits of rail transportation compared to other forms.

Asian Elephant on Tracks

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Taken in Assam, India, this photo captures an Asian elephant strolling across India’s rail system. Over the past ten years, about 50 Asian elephants were killed attempting to cross railroad tracks. Throughout the world, railways pass through the habitats of not just elephants, but many other important species.

Photo retrieved from http://www.elephantfamily.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/projects/reduction-of-train-related-deaths-assam/